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Space Cops #3
High Moon
Holding the tool of chaos--a decoder prototype they stole from the Solar Patrol, thus making this security apparatus of the elite interplanetary peacekeeping force ineffective--a radical band of space outlaws known as The Red Dawn plans destruction. Original.
- GenresScience Fiction
256 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1992
2 people are currently reading
63 people want to read
About the author
Diane Duane
167 books2,413 followersDiane Duane has been a writer of science fiction, fantasy, TV and film for more than forty years.
Besides the 1980's creation of the Young Wizards fantasy series for which she's best known, the "Middle Kingdoms" epic fantasy series, and numerous stand-alone fantasy or science fiction novels, her career has included extensive work in the Star Trek TM universe, and many scripts for live-action and animated TV series on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as work in comics and computer games. She has spent a fair amount of time on the New York Times Bestseller List, and has picked up various awards and award nominations here and there.
She lives in County Wicklow, in Ireland, with her husband of more than thirty years, the screenwriter and novelist Peter Morwood.
Her favorite color is blue, her favorite food is a weird kind of Swiss scrambled-potato dish called maluns, she was born in a Year of the Dragon, and her sign is "Runway 24 Left, Hold For Clearance."
(From her official website)
Besides the 1980's creation of the Young Wizards fantasy series for which she's best known, the "Middle Kingdoms" epic fantasy series, and numerous stand-alone fantasy or science fiction novels, her career has included extensive work in the Star Trek TM universe, and many scripts for live-action and animated TV series on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as work in comics and computer games. She has spent a fair amount of time on the New York Times Bestseller List, and has picked up various awards and award nominations here and there.
She lives in County Wicklow, in Ireland, with her husband of more than thirty years, the screenwriter and novelist Peter Morwood.
Her favorite color is blue, her favorite food is a weird kind of Swiss scrambled-potato dish called maluns, she was born in a Year of the Dragon, and her sign is "Runway 24 Left, Hold For Clearance."
(From her official website)
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 15, 2021
Space Cops: High Moon is the third, and sadly last, in a trilogy of pulpy but well-written sci-fi police procedural novels. They all feature the same two protagonists, Evan Glyndower and Joss O'Bannion, who are partners in the Solar Patrol (a galactic police force). They play off each other well, and their relationship and banter remind me a lot of Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett in the Bad Boys series of films.
I only have two real criticisms, one of which applies to this entry in the series specifically, and one of which applies to the broader series as a whole (though I have only read books two and three). In terms of this book, things fell apart near the end; after the first two-thirds of the book I would have rated it a solid four stars, but after finishing I consider it to be a three-star read. The back cover boasts of a shootout at the end of the book that "threatens to put Star Wars to shame", but in reality it was pretty lame, and felt rushed. The criticism of the broader series is that the plots tend to become overcomplicated as the stories progress, to the point where I'm not fully sure I understand everything by the end.
Overall, these books are slightly flawed but fun "buddy cop movie in space" stories, and are worth checking out if you enjoy sci-fi and the Bad Boys movies. They're out of print now, but can be found used for relatively cheap on Amazon, if they sound like something you'd be interested in.
I only have two real criticisms, one of which applies to this entry in the series specifically, and one of which applies to the broader series as a whole (though I have only read books two and three). In terms of this book, things fell apart near the end; after the first two-thirds of the book I would have rated it a solid four stars, but after finishing I consider it to be a three-star read. The back cover boasts of a shootout at the end of the book that "threatens to put Star Wars to shame", but in reality it was pretty lame, and felt rushed. The criticism of the broader series is that the plots tend to become overcomplicated as the stories progress, to the point where I'm not fully sure I understand everything by the end.
Overall, these books are slightly flawed but fun "buddy cop movie in space" stories, and are worth checking out if you enjoy sci-fi and the Bad Boys movies. They're out of print now, but can be found used for relatively cheap on Amazon, if they sound like something you'd be interested in.
November 6, 2022
The Space Cops trilogy ends with bang! By now you should know the drill - the title and cover may look like pulp, but High Moon is a detective story whose science fiction elements come more from the hard end of the pool.
High Moon shares the strengths of Mind Blast and Kill Station, so it would probably be redundant to explain what a great book it is. Like all books, it has some weaknesses. They aren't that significant, but are worth mentioning.
There are two main characters, but one is developed a LOT more than the other. Joss is chemist and pilot, and an old media nerd, and a gourmand. Evan, on the other hand, is a proud Welshman and is enthusiastic about the armor he wears at work.
The ending has the same issue as Kill Station - the whole book is about solving a mystery, but the perpetrators are revealed to be working for this massive conspiracy that just comes out of nowhere. High Moon's version is even vaguer than in Kill Station.
