Fietlebaum’s Escape

by | Oct 7, 2013 | Science Fiction

“He got to the elevator, and before he could push the up button, the doors opened and the Drusidi trio spilled out into the lobby. They were in the midst of a heated argument. The females were angry at the male for what they felt was an unequal dispensation of affection. They gurgled, snarled and shrieked at one another. The new Astaran guard quickly mobilized from behind his desk and ran to the scene.”

escapeChase Across Space

4stars

By Scott Mendelson
iUniverse, $22.95, 422 pages

Isaac Fietlebaum is an aging and outstanding scholar and psychiatrist who has spent the last several years of his life in practice in the hinterlands of outer space on the decrepit planet of Polmod. Many years prior, he enjoyed success and prominence in his field on a more central planet, but his reputation was destroyed through no fault of his own. Now his knowledge and reputation, not to mention a kidnapped grandson, are taking him on a different adventure across a swath of space.

Scott Mendelson’s book Fietlebaum’s Escape is filled with fantastical aliens as well as familiar-sounding shady characters. Fietlebaum’s language is peppered with Yiddish phrases and medical-sounding terminology which, in general, are decipherable in the text. Though some of the in-depth descriptions of the variety and type of the aliens and the various maladies which bring them to Fietlebaum can be distracting, the storyline remains captivating. This is a light and lively read for any science fiction fan.

Reviewed by Mary-Lynne Monroe

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