Trap Line: A Short Story by Timothy Zahn is a great cozy fantasy. Toby, an engineer, gets abducted by an alien race, intending to sell him for profit. With the help of another imprisoned alien group, he is determined to escape.

I had the good fortune to read and listen to the eARC and ALC simultaneously. The story was amazing, and the narration provided by Greg D. Barnett, provided a unique, distinctive voices to all of the characters and an engaging delivery.

Thank you, Brilliance Publishing | Amazon Original Stories, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this eARC. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 5 stars
Audio Release Date: Mar 25 2025
Print Pub Date: Mar 25 2025

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Humanity has figured out how to travel across space, moving their consciousness from their own bodies to clones on ships. When Toby attempts to travel to his clone to repair a ship, instead he is caught in a trap meant for other aliens using the same means of travel. He must work with the other aliens to find a way out.

This was a very quick read that managed to convey a lot of story involving space travel and first contact with aliens. I really enjoyed the problem solving aspect of it.

This was awesome, I wish it was longer, and I would definitely read a full length book about this. Short stories aren’t usually my thing, so the fact that this was so awesome really says something.

Enjoyed this short story by Timothy Zahn. First time reading him, and will need to read more from him. I enjoyed the characters, the plot, and the pacing. This could be expanded into a novel which would also be enjoyable. #TrapLine #NetGalley

You will like this book if you like: the concept of an orange iguana-cat named Bisqitty, high-stakes sci-fi, and bonding with alien species🦎🐈

BOOK: Trap Line, by Timothy Zahn

Trap Line is a sci-fi short story that I wish spawns a full length novel in the future. Timothy Zahn, the author who gave us books about the infamous [Thrawn](https://varunvicky93.wordpress.com/2022/11/09/series-review-star-wars-the-thrawn-trilogy-timothy-zahn/) in the Star Wars universe, comes at us with a very different but interesting short story far from the typical Star Wars fare I've been used to seeing from him. Trap Line takes place at a time when humanity has discovered a way to traverse large distances by means of projecting one's astral self (consciousness) across bodies separated by vast distances. This is easier said than done as only one human has showed significant promise in this, and it is him, our protagonist, that we follow as he embarks on a maiden test to gauge the effectiveness of this projection across a previously untested distance.

Unfortunately, things go awry when he finds himself not in his other replicate body, safe, but in a weird enclosure and still in his astral incorporeal self. If this didn't unnerve him enough, the fact that he encounters alien species definitely seemed to do it. Outside of the captors, some of these alien species also seem to be trapped in their astral forms. What is a very novel scientific development for humanity seems to have been a common mode of transport and control for the universe at large. By control we learn that aliens have been using their astral projections to control ships and other equipment but so far not another body, which makes our protagonist feel a little better about not being so far behind. With news of a war raging on in a part of the universe, traps have been set across patches of the galaxy to snare any astral projections, which in this case seems to have caught our woefully ignorant human as well.

What follows is a story, primarily of escape, but also of empathy. We see an alliance form despite differences, the sharing of cultures, and the understanding and trust borne from a shared situation. The short story gives just enough details for us to understand the larger context while also leaving us wanting more. Oh, I quite liked how the story was all tied up but the larger context feels like it would be one hell of a story to tell, and I sincerely hope we get, either more stories from this universe, or a full length novel in the future.

Trap Line is a nice intro to the sci-fi genre for people who want to dip their toes in without feeling overwhelmed. A nice and cosy sci-fi read. Definitely Recommended.

**Rating: 3/5**

Amazon has been doing some amazing work with these zippy short stories! It is a short story so you do kind of get dumped right into it and have to accept without much backstory or details but even with that, really amazing world building and description of these other aliens. Obsessed with the gray cat orange iguana combo pet.

Thanks NetGalley for the copy!

Hard for me to enjoy a story that I barely understand. Admittedly, not that I made much of an effort since the book lost me right at the beginning and I just wanted to get it over and done with. I didn't find this compelling or engaging or memorable and had zero emotional investment.

Short but fun read, almost wholesome, with a rather unique first contact premise. I wish there had been more to the story.

Trap Line by Timothy Zahn is a compelling Sci-Fi and Fantasy read. While I did not understand the physics involved, the author transports us through time and introduces us to different beings.
The overall lesson in this short story is that we can learn from each other without destroying humanity. Problem solving always saves the day and it usually comes from average people.

