The Candle of Distant Earth

In the quietly amusing last installment of bestseller Foster's Taken trilogy (after 2005's The Light-years Beneath My Feet ), Marcus Walker, a Chicago commodities trader kidnapped by aliens in 2004's Lost and Found , and his companion, George, a sardonic talking dog, land on the planet Hyff. There Marcus and George help the Hyfft, peaceful meter-high creatures, battle unpleasant invaders known as the Iollth before resuming their quest to return home. Fans of E.E. "Doc" Smith's golden age space-traveling hero, Kimball Kinnison, will enjoy this slyly humorous saga, in which the good guys have plenty of human weaknesses and the villains aren't too evil. (June 27)