The Light-Years Beneath My Feet (2015) - Plot & Excerpts
Successful Chicago commodities broker abducted by aliens Not a headline from the National Enquirer, just Marcus Walker’s own little Jerry Springer moment. He was indeed hustled aboard an alien Vilenjji starship, part of a cargo of primitive creatures bound for the “civilized” part of the galaxy, where they’ll be sold . . . as pets. Fortunately, there was another Earthling aboard, a scruffy dog named George who’d been speech-enhanced to increase his market value. Walker had spoken to plenty of dogs in his line of work but never to actual animals. He and George formed an immediate bond, giving new meaning to “man’s best friend.” The Light-Years Beneath My Feet finds Walker and George free at last, having managed, with some outside help, to outwit their kidnappers. But now they are a million billion miles from Earth. Walker glories in the wonders of his rescuers’ hi-tech world and the thrill of being humankind’s first galactic traveler–until he remembers the only place he wants to be is home. To take his mind off the depressing fact that he hasn’t the slightest idea where home is, never mind how to get there, the erstwhile commodities broker becomes a chef. Walker never imagined that whipping up delicacies for demanding alien palates would lead to a possible way home–or that the possible way home would involve swapping his easy-living adopted planet for an all-out, age-old war many parsecs away. But hey, it was all for a good cause, he has George and their two fellow escapees for company, and what else was there to do, besides avoid Vilenjji? Plenty, as it turns out. . .
In the first book: Marcus Walker, a hot-shot commodities trader gets abducted by aliens while on a solo camping trip in the Sierra Nevadas. He is eventually paired with snarky canine abducted from a Chicago alley, whom he calls George... the dog is able to speak, due to brain enhancement and implant technology of the abducting aliens. While in captivity aboard a giant alien ship, man and dog encounter all sorts of strange oxygen-breathing aliens in a wild animal park setting and learn this menagerie will eventually be sold to collectors throughout the galaxy. Clearly an escape attempt has been successful.Now, Markus (and mutt) becomes a chef to the stars; sort of. The story continues and my thoughts are pretty much the same:This is a fun, quick read—although the writing is somewhat verbose and stilted enough to ruin some good jokes. Chances are you will be disappointed if you are expecting another ‘Hitchhikers Guide.’ It has nowhere near the speed or of inventiveness of ideas. (If you want laugh-out-loud funny try a couple of John Scalzis humorous novels.)This is the second book of a Trilogy. While not brilliant satire or action packed adventure, it’s still a solid enjoyable read—as long as your expectations are set kinda low. Most likely, I will not read the third novel.
What do You think about The Light-Years Beneath My Feet (2015)?
The second book of the Taken trilogy is very different from the first in terms of plot and setting, but still features the well written band of escapees from the first book. At different points in this book I liked it more than its predecessor and at other times slightly less. My only real gripe with the book is that about 2/3 of the book in a flood of alien cultures and terms come about and it was a bit difficult to stay remember who everybody was and on whose side. There is however a great encounter with a villain from the first book that really adds excitement to the closing pages. Certainly more unpredictable than book one, Foster has created a worthy follow up that has me excited to try the conclusion to the series.
—Brent
Ok, so this book... it suffers from some bad writing-- over-using words of a sesquipedalian nature, confusing narrational point-of-view, boring battles and descriptions of (alien) martial strategies... but it's xenology at it's most fun. This book is part of a trilogy, but it really should have been one (long) story, and not three. This book was the middle of the trilogy, and it was positively filled with endless strategizing and battling, trying to get the trilogy in position for the next book. Still-- talking dogs and aliens, man, ALIENS.
—Lea
