“For Love of Mother-Not” by Alan Dean Foster

More Alan Dean Foster, even more Sci-Fi  -- 5 stars

After reading Foster’s “Slipt,” I decided to return to another of his works, a book I read a long time ago: “For Love of Mother-Not,” also later known as the first “Pip & Flinx Adventure,” which was news to me.

Orphan Flinx is taken in (or more accurately, purchased) by a contentious elderly woman named Mother Mastiff, who runs a modest shop. This shop is situated in the sole major city on a planet known for its frequent, almost non stop rain. Mother Mastiff becomes the mother figure Flinx never had -- his “mother-not.”

One night, Flinx “hears” a solitary thought through his unpredictable ability to sense emotions. He tracks it to an unusual winged snake in a trash pile, which promptly decides to make Flinx its new owner/companion. Flinx names the creature “Pip,” and as it happens, Pip is an extremely dangerous snake capable of ejecting a potent, corrosive neurotoxin when it feels threatened.

When Flinx’s mother-not is abducted and whisked away across the largely untamed planet, he and Pip set off on a mission to rescue her.

Now, I don’t think I realized this back in the day, but “For Love of Mother-Not” is apparently the beginning of a quite expansive series. And I can see why. The writing in this books flows effortlessly without any dull moments, keeping this reader engaged throughout in spite of the fact that it was considered a “Young Adult” novel/series.

Regardless of age, I would recommend this book to any science fiction enthusiasts who enjoy stories about personal challenges and mysteries. While the reader discovers Flinx’s origins and the source of his strange abilities, Flinx himself only receives a few clues -- at least, for now.

An excellent foundation for the series. I might have to look into checking out more of these.