High Moon shares the strengths of Mind Blast and Kill Station, so it would probably be redundant to explain what a great book it is. Like all books, it has some weaknesses. They aren't that significant, but are worth mentioning.
There are two main characters, but one is developed a LOT more than the other. Joss is chemist and pilot, and an old media nerd, and a gourmand. Evan, on the other hand, is a proud Welshman and is enthusiastic about the armor he wears at work.
The ending has the same issue as Kill Station - the whole book is about solving a mystery, but the perpetrators are revealed to be working for this massive conspiracy that just comes out of nowhere. High Moon's version is even vaguer than in Kill Station.
November 6, 2012
Oh Diane Duane let me love you. (Also Peter Morwood! I went specifically looking for their collaborations, and this did not disappoint.)
This is so full of tasty metafictiony jokes and references and fondness for people being dorks (subjects of dorkery include but are not limited to: historical TV shows, spacesuits, archeology, and food) that I may need a good dose of Lacan to clear my palate. No, wait. I wish every book were this fun. I wish every book had this kind of happiness at its core.
The pacing is a little off — I feel like the resolution could have used another....twenty pages, maybe? I can't quite put my finger on it, but for a story which handles the frustrations of its central characters as connected to their motivating bureaucracy, the plot wraps up remarkably quickly. And I am not thrilled that every single character with a precisely delineated Earth-based origin is from the UK (the Midlands, Scotland, and Wales, and there may be one or two others). And please let the word "inscrutable" be stricken from every single scene that an Asian character appears in, in every book, ever. (This happens only once, to Duane & Morwood's credit, but it was not their finest moment.)
Basically: this is a character-based book. The infodumps from the earlier Space Cops books — which I've not read — are handled well, the plot is a little ridiculous and contrived, but Joss and Evan are AWESOME. (I'm a little sad that David, the Asian guy who runs Sichuan, the awesome-sounding restaurant — if that is based on a real place, as I suspect it is, I want to know where — never turns up again after he is so badass, and I would've loved to see Mary Helen be a little more physical in the final fight, but whatever.) I love how much they like each other. I love that they have injokes and things they need to explain to each other and I love they protect each other and I love they understand that the other is a person for whom they don't get to make decisions. I honestly thought they were dating in the first few chapters, and I would have taken odds of them doing so by the end of the book. Thankfully, this is why we have Yuletide.
(Diane, seriously, they are AWESOME. I love them.)
This is so full of tasty metafictiony jokes and references and fondness for people being dorks (subjects of dorkery include but are not limited to: historical TV shows, spacesuits, archeology, and food) that I may need a good dose of Lacan to clear my palate. No, wait. I wish every book were this fun. I wish every book had this kind of happiness at its core.
The pacing is a little off — I feel like the resolution could have used another....twenty pages, maybe? I can't quite put my finger on it, but for a story which handles the frustrations of its central characters as connected to their motivating bureaucracy, the plot wraps up remarkably quickly. And I am not thrilled that every single character with a precisely delineated Earth-based origin is from the UK (the Midlands, Scotland, and Wales, and there may be one or two others). And please let the word "inscrutable" be stricken from every single scene that an Asian character appears in, in every book, ever. (This happens only once, to Duane & Morwood's credit, but it was not their finest moment.)
Basically: this is a character-based book. The infodumps from the earlier Space Cops books — which I've not read — are handled well, the plot is a little ridiculous and contrived, but Joss and Evan are AWESOME. (I'm a little sad that David, the Asian guy who runs Sichuan, the awesome-sounding restaurant — if that is based on a real place, as I suspect it is, I want to know where — never turns up again after he is so badass, and I would've loved to see Mary Helen be a little more physical in the final fight, but whatever.) I love how much they like each other. I love that they have injokes and things they need to explain to each other and I love they protect each other and I love they understand that the other is a person for whom they don't get to make decisions. I honestly thought they were dating in the first few chapters, and I would have taken odds of them doing so by the end of the book. Thankfully, this is why we have Yuletide.
(Diane, seriously, they are AWESOME. I love them.)
December 12, 2023
The Solar Patrol partners Evan and Joss are on Mars for a vacation. Joss is there for a vid convention and Evan to meet up with old mates. It gets interrupted quickly when they are shot at during dinner then their leave is canceled to take on emergency duty: an SP ship carrying a prototype decoder has gone missing. They find a bunch of other crimes and mayhem and attempts on their lives.
This is the final book in the series. It could have been more if it went on, or not, but we'll never know. It is a reasonably fast and even read, but what else do you expect from the authors? They know how to write!
This is the final book in the series. It could have been more if it went on, or not, but we'll never know. It is a reasonably fast and even read, but what else do you expect from the authors? They know how to write!
June 2, 2010
I loved this book. It's a great third book in the series. I wish there were more.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews