All aboard the Quadrail for three tales of nonstop action from the #1 New York Times–bestselling and Hugo Award–winning author of Star Wars: Thrawn. It is the Quadrail—a miracle of design that connects all twelve of the galaxy’s inhabited empires, allowing diverse alien species and cultures to exchange ideas, inspire imaginations, build bridges of understanding . . . and orchestrate the … bridges of understanding . . . and orchestrate the subjugation of all living things.
Night Train to Rigel: Frank Compton used to be an operative for Western Allied Intelligence. Then he blew the whistle on some shady dealings and got himself fired. Nowadays he just wants to lay low and let someone else do the galaxy’s dirty work. Unfortunately, no one does dirty work quite like Frank. And the robotic alien Spiders who maintain the Quadrail know it—which is why he’s going to work for them whether he likes it or not.
The Third Lynx: After barely surviving his last mission, Compton just wants to relax with his gorgeous half-human partner, Bayta. But their reverie aboard the Quadrail is broken by a persistent human going on about alien artifacts. Then someone shuts him up permanently, and what begins as a murder leads Compton to uncover a conspiracy that threatens to engulf the entire galaxy.
Odd Girl Out: Finally back on Earth, Compton is confronted in his apartment by a woman demanding that he rescue her ten-year-old sister. He brusquely shows her the door, only to be accused of her murder the next day. Determined to make things right, he heads to the world of New Tigris to find the little girl. But his adversaries, the mind-enslaving Mohdri, are waiting for him there.
Together in a single volume, here are the first three books in the Quadrail series from a writer New York Times–bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson calls “a master of tactics [who] puts his own edge on complex hard-SF thrillers.”
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Very technical and a bit slow.
I loved this whole series and I love all of Timothy Zahn’s books. They are clean, free of profanity, and we’ll written. I love the action. The world building is believable.
This is an entertaining series filled with aliens that are alien and a mystery that keeps getting bigger, with main characters you grow to love.
Wonderful multi world building with an interesting concept on how they’re all connected.
The author has the ability to allow the reader to like the characters. There is constant action that keeps you reading.
interesting thought experience from a master in his craft.
Typical Zahn, Well developed characters and story tracks very well
Zahn creates a universe that doesn’t require you to leave your brain at the first page. His characters are broken but yet able to function much like most of humanity. I am looking forward to purchasing the other books in the series.
The prose was well done. The story telling, not so much. Very repetitive. Characters OK—C+
Frank, our hero if there is one, has to figure out what is happening on the Quadrail. He gets some assistance from some unexpected friends ? but has to keep trying to find the answer no matter what. I loved this series and recommend it to anyone.
The first book takes a while to get into, but overall, it is a very interesting series.
Initially interesting premise, became tedious and repetitive with little or no character development.
Easy to read and challenging plots. Enjoyable!
The book kept you Intrigued to the end
This series is like a cliff hanger movie. Maybe a Hitchcock type Strangers on a Train. It’s also a sci-fi/ fantasy. The kicker is that it’s also a police procedural. Highly imaginative. And greatly satisfying. I liked this series so much that I bought two further chapters. The writing is somewhat like tv writing. It keeps on developing over the course of the story.. I highly recommend this.
Timothy Zahn is one of the best Sci Fi authors out there; his stories are original, interesting and engrossing. This series is particularly good for those who enjoy a good detective story line as well. Love it!
I have read all five in this series, in fact I am rereading them. Like other Timothy Zahn books, they flow smoothly, the characters are well defined, the dialogue is believable and the stories are great. They are a combination of Sci-Fi and detective stories. The main character is not a super=hero but he gets the job done.
Strange series. Read it all all three books very entertaining
Mystery set in a well developed futuristic setting.
What better place for a mystery than a train with its mix of travelers, exotic destinations, interesting (and in this case weird)travel companions, pod people, super villains, locked compartment murders, and even a bit of romance. Timothy Zaharia creates believable aliens and ways to interact with them that is far removed from the usual BEM’s (bug eyed monsters). His aliens are not just people in odd disguises b, but are fully realized characters with strange, but believable actions and motivations. Like the old movies he so lovingly describes, the books have plots similar to the twists and turns of a 1930’s Hitchcock B&W thriller or one of Kurosawa’s stark tales of good and evil. Read them for the same kind of hurried, page turning rapture you would feel watchingSam Spade track down a villain or Cary Grant would evoke running from a bullet spewing crop duster.