Buffalito Contingency

In this quirky romp, Schoen (Buffalito Destiny) continues the adventures of the Amazing Conroy, an interstellar hypnotist, gourmand, and occasional rogue. Conroy, as always, is accompanied by Reggie, his pet buffalito (a breadbox-sized creature that eats everything and farts oxygen). He tries to make a living as an entertainer for aliens to whom humans are a novelty. Just as one contract expires, he's contacted by a human representative of the ancient, unimaginably powerful Celestials, but before he can accept their offer, he has to deal with his new agent, an after-show party that lands him in jail, a xenophobic ship captain who wants to employ him as a smuggler, a caste-obsessed race that's elevated feuds to an art form, and an amnesiac ghost. Fans of old-fashioned SF will love this fast-paced, chaotic, and good-natured adventure full of semifarcical humor and pleasantly believable aliens. (July)