Timothy Zahn restores your belief in humanity again. Spend an hour with Zahn (this is a short story) and you have profound answers within yourself. All you need is a team. Looking forward to reading more Zahn.

Thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Original Stories for the Advanced Readers Copy. All opinions are my own because I have first amendment rights as a free American.

What a fun little short story! I read it in just two sittings. Zahn instantly transports the reader to this future (but not too future) timeline, where the stakes are equal amounts adventurous and cozy. (Yes!! high stakes but cozy!!) I so enjoyed this, and I definitely will be (finally) checking out other books from this author in the future.

Exceptionally intriguing, creative and thought-provoking, TRAP LINE exemplifies all I admire most in Science Fiction: creatively designed aliens, farflung Space Exploration, examination of the Human Condition through the lens of an Alien Culture and that Culture's interaction with Humans, and the study of the deep metaphysical questions: here, the possibility of compassion in place of retribution, caring for the wellbeing of others, sharing of knowledge and technology.

Release March 25

Trap Line delivers exactly what you’d expect from Timothy Zahn—a well-paced, engaging thriller with tight plotting and strong character work. While Zahn is best known for his contributions to Star Wars, this book showcases his skill in crafting suspenseful, high-stakes storytelling in a more grounded setting. As a massive Star Wars fan, I’m very familiar with Zahn’s work, and while this is a different kind of story, his knack for tension and strategy shines through.

When I finished, I wanted more—which is the mark of a good short story. It leaves you satisfied yet craving just a little extra. Fans of Zahn’s sharp writing and well-constructed narratives will find plenty to enjoy here.

This is the first Timothy Zahn I’ve read outside of the Star Wars universe. I enjoyed the simple focus on a single engineer on their own in a precarious situation, forced to use the resources at hand to get where they were meant to be. The story was decently fleshed out, but what I found myself wanting was a bit more detail on how things worked. Granted, it’s a short story, so there wasn’t really time to delve too deeply. I also found myself wanting to learn more about Toby’s early experiences, first forays into melding, more about those 16 previous trips. I’d read it.

This is very much the case of "nothing's wrong with the book, but it didn't do a thing for me." Maybe I wasn't in a sci-fi mood or maybe Zahn's sci-fi isn't for me. The author is insanely prolific, and his writing's got the slick, polished style to go with it, but the story didn't particularly engage me, and now, a few days later as I'm writing this review, I can't remember a thing about the plot or any of it. It was a quick read, though. Thanks Netgalley.

This was a cute short story with some interesting concepts. I haven’t read Zahn before but enjoyed his writing and found all the characters in this story to be fleshed out and fun to follow. His characterization of alien species was interesting! I’d recommend this work broadly to fans of sci-fi and short stories.

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for a copy of this eARC. All opinions are my own.

Timothy Zahn is such a great world builder and that is what this short novella contains. It’s a fun and quick world build that you almost wish was a full book. That is the only thing I would want differently is a longer book.

I received a free advanced copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

For such a short book the world building in this novella is astounding, I loved learning about the astral projections and characters. This novella was quick and had the perfect dash of science, it was thoroughly enjoyable. The clever twist at the end that helped all of the characters in the book really made me smile.

"Trap Line" is a great short story by Zahn that I am very appreciative that I was able to read as an eARC through NetGalley and Amazon.

Toby is an engineer who is the most successful "astral" jumper that FarJump has with sixteen successful melds with clones (and there are always clones in a good Zahn story) at distances ranging from across a room all the way to the Ad Astra assembly complex on Jupiter's moon of Ganymede. But today's jump is multi-lightyear jump which should not be a problem since the FarJump system doesn't treat distances any differently. Unfortunately, Toby's noncorporeal astral gets trapped on an alien facility with other alien astrals, and so begins Toby's quest to return home to Earth.

Zahn packs a significant amount of action and worldbuilding in such a brief story. He sets up just enough expository information to keep the story flowing, and unlike many of his other works, keeps it on a small, personal scale rather than some epic galactic battle. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would love to learn more about Toby's universe, but if not, the story has a satisfactory conclusion of its own -- the marks of a solid short story.

I was surprised that a story this short could have so many ideas, intriguing characters I liked, and a satisfying resolution. Kiln People is one of my favorite books and this story has people traveling without their bodies, and an engineer's consciousness is trapped with some aliens. The problem solving was really interesting, especially considering how they figured out their shared morality. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this