Customer Reviews

Crystal Healer: A Stardoc Novel

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Jarn, (who was Dr. Cherijo Gray-Veil up until the 6th book, 'Rebel Ice', where her head injury was so severe she had no memories and was reborn as Jarn of Akkabarr) and her husband Duncan Reever, are in for another adventure. In the last book, 'Omega Games', they were trapped on Trellus and found a deadly black crystal there. Now Jarn and Duncan must travel to a nearby planet, to search for any traces of the deadly, planet killing crystal.

Also appearing in this book is Jylyj, a Skartesh (canine-type) being who appeared in one of S.L. Viehl's non-Stardoc books called 'Bio-Rescue'. Jylyj is a touch healer, working with Jarn in the medical bay aboard the Sunlace as it travels to the planet oKia where a similar canine-type species resides. The oKia allow the Sunlace to land a launch for their survey, but are still distrustful of foreigners. As they should be, for Duncan and Jarn are still hunted by the League and the Hsktskt, and someone knows where they are.

On oKia, they discover a different type of crystal, a clear crystal that infects Jylyj. Does this crystal hold the secret to the deadly black crystal they seek?

Don't miss this episode of Stardoc. This one is going to knock your boots off. The relationship between Jarn and Duncan is more loving and together than ever, and the puzzle of the black crystal and the clear crystal a complex plot. There's lots of reference to past incidents in other books, so make sure you're up to date on the series. There's a lot of interaction and new information, and a cliffhanger ending that will leave you screaming for the next installment. I CAN'T WAIT for the next installment. Viehl has disappointed me sometimes with Stardoc, but she's back on track and her characters are stronger than ever. I always want more Squilyp, the Omorr. I love his character as Senior Healer.

I highly recommend you buy this book. If this is the first Stardoc book you read, there will be a lot of references you won't understand, but it's still a good story and you'll find yourself going back and buying up all the previous books in the series. Five strong stars. Enjoy!

Not to tell you about what happended, just let me say Jarn was boring, Duncan was not as important in this book, and the new characters left me with a lot of questions. I'll read the next one, but if that one leaves me feeling the same way, I'll stop reading this series. I waited too long for this book to have it leave me somewhat disappointed.

I'm giving this four stars because I read it in two days. It kept my interest, which makes it a worthwhile read. I have read the entire series, and if I had remembered it all, I probably would have enjoyed it more. The author tried to bring readers up-to-date, but did not quite succeed. I kept having the feeling something from the past was repeatedly thrown in to make the plot more convoluted.

The description of the book is misleading. The heroine is actually Jarn, not Dr. Cherijo Tojin. Jarn is the alter ego of Dr. Cherijo Tojin that was introduced in Rebel Ice: A Stardoc Novel. Jarn and her husband are out to save the universe, or maybe just the galaxy. They embark on a mission to a region of space that does not accept outsiders and run into all sorts of problems. They are helped by a cadre of characters from earlier books.

Jarn's attitude is rather fun. I enjoyed the first person narrative where her unusual viewpoint is portrayed. She is not Cherijo, but she shares a lot with her, including the immortal body.

Don't read this book if you like closure. The end of the book had a switch that is almost more appropriate for the first chapter of the next book.

I've been a fan of the Stardoc series since I randomly picked up the first book years ago. I was definitely entertained and read each following book happily, getting drawn further and further into the interesting narrative and setting.

Sadly with Crystal Healer, and a couple of the previous books, the series has lost a lot of its original spark.

The plot continues with Jarn, the new persona of the protagonist, trying to figure out and ultimately stop a strange black crystal that threatens to destroy the galaxy...somehow. While earlier books moved with good pace from one grand and exciting set piece to the next; Crystal Healer, while steady in pace, is dull and uninteresting. Gone are the wider scopes of intergalactic politics and motives. Now all we get are places well established long ago and what new locals and plot elements feel largely lifeless and treading into territories I've seen time and time again.

Character-wise: Nothing new, Jarn is still the nutty tribal woman who still seems to constantly complain about how different things are, and not in a good way, to her former home, which was a frozen nightmare. Reaver is still around but drops a bombshell of a character element that basically makes him the biggest douche in the universe and destroys the unique relationship leading up to the present plot.

There are a few new added characters but they're largely forgettable and serve little to no point to plot. One only to establish that Reaver was bumping uglies in his old life and the other to hit on Jarn because, you know, she's such a lovely person.

