The match-making hi-jinks in Date Night on Union Station introduced readers to the Universes’ ancient care-taking race, the Stryx, and to EarthCent Ambassador Kelly Frank and junk dealer Joe McAllister. This screwball science fiction comedy was a fun introduction into the alien-filled future from the imagination of author E.M. Foner.

Because of its positive reception, Foner met reader demands by revisiting Kelly and Joe five years after the conclusion of Date Night with Alien Night on Union Station. He then followed this up with High Priest on Union Station, which takes place two years after the events in Alien Night.

I was pleasantly surprised with Date Night on Union Station, and left that experience with a great fondness for Foner’s characters and a strong desire to continue to get to know them.

Books two and three of the EarthCent Ambassador series do not disappoint. They are every bit as fun as the first, introducing interesting new characters and situations while expanding on established characters.

My admiration for this series continues to grow.

Because of the nature of these books, some spoilers for Date Night on Union Station are necessary as part of the following review.

Alien Night on Union Station

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Kelly and Joe have settled into their marriage and, with their young daughter Dorothy in tow, they have also settled into life on Union Station. All is not bliss, however, as Kelly McAllister continues to have difficulty getting any respect from the various alien races on the Station and her understanding of the Stryx’s purpose for her has yet to be made clear. Meanwhile, Joe’s adopted son Paul is now a young man who is dominating the growing gaming community and sisters Blythe and Chastity have moved from cornering the flower market to establishing a highly successful babysitting service.

When a new trading and battle simulation game pulls the young gamers of all species into its web, Ambassador McAlllister begins receiving multiple invitations from the various alien embassies to attend diplomatic functions. Though she does not understand why, she takes advantage of the opportunities while endeavoring to discover what has happened to suddenly increase her popularity.

Alien Night on Union Station was an engaging return to the story of Kelly and Joe. I enjoyed the first book, and liked this one even better. While Date Night on Union Station followed a comedic script, Alien Night on Union Station tells a more tightly woven story that retains Foner’s clever sense of humor. There was a bit more complexity to the layers of story in Alien Night, but its primary pleasure is found in getting to better know the characters that Foner introduced in his first story in this series. These are an interesting and fun group of humans and aliens, all of whom are relatable in their own special way.

I enjoyed seeing the ways in which Paul, Blythe and Chastity came into their own as young adults, and Kelly and Joe are characters that you cannot help but root for. Additionally, Foner introduced a number of new characters, the mysterious Dring being the most interesting.

My Rating: 8.5/10

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High Priest on Union Station

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When the daughter of a family of gypsies gets a prophetic call from the reclusive Kasilians, announcing the renunciation of their wealth to those who will come to claim it, her father asks for assistance from Joe McAllister and his wife, Ambassador Kelly McAllister, to enlist the Stryx in the recovery effort. Ambassador McAllister, on learning that the Kasilians are planning to embrace the coming doom of their planet, agrees to get involved, though her motive is the salvation of a sentient race, not the accumulation of their worldly possessions.

At the same time EarthCent has sent a young, naive recruit to learn the Ambassadorial ropes from Kelly McAllister. Aisha arrives all starry-eyed and in awe of her boss and the aliens inhabiting Union Station. In addition to providing much-needed assistance to Kelly, Aisha’s arrival triggers a rivalry between herself, Paul and his long-time girlfriend Blythe.

In this third outing in the EarthCent Ambassador series, author E.M. Foner examines religious passion in the light of advanced technology and knowledge in a way that is respectful and humorous, while examining the vagaries of wealth and status. The characters introduced in the previous two outings return here, giving readers yet another chance to better get to know them. And, as he has done in the previous two books, Foner introduces some intriguing new characters as well.

Foner’s sense of humor, while more prevalent in the first story, has been honed down to a more integrated, and thus integral, part of the storytelling process. There are some story threads that are obvious early on…what would you expect to be the condition of a woman who suddenly starts getting nauseous at every turn…and others that reveal unexpected results. In the few instances that I found myself well aware of the reasons why a specific character or plot thread would be revealed, I still was happy to savor those sections of the narrative.

You will reach the final twenty pages of the book wondering how on Earth Foner is going to successfully resolve all the interwoven story threads before the book runs out. He does so, although a few ended up being a tad too quick and convenient. All-in-all I thoroughly enjoyed this story, and look forward to returning to Union Station in January with Spy on Union Station.

My Rating: 8/10

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I mentioned in my previous review that the cover of Date Night on Union Station is one that, under normal circumstances, would cause me to quickly decide against reading. That the Classic Science Fiction Book Club, to which I belong, started suddenly recommending it left and right led me to believe that this might be a diamond in the rough. And it was.

I can only hope that E.M. Foner continues to revisit this world over the years and that in doing so he will become more financially successful and can afford a more professionally rendered cover. If I were to win the lotto and have a nearly endless supply of money, one of my indulgence purchases would be to get the EarthCent Ambassador stories bound in one volume, with a cover reminiscent of Michael Whelan’s illustration for This Alien Shore or the work of James Gurney on covers like Castle Perilous or Glory Lane.

In the meantime, I highly recommend taking a chance on the free download of Date Night on Union Station, to see if you too are as fond of Kelly, Joe and the rest of the cast of characters as I am.