β Scribed by Cook, Glen
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
At the edge of the galaxy lay the Fortress known as Stars' End, a mysterious planet bristling with deadly automated weapons systems, programmed to slaughter anyone fool enough to come within range. But who built this strange planet of death, placing it within view of the Milky Way's great lens... and tantalizingly close to the hydrogen-filled feeding grounds of the interstellar dragons known as Starfish and the priceless ambergris they create?
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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.
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Dark-action sf, a form of which Glen Cook is an undoubted master, is supposed to be a farewell to the Starfishers. One wonders. Meanwhile, however, one can thoroughly enjoy this tale of the StarfishersοΏ½ attempts to possess themselves of an arsenal planet called StarsοΏ½ End. Possessing it might give them the military muscle to survive against the Sangaree aliens and the human Confederation Navy. But everybody else wants it, too, as an all-destroying sentient force is riding out of the center of the galaxy, menacing all life forms. One could wish for a long book with more of the backstory of the Starfishers, but one can thoroughly enjoy it as it stands. Long life to its creator. --Roland Green
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