In the end little to nothing happens and whatever plot twist leaves you unconcerned as they were only vaguely established in recent prior books and the gravity the author is trying to impart is just confusing in the end.

I hate to say it but I think Viehl should have ended the series on a higher note. It feels like she's running out of ideas and the books feels less and less gripping with an over-arching plot that I doubt she really thought through and is just making it up with each new sentence she writes. Personally, this will probably be the last of the Stardoc series I read.

Crystal Healer (2009) is the ninth SF novel in the StarDoc series, following Omega Games. In the previous volume, Jarn discovers the nature of the body snatcher. Then she rescues Tya from the creature and the rogur swallows it. Jarn promises to never reveal the existence of the rogur.

In this novel, Cherijo Grey Veil is a Terran bioengineered clone, an immortal surgeon and physician. Since losing her personal memories, she has been using the name Jarn.

Duncan Reever is a Terran telepathic linguist. He too is now immortal. Reever was married to Cherijo and now accepts Jarn as his wife. They have one child -- Marel -- who has unusual talents, including teleportation.

Xonea Torin is a Joren and the captain of the Sunlace. He is the brother of Kao, Cherijo's deceased lover.

Qonja and Hawk are crewmen on the Sunlace. Qonja is Joren and Hawk is a crossbreed.

Jylyj is a Skartesh. He is working as a medical resident on the Sunlace.

In this story, Xonea doesn't believe the official story about Jarn's excursion to Trellus. He has evidence that violence had occurred and is talking about declaring ClanKill on the colony. Jarn cannot talk him out of destroying the whole colony.

Naturally, Jarn is not going to tell him the actual events that occurred on Trellus. He doesn't need to know and other lives are at stake. Yet he is applying pressure to make Jarn explain her actions. Jarn is very upset with his behavior.

Then Duncan tells her that someone else is looking for her. All he knows is that mercenaries are involved. Despite just returning to Joren, she and Duncan need to leave the planet. Jarn dreads telling Marel that they are leaving her behind once more.

Jarn and Reever have found a discrepancy in their Aksellan map. The oKiaf world is not marked with a black crystal icon. Jarn asks for the Sunlace to take them on an expedition. This not only gets them away from Joren, but also takes Xonea offworld.

Marel has a dream of them leaving. She hugged her mother and never saw her again. Reever calms down Marel and they both say their goodbyes the night before the departure.

Jarn becomes suspicious of Jylyj when she sees him swimming in the sea. Skartesh are hydrophobic and avoid any body of water. Jylyj is also acting suspiciously, standing too close to Jarn and sniffing her hair. But his DNA matches the Skartesh pattern.

The Sunlace departs Joren and transits just outside the Saraced system. The system contains the destroyed remains of the Skartesh homeworld and the world of the oKiaf people, who are much like the Skartesh. When they reach the system, two oKiaf patrol boats approach them.

This tale leads Jarn, Reever, Jylyj, Qonja and Hawk to the surface. There they find the oKiaf people living in primitive housing and hunting animals. Skartesh is an excellent interpreter for the party, but Reever starts learning the language.

Then mercenaries show up and the plot thickens. The next installment is Dream Called Time. Read and enjoy!

Recommended for Viehl fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of medical skills, political intrigue, and personal courage. If anyone has not previously read this series, the initial volume is Stardoc.

-Arthur W. Jordin

I have read all of the Stardoc series, but depending on how the next book works, that one may be my last. I, like many other readers, weren't thrilled when Cherijo "died" and Jarn took her place. Jarn certainly is a bit different, but I now enjoy her pov and many of her attributes. I truly like her now and was rooting for her. Cherijo is more exciting in some respects and unpredictable, but she is also more selfish and arrogant. Looking at the two women, Duncan is happier with Jarn - they are very loving and respectful to one another. They are also good parents. The novel was good, no major disappointments in that respect. And the mystery was interesting enough. We find out the reason for Jarn/Cherijo and Duncan's immortality, and their ultimate purpose. It was the cliffhanger ending that left me with a, "What the h...?" feeling and Ms. Viehl will have to be careful in the next novel to keep readers (or maybe just this reader) willing to follow Healer Torin on any more adventures.


Spoiler:

I am not sure whether readers were clamoring for Cherijo to come back, or this was Ms. Viehl's intention all along - but in the book a sacrifice was made and Jarn is now "dead". Cherijo has been resurrected, has no memory of what has occurred in the last few novels, and Duncan is heartbroken (which was absolutely awful!) and who knows how their poor daughter will deal with all of this. Before I even think of reading the next novel, I will be reading reviews to decide whether I want to bother reading the trauma of Duncan and Marel (and everyone else for that matter) - for some reason I have a feeling Cherijo will just disappoint.

