Customer Reviews

Omega Games: A Stardoc Novel

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(The first paragraph is an update for new readers and a memory refresher for those who have kept up with the series.)

Dr. Cherijo (Grey) Torin is a bioengineered clone. She is also a member of HouseClan Torin, the Savior of Varallan, the chief physician in charge of rebel forces during the Akkabarran Insurrection, the named blood kin of TssVar, the new Hsktskt Hanar, and serves as a member of the Ruling Council of Joren. (And since the book titled REBEL ICE) she is also an amnesiac, considers "Cherijo Torin of Terra" to be dead, considers herself to be "Jarn of Akkabarr", and dearly loves her daughter (Marel) and husband (Duncan Reever).

While following a lead about the mysterious black crystal that is spreading throughout space, Cherijo and Duncan find themselves shot down by Duncan's friend, Alek Davidov, and forced to crash land on a quarantined planet name Trellus. Alek gives them thirty days to locate and capture a shape shifter before he eradicates all life from the planet.

Cherijo and Duncan quickly learn that it is Alek who placed Trellus under quarantine. No one may come or go and the colonists do not fully understand what is going on. They are currently scared, angry, frustrated, and paranoid. Someone or something is killing two or three people every week, leaving only their skin behind. (The skins are whole, not stripped or in sections.)

***** The author, S. L. Viehl, I knew and loved has returned - with a vengeance! The story pulls readers in immediately as Cherijo discovers a patient who, unable to communicate, has had a pulse grenade with a modified contact trigger inserted within her. Even though Jarn does not have Cherijo's memories, she hears words flavored with Cherijo's humor and quirkiness often popping out of her mouth at the oddest times. (Such as telling Squilyp that they should name the above surgery "gastric grenade bypass".) Cherijo's unique personality in the series is what mainly keeps me coming back for more.

The character of Jarn in REBEL ICE was not favorable to me at all. Yet since then, Jarn's character has been slowly reverting back to the Cherijo I enjoyed so much. I still cannot tell if the author will keep the new Jarn, bring back the original Cherijo, or somehow combine the two into a whole new persona with unlimited possibilities.

The story briefly touches on the chameleon cells that Dr. Joseph Grey Veil used while creating Cherijo. It will be very interesting to see what this author's devious imagination will come up with next. Out-freaking-standing! *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

As in all the other Stardoc stories,the universe is rich and the storyline and guest characters compelling. This one was a bit weaker than the others overall, and the 2nd half of the book seemed rather rushed. I truly enjoy Viehl's Stardoc series and give most 4 stars. This one, though, I only gave 3 stars because of these points and, mostly, because of the altered main character.

SPOILERS Ahead

Compared to Cherijo, Jarn is at best 2-dimensional character with little life to her. Her constant comparisons to Isleg life and implausible nonrecognition of common life quickly become tiresome by this book. With both main characters (Jarn and Reever) so lacking in expression or passion for anything other than each other, the reader can only focus on the guest characters and story. Fortunately, OG and the previous Plauge of Memory have strong guests and interesting settings. Yet I found myself reading each book with the hope that her memories would return by the end.

While so much of Viehl's world and characters are easy to believe, I find it implausible that Cherijo/Jarn could so easily become an Isleg (i.e so ingrained with their customs and deference to men), when her brief 18 month stay on the ice planet was spent as an outcast in the company of women. Also, the way the secondary characters (the Joren and her friends) handle her change and the way she just stays with them with no friendship are not well handled and mostly ignored.

I truly miss the original character and the spice she adds to each story. I reread Beyond Vallaran and found the difference startling--a real absence of spark. One can only hope that Cherijo regains her memory very early in the next book to provide the wit and passion we had come to know but which is lacking in this story.

Genetically engineered Terran surgeon Cherijo Gray Veil-Reever now has a bounty of four million standard credits on her head. Cherijo, who now goes by the name Jarn of Akkabarr, her husband Duncan Reever, and their child Marel have taken shelter with Jarn's Joranian HouseClan for the time being, but Jarn worries that she's put her Jorenian family in jeopardy.

After betrayal by Duncan Reever's old friend Aleksei Davidov, Jarn and Duncan, are stranded outside the domed colony of Trellus, situated on an uninhabitable rock of a planet. They have thirty days to find the whereabouts of the Odnallak shape-shifter or Alek will destroy the entire colony, Jarn and Duncan with it. The Odnallak are hunted throughout the galaxies because their bone dust is a deadly poison; the reason every being wants the race destroyed.

