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Crime in Space! — Space Cops: Mindblast by Diane Duane and Peter Morwood
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Crime in Space! — Space Cops: Mindblast by Diane Duane and Peter Morwood
Two unlikely partners team up to solve a murder mystery…
By Alan Brown
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Published on June 24, 2025
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In this bi-weekly series reviewing classic science fiction and fantasy books, Alan Brown looks at the front lines and frontiers of the field; books about soldiers and spacers, scientists and engineers, explorers and adventurers. Stories full of what Shakespeare used to refer to as “alarums and excursions”: battles, chases, clashes, and the stuff of excitement.
The start of summer and the onset of nicer weather always finds me turning to thoughts of pulpy adventure fiction, stories that don’t require much thinking, but offer up plenty of action to keep you turning the pages. So today, I’m looking at Space Cops: Mindblast, a science fiction book from the 1990s, which perfectly fits that criterion. Some folks think the age of pulp fiction ended somewhere during the Second World War, but in the late 20th century, publishers of paperback originals did their best to carry the torch of pulpy adventure stories. And as with the old pulp magazines, the authors who wrote these tales were often doing work for hire, with the copyright remaining in the hands of others.
I turned my nose up at the book back when it first appeared, probably because the title, cover painting, and cover blurb looked too lurid even for my tastes, but I found a copy recently at my favorite used book store, and decided to give it a try. And it turned out to be a fun read; a solidly crafted police procedural set on a space colony.
Space Cops: Mindblast was published in 1991 by Avon Science Fiction, and the copyright was held by Bill Fawcett & Associates. During that era, publishers found the idea of book packagers very attractive, because they came up with the ideas for the projects, coordinated the work of the authors, and delivered a finished product, ready for publication. Publishers often wrote contracts for three paperback originals at a time, and put out a lot of books to see what succeeded and what didn’t. I suspect that is why the Space Cops series ended after three books; the sales probably didn’t meet the publisher’s expectations. I had thought the book’s cover was painted by Boris Vallejo, but it turns out it was actually painted by his son Dorian, whose style resembled his father’s early in his career.
About the Authors
Diane Duane (born 1952) is an American fantasy and science fiction author who has long lived in Ireland. She is the widow of author Peter Morwood, whom she married in 1987, and with whom she frequently collaborated. She is best known as the author of a dozen Star Trek novels, as well as the Tale of the Five novels and the Young Wizards series. Duane has written tie-in fiction for the seaQuest DSV TV show, the Marvel Comics hero Spider-Man, and various other properties. She has also written scripts for television and film.
Peter Morwood is the pen name of Robert Peter Smyth (1956-2025), who was an Irish writer of novels and media scripts. He first met Diane Duane at a science fiction convention; they also celebrated their engagement and were married at subsequent science fiction conventions. His original work was generally in the fantasy genre, while his tie-in work was most often co-written with his wife. His work for television included scripts for both animated and live-action shows.
About the Packager
Bill Fawcett (born 1947) is an American mystery, fantasy, and science fiction author, game designer, editor and anthologist, and book packager. He is the husband of fellow American science fiction author Jody Lynn Nye. He worked for Mayfair Games, an early publisher of role-playing games. Their products included games based on the Thieves’ World shared-world fantasy anthology series. Fawcett was a pioneer in producing gamebooks, products that mixed elements of fiction and gameplay. He created The Fleet shared-world military anthology series, and created the Space Cop book series, which ended after only three volumes.
L5 Colonies
Scientists have long known that there are points around the Earth/Moon system (called the Lagrange points) where the gravity of the two bodies are in balance, and objects at those locations can maintain their position indefinitely with very little expenditure of fuel. Those points are beyond the Moon, between the Earth and Moon, on the opposite side of the Earth from the Moon, and both trailing and leading the moon in its orbit. In 1970, physicist Gerard O’Neill wrote a paper on “The Colonization of Space,” which suggested the construction of gigantic space colonies at the L5 point, which was one of the most stable locations. These structures would be cylinders that spun on their long axis to produce centrifugal force simulating gravity on the inner surface of the cylinder, and would be large enough to function as self-supporting cities. O’Neill had trouble getting his paper published in scientific journals, probably due to the audacious scope and speculative nature of his ideas, but his ideas captured the imagination of supporters of space exploration, and especially of science fiction fans. The main economic activity of these colonies was to have been the collection of solar energy, which would be beamed down to earth by microwaves. The possibility of new manufacturing technologies being feasible in zero or low gravity was also thought to be a source of potential economic activity.
The idea has lost some of its appeal in recent years, as new solar technologies that generate power on Earth have become widely available at relatively low costs. The idea of large-scale transmission of power via microwave beams from orbit remains untested, and I always imagined that such a powerful signal would heat a column of atmosphere as it passed through, causing a permanent weather cyclone to form. And despite some advances in reusable rockets, the cost of putting material in orbit remains stubbornly high. The colonies O’Neill suggested also were much larger than would be required to support the industry he imagined, so they didn’t make economic sense.
