"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

A quick, well-rounded, and dare I say cute story. A nice little lesson in problem-solving and learning from others. Plus there's an iguana-cat-thing.

This is a very short piece that has lots of world-building built in. Toby is an engineer able to send his consciousness into space to inhabit a clone in outer space. En route to a clone that is set to perform some repairs on a spaceship, he is captured by some aliens. Along with his fellow prisoners (from another species), Toby tries to escape, potentially setting up new alliances and, maybe, new enemies(?). The one wrinkle is that the pacing felt alternatively fast and slow given the brevity of the story.

An engineer's consciousness gets trapped while performing an interstellar jump, how will he get free if he doesn’t have a body?

The premise was interesting and the worldbuilding was well done, we’re given enough information to get immersed in this universe without taking away from the action, exactly what a short story needs.

I enjoyed the problem-solving aspect of the story but I found the main character's reasoning a bit simplistic at times. Also the characterization of the aliens and their culture was a bit too human-like, these aliens have traditional human families and pets!

Apart from that this was an enjoyable short story.

I've enjoyed the majority of Amazon quick reads that NetGalley offers. This one, however, I'm not so sure about.

The premise of the story is interesting but I didn't really feel the sense of humanity's place being at risk as a result of Toby's choices and ability to figure out a solution to this very unique dilemma that has his astral presence imprisoned with a bunch of aliens called Hyfisks. As a result, it was an interesting quick read, one of which I was happy finished when it did.

Lovers of sci-fi and all things strange may love it. It just wasn't my cup of tea.

Fun, old fashioned sf story, with a very “Analog Science Fiction” vibe. A human engineer who can project his spirit (incorporeal essence) gets caught in a trap by aliens as he goes to investigate a starship that’s fallen silent. How he triumphs makes for a fun read in the John Campbell vein.

WAKE UP BABE NEW TIMOTHY ZAHN JUST DROPPED (well technically it drops 3/25 BUT STILL)

This was a really fun little read! This story is unique because it doesn't have huge set pieces or action packed space battles, but instead relies entirely on the resourcefulness of a sole engineer whose decisions may have major consequences for more than one civilization.
It's a very quiet, small scale story, yet it feels fully realized, which is something that not all short stories manage to accomplish.

Trap Line by Timothy Zahn, I've always been a fan of Zahns work, and this one is no exception. Future technology, alien people, are they friendly or not? What a great little novella