Jarn takes residence with Mercy, who's claimed her as salvage and taken her to her residence which is Trellus's only House Of Ill Repute. Mercy's business manager and lover is an Omorr named Cataced (who goes by Cat). Duncan was claimed by Drefan, who runs the Games dome and simulates battles for entertainment.

Aside from having only thirty days to find the Odnallak, the inseparable couple discover another deadly threat to the quarantined colony of Trellus: a Sovant is loose among them, disguising itself as a colonist until it sheds its dead skin to move to the next host. Mercy and Drefan, along with a remarkable being named Swap, take up with Jarn and Duncan's cause, helping them complete their mission in return for their help to rid the planet of the Sovant and Davidov's unnecessary quarentine.

'Omega Games' is the eighth book in the StarDoc series. I can never wait until the release of the next book, then tear through the book so fast I'm left breathless and again waiting for the next release. S.L. Viehl has created the perfect sci-fi series (especially for women), combining Science fiction, medical mystery, superbly imagined aliens, unique planet environments, snappy dialogue, descriptive prose, high action, romance, and comedy, turning it all into a fantastically entertaining reading adventure. She still has a tendency to use slaves a lot in relation to Jarn and brutal game arenas in relation to Duncan, but in 'Omega Games' she has lightened up on this repetitive trend. In 'Rebel Ice', the sixth book, Cherijo was in a fatal accident and regenerated as Jarn of Akkabarr. I was very disappointed in that book because I liked Cherijo much better than the reincarnated Jarn. I still do. In 'Plague Of Memory', Viehl began combining the two personalities and in 'Omega Games' she continues to do so, much to my satisfaction bringing more and more of the original Cherijo back into Jarn's memory and personality.

'Omega Games' introduces a new society of aliens and Terrans living in a tightly-woven colony, like Jarn and Duncan arriving in a small town, and is a unique addition to the series. You'll greet old friends and meet new ones. I can't say enough about StarDoc and Viehl's distinctive contribution to the world of Space Opera novels. I highly recommend this book, as well as the prior seven novels of the series. Enjoy!!

The entire Stardoc series is excellent. Great adventures, good characters, and great imagination. I do not usually ready science fiction and yet it is one of my favorite series.

Not as good, though certainly interesting! Still working with Jarn, but more and more of Cherijo's personality is starting to come back. Enjoyed all of the twists and turns, especially towards the end.

Back to the planet Joren, an abdominal scan shows a foreign mass in one of the patients. A DNA encoded grenade was implanted to kill Cherijo Torin. The relays spread message of bounty fee of unheard value of million credits in return for her whereabouts. Cherijo and Duncan Reeves, her telepath husband, decide to leave their child Marel behind for safety to find out more about galaxy threatening black crystal. They must find member of soon extinct shape-shifter Odnallak race who are hunted throughout the galaxies because their deadly bone dust. The Odnallak are the last ones to know the secrets of black crystal. They arrange meeting with Duncan's old friend Aleksei Davidov nearby mining planet Trellus who may have a way to discover the source of the bounty. But only to get double crossed. Their ship ship is shot and they are forced to land on the planet. Thirty days is all they have got to find the Odnallak on the planet until bombardment wipes it clean. Not only that but an ancient deadly threat, a Sovant life form, is skinning people alive in this planet covered with craters of the black crystal.

The lead character was changed from Cherijo to a submissive Jarn figure in book 6 Rebel Ice where she lost his former self in shot to the head. The amnesiac state of the double personality continues to strain her actions. Glimpses of Cherijo slip through, but she refuses to be nothing but Jarn of ice planet Akkabarr. Her feelings towards Duncan are stimulated by his alpha-male status. The people at Trellus live in domes, of which one is run by female bordello owner and the other by a handicap who puts up brutal gladiator fights. Everyone is outraged by the horror that is skinning people. Duncan and her wife gets in the middle of it all. Even so that Duncan is forced to fight a Hsktskt, a member of reptilian race with whom he was grown with. But it's their only ticket to have the ship fixed.

