Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Consists of "Resident Physician" and "Field Hospital", May 27, 2002
The first 4 chapters form the novella "Resident Physician". The entire book tells the story of the events that culminated in the Eltan War. The events of a later novel, _Final Diagnosis_, focus on a man who grew up on Etla after the war, so this book should be read before tackling _Final Diagnosis_, if possible.The Monitor Corps has found a representative of a strange species alone in a drifting spacecraft, under circumstances indicating that it killed and ate its only fellow crewmember - its personal physician - apparently in a fit of paranoia as recorded in its journal, believing that the healer was sabotaging its physical health. Paradoxically, the Ians (the dragonfly-like beings discovered in the last story of _Hospital Station_, the previous volume) insist that the survivor is from their own galaxy, of an immensely long-lived race known to be invariably benevolent, noted for taking over fixer-upper planetary cultures - e.g. wracked by disease, war, and other long-term problems - and leaving them vastly improved. But if the patient didn't commit murder, what happened to its personal physician? After that mystery is sorted out, the newly encountered VIP continues its journey to its next project: the planet Etla, a troubled outpost of a self-styled interstellar Empire previously unknown to the Galactic Federation. Etla has been wracked with plagues for generations and is subject to the rather corrupt imperial government - it appears to be an ideal candidate for Lonvellin's expert help. But in a fit of xenophobia, they lash out at the stranger in their midst, and leap to the conclusion that all their problems are the result of biological warfare. And the only coordinates invariably installed on every ship, and thus the only "enemy" target the empire can find, are the coordinates of Sector General. "Resident Physician" is *extremely* clever. The political infighting resulting in the Etlan War is very believable. The only quibble I have is a situation leading to Sector General's translation computer going off-line without the hospital being destroyed in the process - it should be so well protected that it couldn't be so severely damaged without taking the hospital with it - but the incident leads to some very dramatic crises that make a good read.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
Conway Does it Again, November 26, 2006
White wrote several interrelated stories about the Sector General hospital, most with Dr. Conway as their star character, over a period of several years. This book is actually two of those stories married together to form a single novel, detailing the events leading up to and through the resolution of the Etlan war.
All these stories have as their starting point the concept of the Hospital itself, built and staffed to treat the medical problems of a very large number of very varied aliens. White's aliens are well realized, from tiny flying empaths to three-ton chlorine breathers and everything in-between, all categorized in a nicely worked out classification system. Although written forty years ago, this concept is still very unique and almost totally unexplored by other authors.
Dr. Conway, for this episode, is first required to find out what is ailing a new type of alien that some of the other resident doctors consider to be a god. This section is pretty good, as the puzzle Conway faces is intriguing and has a good resolution. However, when the action turns to the lead up to the Etlan war, the solid emphasis on medical problems disappears, replaced by logistics, politics, paper work, and Conway's obsession with a certain nurse. The romance between the two is unfortunately not only not believable, it has all the earmarks of an adolescent fantasy, while Conway's other exploits in managing the hospital while it is being attacked reach the level of implausibility as just too much for any one person to accomplish.
But, like most of the Sector stories, one thing this story does have is heart. Here we see the well-springs of the dedication to their job that many physicians have, and if you let it, that dedication will touch your own heart - and for this book, it becomes an important part of the plot. This may not be the best of these stories, but it's still worth reading, if only for this one item.
--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Sector General At War, July 20, 2001
Senior Physician Conway's latest patient belongs to an unidentified species originating in a neighboring Galaxy. It is in deep coma - and apparently guilty of cannibalism! As Conway explains; the problem is basically something it ate.... Once its medical problems are solved the being, Lonvellin, joins forces with the Monitor Corps, the Galactic Federation's exploration and peacekeeping arm, to bring aid to a newly discovered planet whose humanoid inhabitants suffer from an appalling variety of endemic diseases. Conway is called in to assist but the mission blows up in all their faces and Sector General finds itself in the middle of an all out war. Casualties among the senior staff leave Conway in charge of the medical side while Fleet Commander Dermod leads the forces defending the station, but the odds against the defenders are getting worse all the time. Sector General may not survive. Perhaps my favorite of the whole series.
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by James White
by James White
by James White
by James White
by James White
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