Major Operation [Mass Market Paperback]

James White (Author)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey (March 12, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345336739
• ISBN-13: 978-0345336736
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,059,289 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

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5.0 out of 5 stars Linked short stories concerning the planet Drambo, May 27, 2002

By 

Michele L. Worley (Kingdom of the Mouse, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Major Operation (Mass Market Paperback)

At this stage of his career, Conway has gotten over the shyness that once drove him to socialize almost exclusively with ETs, to the extent that he and pathologist Murchison are now married, but he retains his old friendships. The common theme among these stories is that they are connected with the establishment of first contact with the various inhabitants of the planet Drambo (a.k.a. Meatball). In a reversal of the usual pattern, the water-breathing members of Sector General's staff, even the Hudlars, are quite comfortable with the assignment, while the Earth-humans need special gear.

"Invader" - Senior Physician Mannon (a.k.a. Mannen, depending on which edition of which volume you have), Conway's old mentor, has had at least 5 distinct accidents during surgery, when some weird incident has nearly resulted in serious damage to a patient. O'Mara has assigned Conway to find out what's going on - not to look for psych problems O'Mara is assured don't exist, but for any outside agency affecting Mannon's performance. Mannon himself thinks they're wasting their time. (If "Trouble with Emily" from HOSPITAL STATION left you wondering how a pet dog would cope with a Diagnostician as a master, wonder no more, by the way.) O'Mara nearly has hysterics at the results of Conway's questioning of the junior staff - they almost think the place is haunted afterwards - which turns up an unusual number of weird and silly mistakes. :)

"Vertigo" - Introducing one of the intelligent species of Drambo, originally a gift from White's friend Bob Shaw. The Monitor Corps has rescued a very sick alien from Drambo's first attempt at launching a spacecraft.

"Blood Brother" - Conway, now assigned to help the survey team establishing contact with Drambo, participates in the first encounter with the Drambon equivalent of a medic. Let's face it, White has a sick sense of humor. :)

"Meatball" - That's what the survey people named Drambo, before discovering that it held intelligent life. This picks up where "Blood Brother" left off, as the staff at Sector General itself attempts to communicate with the healer encountered in the previous story.

"Major Operation" - The operation in question is the massive one planned in the preceding stories: coping with the treatment of the members of Drambo's second intelligent species, who may not be numerous but may still entail *very* large logistical and diplomatic problems.

3.0 out of 5 stars Meatball vs. Conway: surprises galore, August 10, 2011

By 

M-I-K-E 2theD "2theD" (The Big Mango, Thailand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Major Operation (Mass Market Paperback)

Major Operation is a Sector General novel comprised of five novelettes: Invader (1966), Vertigo (1968), Blood Brother (1969), Meatball (1969), and the self-titled Major Operation (1971).

Invader - 4/5 - Some curious incidents involving surgical mistakes and miscounted tools have led Conway to investigate a few theories. These theories are only that and Chief Psychologist O'Hara thinks Conway may be creating mass hysteria. His investigation uncovers a scout ship which has recently returned in a damaged condition from a planet called Meatball. Through Conway's persistence, a unique and rather useful life form has emerged on the ship. 40 pages

Vertigo - 4/5 - A research team is dispatched to the orbit of Meatball, where they witness an orbit craft freshly launched. The team attempt to stop the craft's rotation but the occupant emotes panic and resumes it's gyrations. Requiring much engineering and some brainstorming, the team figure out how to snare the craft and allow it to dock in the research ship. 27 pages

Blood Brother - 3/5 - Conway attempts to upload the memories of the rotating alien but finds the experience too extreme, even though he has subsumed alien memories before. To understand the dire stress of the planet Meatball and to observe the strictly solitary lives of the aliens, a culture contact team will go planet-side, including Conway. Once down, things never go quite as planned and Conway is attacked and yet saved by the same entity in the sea below. 35 pages

Meatball - 3/5 - Once the study of the exotic doctor organism found on the seafloor is at a satisfactory conclusion, a pathology team, including the pulchritudinous DBDG Murchison, take a trip down to the surface to try to understand the giant massive animal/vegetable being which sprawls across the surface of the planet Meatball, which is now known as Drambo since communication with the wheelie-alien had been successful, if not a tad bit annoying. 33 pages

Major Operation - 4/5 - The pathology team, assisted by military-cum-surgeons and miners-cum-surgeons, attempt surgery on an epic scale on the densely layered carpet of life on the face of the planet. Every attempt to help the entity is met with resistance since it lacks the senses of sight, hearing, taste and smell. The doctor-like organisms help those who emote friendliness but attack those with ill-will. The military and medical staff must find a fast solution to cease the human loss and save the life of the patient. 48 pages

For those used to the Sector General series, you won't be perturbed by the casual mentioning of DBDG, SRJH, TLTU or ELNT descriptions of alien life forms or the recurrent cafeteria theme and the usual difficulty Conway has on finding an appropriate seat and an appropriate meal. Many of the same characters make their appearance (especially Conway, Murchison and O'Hara while Thornnaster and Prilicla take a supporting role). There seems to be a generous amount of tongue-in-cheek humor and some restrained sexual tension between the married couple and even in the general words written by White. Curious.

For the new reader of James White, this is great introduction novel. For the more weathered White reader, it has the same-old, same-old feel as all the other Sector General novels. Unique science fiction but just so-so for James White.

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Entry to the Sector General Series, July 24, 2001

By 

Queen Cobra, Goddess of Truth and Justice (Altamont Springs, Florida United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Major Operation (Mass Market Paperback)

Sector Twelve General Hospital is a mulit-leveled, multi-species facility hanging like a misshapen christmas tree in space near the galactic rim. But all is not well. *Something* is causing the staff of Sector General, including a respected Senior Physician, to make small ridiculous errors - very dangerous in the delicately balanced multi-enviroment of the the Station. And it's up to Dr. Conway to find out who, or what, is behind it. No sooner is this problem solved then the Monitor Corp rescues the occupant of a malfunctioning experimental space capsule and bring it to Sector General but the patient keeps getting worse dispite the best efforts of the staff. And finally Conway joins a Monitor mission to a world called Meatball. He's had some odd patients in his time but he's never been called upon to treat an entire planet before!