Stars' End: The Starfishers Trilogy, Vol. 3

Framed as the final book in the Starfishers series, this space opera is better read as the second half of the preceding volume, Starfishers. Moyshe BenRabi, former Confederation agent from despised backwater Earth, has abandoned his old allegiances, hoping for a better life among the Starfishers. Unfortunately for BenRabi, not only do the interstellar nomads face a serious threat from the predators haunting the spaces between the stars, but the Starfishers' alliance with the ancient starfish has given the voyagers a monopoly on the material needed for interstellar communication, which the Confederation cannot tolerate. BenRabi's increasingly fragile mental state and deteriorating social network are mirrored by the doom overshadowing civilization. Now nearly 30 years old, this work is short by modern standards, giving the fast-paced story a compressed urgency with moments of genuine grandeur. (Oct.)