Two (2) stars. Written in 2008 this is the book 8 in the stardoc series that follows life of female Dr Cherijo Torin, the genetic experiment and clone manufactured by his late father. Only that the lead figure is no longer Cherijo but taken over another personality called Jarn. It is difficult to take a stand if the new Jarn is working as a substitute of the hugely successful, beloved, sharp tongued, arch, shrewdand and emotionally bursting Cherijo. The writer's writing skills, her presentation leave nothing short as all pages are packed with action and unexpected turns. It's more about that for the last 3 books we have had to read about subjugation of females, namely our heroine. The story line contains somewhat conventional elements: female running a bordello, male running a games dome, the lead figures hopping in and out of these domes, and the dome owners being presented as nice guys. They both even have a weeping harlequin life story to tell. The nail in the coffin is the introduction of a big, pink, smelly and gigantic life form, who ... makes art out of junk, who ... masters Terran poetry of Keats, Byron and Shelley. Really. After all the chase of Odnallak, nothing earthmoving awaits in the end. Fast and entertaining as usual, but an interlude in the story of Dr. Healer.

Omega Games (2009) is the eighth SF novel in the StarDoc series, following Plague of Memory. In the previous volume, a drone stabs Reever through his heart and kidneys. Jarn provided immediate surgery, but replacement organs were not available off Earth. Later, Marel insisted that he was just asleep and woke him.

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 was married to Cherijo and has now accepted Jarn as his wife. They have one child -- Marel -- who has unusual talents, including teleportation.

Alek Davidov is a Terran trader. He was a friend of Reever and helped smuggle many Hsktskt slaves to freedom.

Mercy is a Terran and the owner of the best brothel on Trellus. She and a few children were the only survivors of a Hsktskt raid on the planet.

Drefan is a Terran and the owner of the Omega Dome on Trellus. He runs the best combat simulations in the quadrant.

Tya is an unusual Hsktskt. She is the only slave owned by Drefan, who had bought her from Davidov.

In this story, somebody has put out a four million stan credit bounty on Cherijo. Reever asks his contacts for information on the person offering the bounty and gets a message from Davidov. Reever and Jarn meet Davidov in orbit around Trellus. The planet is airless and very cold, so the only inhabitable place is the cluster of artificial domes.

Davidov tells them that Trellus is under quarantine and allows nobody to land. He offers to smuggle Jarn down to the planet, but both Reever and his wife decline. Then Davidov starts firing at them.

Since their ship is badly damaged, Reever takes it down to the surface. They manage to land safely, but the ship needs major repairs. Then drednoc battle drones tear their way into the ship and take them captive.

Some drones take Reever to one dome and others take Jarn to Mercy's Dome. Mercy is not very welcoming at first, but soon appreciates Jarn's medical skills. She wants Jarn to examine all her girls.

Reever was taken to Drefan's Omega Dome. Mercy wrangles a chance for Jarn to visit her husband. In the tunnel to Omega Dome, a Tingalean attacks her drednoc escort and destroys them. Jarn gets away and flees to Omega Dome on the surface.

The skin of the Tingalean is later found near an airlock. Jarn finally is informed that something is possessing the residents and living within their skin. The locals believe that it is an Odnallak shapeshifter, but Jarn doesn't think so. An Odnallak can imitate any species, so it would have no use for another's skin.

Drefan is hiding Tya from Mercy. She is already mad at Jarn for stopping the plague on Vtaga, the Hsktskt homeworld. If Mercy knows that the Hsktskt is on Trellus, she would kill Tya without mercy.

This tale involves an Odnallak, a Sovant and a rogur. Yet only one is killing people on Trellus. Jarn finds it hard to believe that this is actually happening.

The conclusion will surprise you. The next installment is Crystal Healer. Read and enjoy!

Recommended for Viehl fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of shapeshifters, invulnerable monsters, and protective romance. If anyone has not previously read this series, the initial volume is Stardoc.

-Arthur W. Jordin

I always feel that if the author keeps writing about the same characters book after book you end up feeling like the story is the same just a different setting. BUT! This continuation has been fun. I want to know if she will regain her memory because I'm really vested in this new character. Can't wait to read the next.

Still following along with the series but this one was probably the dullest thus far.

Once again i was enthralled by the life and times and trials of CherryJo, One just never knows what mess she'll end up in next! I couldn't put the book down litteraly I had to force myself to go to bed the first day I started reading! I have found all of the StarDoc books wonderful! Keep 'em commin'!