For a time, however, the idea of massive space colonies proved so compelling that many science fiction stories in the last quarter of the 20th century used such colonies and their construction either as the setting for stories, or as stepping stones for further travels.
Space Cops: Mindblast
The book begins with an unnamed Space Cop trapped in a maze of dilapidated corridors, pursued by gang members. I thought it odd that he wasn’t identified, but when he died, I realized he was not our protagonist—he’s the murder victim whose fate sets the plot of this police procedural in motion.
We then join Solar Police officer Joss O’Bannion, who has just been ordered to his boss’ office on the Moon. His former partner Maura volunteered for an assignment on Pluto months before, and since then he has been doing statistical desk work, which he enjoys. But he is plagued with doubts that Maura’s leaving meant that something is wrong with him. We then get a “mirror scene,” which was a cliché of that era. Writing classes taught that people don’t think about what they look like unless they are looking at themselves in a mirror, so it seemed that every book had an early scene where the protagonist does exactly that. Joss is red haired and of mostly Irish extraction, but with some Asian heritage on his mother’s side (people in this future often seen to have heritages representing a mix of Earth nations, and for some reason keep track of this even after centuries of living throughout the solar system…).
The Solar Patrol (or EssPat) HQ is near the Tranquility Base historical site, but is otherwise nondescript. Joss’ boss, Lucretia Esterhazy, is a manipulative and domineering person. She has a job for Joss. He is getting a new partner, the former partner of EssPat officer Lon Salonikis, who was murdered on the Freedom II L5 colony (as we witnessed in the book’s opening scene). Lon had been investigating communications problems and security leaks, as requested by the powerful companies located on the colony. Now, Evan Glyndower, Lou’s former partner, needs help investigating the murder, and the unpartnered Joss has been selected for the job. Evan is described as conservative and stodgy, so Joss is not looking forward to meeting him. Moreover, Evan’s appearance—big, imposing, and scarred—is intimidating. The partnership is one referred to as a “brain and brawn” team. Joss is obviously the brain, and Evan, who generally wears a powered armor exoskeleton in the field, will be the brawn. They already share the same handler, Telya, who coordinates their efforts from HQ, and they bond over their dislike of her irritating manner.
Joss does preliminary research on their destination, which gives the authors a chance to dump some exposition on the readers, explaining how the L5 colony came into being, and how the big drug companies who manufactured pharmaceutical products in space fueled their growth. Joss has a hobby of watching ancient TV shows, and Evan enjoys the stories of his native Wales, which gives the two of them things to talk about, and references to make, which will be familiar to readers from our era. We then switch viewpoints to a woman that works on Freedom II. She has been using a drug that enhances her mental powers, but overdoses, and dies horribly. This will be another death for Joss and Evan to investigate.
When they arrive at Freedom II colony, the trip to their hotel gives the new partners a chance to see the interior, which is huge, and even contains fields of crops that support its inhabitants. But the colony is rundown and seedy. They go to the fresh crime scene of the death of the woman who overdosed, and are introduced to Dorren Orcieres, the head of Public Relations for the colony. She seems to be in charge of the scene, and will also be the lead point of contact for Joss and Evan, which they think is very strange. The local police force is worthless; poorly trained and uncooperative. The drug overdose was caused by an illegal drug called hyper which enhances mental capabilities, but which exacts a terrible price in the long run. The local police don’t seem to care about just another “blaster,” someone who was mind-blasting with hyper.
As Joss and Evan begin to uncover information on the two deaths, they begin to bond, and develop a healthy relationship with lots of sardonic banter. The colony has lost some of its major businesses, and suffers from deteriorating infrastructure and increasing crime, which makes it a threatening environment for the police officers, but also makes the tale more interesting for the readers. There are clues to turn up by searching records, interviews with a variety of shady suspects, and as they grow closer to the truth, the same people who murdered Evan’s original partner Lon try to kill them as well. From gang members to scientists to bureaucrats, the characters are interesting and well drawn. The book picks up its pace as the story develops, building to an exciting and satisfying conclusion. I won’t say more, because as always—but especially when it comes to a murder mystery—getting there without spoilers is a big part of the fun.
Final Thoughts
For a book that looks kind of trashy on its cover, Space Cops: Mindblast turned out to be a pretty good read. The two protagonists, Joss and Evan, were believable and engaging, and it was fun to watch their working relationship blossom. The action felt real and immediate. And while I guessed at some of the developments in the story before they unfolded, the book was a pretty well-constructed mystery story.
And now I’d like to hear your thoughts, especially if you’ve read Mindblast, or any of the other Space Cops books. Because they make good summer reading, if you want to talk about any other good science fiction police procedurals or mystery stories, I’d love to hear your recommendations. And I’m also interested in hearing about books you’ve read that turned out to be better than their cover.[end-mark]
The post Crime in Space! — <i>Space Cops: Mindblast</i> by Diane Duane and Peter Morwood appeared first on Reactor.
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