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BSI: Starside #3
Final Inquiries
It’s the most dangerous assignment of their careers—a mission so top-secret, not even their commanding officer has been permitted to know the details. Within minutes, BSI agents Jamie Mendez and Hannah Wolfson are whisked aboard an Elder Race ship as massive as a small moon, hurtling across the galaxy at unheard-of speed toward the scene of a crime no one dares to put into words. They’ve been partnered on the case with Brox 234—an agent of the Kendari, humanity’s chief rival in the endless game of interstellar diplomatic threat and bluster. Mendez and Wolfson quickly learn one thing for certain: they’re about to face a threat so deadly that only an alliance between the human race and its fiercest foes will give any of them even the slimmest chance of survival. And even that chance is about to slip away.…
- GenresScience Fiction
432 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 26, 2008
1 person is currently reading
24 people want to read
About the author
Roger MacBride Allen
55 books102 followersRoger MacBride Allen is a US science fiction author of the Corellian Trilogy, consisting of Ambush at Corellia, Assault at Selonia, and Showdown at Centerpoint. He was born on September 26, 1957 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He grew up in Washington D.C. and graduated from Boston University in 1979. The author of a dozen science-fiction novels, he lived in Washington D.C., for many years. In July 1994, he married Eleanre Fox, a member of the U.S. Foreign Service. Her current assignment takes them to Brasilia, Brazil, where they lived from 2007 to 2009.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 11, 2021
Recent Reads: Final Inquiries. The third book in Roger MacBride Allen's BSI Starside series of SF procedurals. Negotiations between humans and their rival newcomers on the interstellar scene are disrupted by murder. Disruption, diplomacy and detection, it's NCIS in SPAAAAAACE!
June 5, 2017
First posted in SF Crowsnest April 2009.
Two agents of the BSI are sent on a top-secret interstellar mission to conduct ‘Final Inquiries’, a Kendari euphemism for a murder inquiry, in this entertaining space opera mystery. It’s one of a series and as such I felt that although this is a stand-alone story I was missing some of the background information to fully appreciate the plot. There were several references to previous missions and the antagonism between humans and Kendari that evidently formed the backdrop, but nonetheless I was able to immerse myself in the adventure and enjoy the book.
The galactic civilization against which the book is set has been interestingly developed, an ancient civilisation of Elder Races for whom the recent emergence of Human and Kendari has caused quite a stir. This political element was present throughout the book, making a fairly straight-forward murder investigation far more intriguing. The story takes place on the Vixa homeworld, a race whom Allen does an excellent job of describing as completely alien. This is done not just with their physical appearance, but through well-thought-out moral, social and psychological behaviours.
All of this does a good job of maintaining interest throughout the book despite flaws in the mystery elements of the plot. There seem to be several obvious clues missed by the investigators and important points that they fail to share with each other. Agents Hannah Wolfson and Jamie Mendez were disappointingly simplistic. They could be any agent in any book. Despite several references to their outstanding record and abilities they don’t develop significantly or open up throughout the course of the novel. I found this particularly frustrating when they dropped hints about their background that were never explained. Maybe you get to know them more in the earlier books.
This is an entertaining enough example of science fiction detective work, but one I feel needs to be read as part of a series to be fully appreciated. I was intrigued by the galactic political situation and several other topics that were lightly touched upon and there’s obviously plenty of scope for more in the series.
Two agents of the BSI are sent on a top-secret interstellar mission to conduct ‘Final Inquiries’, a Kendari euphemism for a murder inquiry, in this entertaining space opera mystery. It’s one of a series and as such I felt that although this is a stand-alone story I was missing some of the background information to fully appreciate the plot. There were several references to previous missions and the antagonism between humans and Kendari that evidently formed the backdrop, but nonetheless I was able to immerse myself in the adventure and enjoy the book.
The galactic civilization against which the book is set has been interestingly developed, an ancient civilisation of Elder Races for whom the recent emergence of Human and Kendari has caused quite a stir. This political element was present throughout the book, making a fairly straight-forward murder investigation far more intriguing. The story takes place on the Vixa homeworld, a race whom Allen does an excellent job of describing as completely alien. This is done not just with their physical appearance, but through well-thought-out moral, social and psychological behaviours.
All of this does a good job of maintaining interest throughout the book despite flaws in the mystery elements of the plot. There seem to be several obvious clues missed by the investigators and important points that they fail to share with each other. Agents Hannah Wolfson and Jamie Mendez were disappointingly simplistic. They could be any agent in any book. Despite several references to their outstanding record and abilities they don’t develop significantly or open up throughout the course of the novel. I found this particularly frustrating when they dropped hints about their background that were never explained. Maybe you get to know them more in the earlier books.
This is an entertaining enough example of science fiction detective work, but one I feel needs to be read as part of a series to be fully appreciated. I was intrigued by the galactic political situation and several other topics that were lightly touched upon and there’s obviously plenty of scope for more in the series.
August 5, 2010
Not a bad science fiction murder mystery. The mystery part is ok, but what stood out for me was the portrayal of the alien Vixa, who are not only physically strange (compared to starfish) but also sociologically/psychologically difficult to understand. I may give the other books in the series a chance, though I see on Amazon that this one got the best reviews so far.
March 31, 2011
This is fun. pure fun. One of the things I like about science fiction is the allegory of how do we humans get along with these strange other species. (each other) And a good detective story in space kind of thing also pleases me. If you like those things you will like this I think.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews