The Viridian Convict

This agreeable, tough-talking space opera ends with an eight-page glossary of invented vocabulary that makes the plot sound fresher than it is. Narrator Tig is a cynical but good-hearted guy who was unjustly sent to the prison world Viridian, where he works as a cop. He moonlights as a flunky for ugly alien crime boss Granny, who orders him to snatch a beautiful girl before she can deliver a piece of mysterious contraband to a sect of rival aliens. Naturally, Tig falls for the va-va-voom cutie, and they have to fight their way through enough goofy-looking aliens to fill several cantinas. Eventually there’s a showdown with blue-skinned agents from the tyrannical Fed government. None of this really makes much sense if readers ever stop to think about it, but York counts on sweeping them up in a torrent of fast action. A fair amount of the time, that tactic actually works, but even when the book is fun, it’s flimsy. (Apr.)