Almost to the end. I did enjoy this one more, and am amazed at how many plots, sub-plots, etc. the author can squeeze into a series. More info on the crystals and the buildup to the final book.

I know there was alot of debate between Star Doc Cherijoo and Jarn - and I know that once you liked Jarn you started to dis Cherijo - but I thought that this book was the perfect blending of all the books about THE Star Doc, Cherijo, and I loved it!

After acquiring an old Aksellan mining map that shows the locations of the galaxy threatening black crystals, immortals Cherijo Torin and his husband Duncan Reeves are determined to save the universe. After Cherijo treating a patient who carried a contact trigger grenade for her and a Thekka raider -- known for theft and murder -- broadcasting a bounty for information about Cherijo, they decide to depart planet Joren; home of blue people and her house clan Torin. Once more they had to to leave Marel, their mortal daughter, behind. Why the crystal hasn't infiltrated a remote world of the oKiaf people? Captain Xonea Torin, Cherijo's clan brother, sets course of starship Sunlance to investigate the puzzle. There is one but. The oKiaf have broken off all ties to outsiders and do not allow anyone near the planet.

More wonderful strange worlds. This time nomadic and primitive rural society of oKiaf who have having disdained the technology and returned to hunting animals. A new character, fur bearing brilliant doctor Jylyj of Skartesh, is giving Cherijo creeps. Nobody knows much about the Skartesh as their home world got destroyed in the war with the Allied Forces. The book takes it slow to build up a good suspense about wily and cagy emitting Jylyj who can't seem to stand female nurses. Does he have something to do with the bounty hunters? Jylyj's expert knowledge about oKiaf on the surface of the planet adds more tickling sensation on the back of reader's hair. Cherijo's double nature, being taken over by new submissive person Jarn of ice planet, seems to have settled in balance and the psychological struggles smoothed. The medical emergencies that were typical in previous books have decreased and plot is about following the leads. We get to meet Duncan's old lover Uorwlan, who puts up a cat fight with Cherijo for her mating rights. The planet eating clear crystal and the quick turns near the end of the book open the valve to whistle action and energy familiar from previous books: the shape-shifters called Odnallak raiders from previous book Omega Games are to capture secret hand healer Jylyj. As usual, Maggie, her surrogate mother, makes an appearance in form of combined Lok-Teel molds to warn about plan B of the Odnallak. Readers are also warned that the ending may not be happy because of the bad dreams of their daughter had prior their leaving.

Three (3) stars. Written in 2009 this is the book 9 in the stardoc series that follows life of female Dr Cherijo Torin, the genetic experiment and clone manufactured by his father. Only that the since book 6 Rebel Ice the lead figure has no longer been Cherijo but taken over another personality called Jarn. Developing a solid enigma around the new Jylyj figure keeps reader devouring from page to page. A piece of a very dangerous crystal in stasis on board the Sunlace and its sudden growth upon their arrival to oKiaf adds another gear to the tension. But the action at the end: reading about hard boiled trader Uorwlan, Duncan's friend, turning in an instant into a kamikaze hero; introducing a resurrected father; putting pink worm called Wasp from previous book Omega Games, this omnipotent being who has been contemplating to solve black crystal's hazard for millennia, to commit suicide; and ejecting the black crystal out of the ship without much new information collected are like putting everything in a washing machine. The rolling is not that interesting to watch. Recycling previous characters (Wasp, Odnallak, The Father) may be an attempt tie loose ends but they put a damper on the story. To someone who has read all the books, The Father is a huge stretch that makes one feel pulling a stone sledge. The stardoc series is one of the kind everyone should read. Immortality, healing, aliens and medical treatment, personal trauma, universal destiny are leading us to the ending briefly flashed in this book. It will be spiritual. Sometimes the series goes off on a tangent but nothing takes a way the sheer joy of following life of Dr. Healer; Cherijo, who is back in her full capacity and all memories intact. Jarn is gone. Agonizing, simply agonizing to leave us upon this cliff hanger.

I love this series but this ranked above Rebel Ice (could barely get thru that one) and below all of the others. Found myself skimming a lot just to get thru the book and be able to keep up with the storyline in the next book (still intend to continue reading the series.)