wandering_not_lost's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Solidly interesting extraterrestrial medical drama...for its time. The thing I love about these books is that despite the semi-permanent 1960-70s views on the human species, the author comes up with continually interesting alien physiologies that the main characters have to untangle. The book is a collection of linked novellas about the characters' episodic adventures attending to interstellar emergencies, and they're comfortable in that you know exactly what you're going to get: disaster/distress call strikes, medical ship rushes to the scene and needs to figure out what the aliens involved need in order to help them. The fun, like a murder mystery, is in figuring out before the main character what the explanation for the aliens' strange behavior or physiology means. Usually it's something bizarre, and that's kind of fun to unravel. The author even makes side mentions that try to break out of human constructs like the gender binary (a character mentions a pregnant individual of a new species, and then corrects the doctor when he refers to them as the "female": "I never said they were female") and disabilities ()
As with previous books in this series, though, you have to be able to overlook the now-anachronistic way that the far-future hospital and medical corps doesn't have any female doctors or officers (Murchison has now been promoted to pathologist, though I assume her poor female brainmeats still can't handle the species "tapes" that are required for doctors, though...) or hardly anyone without an Anglo-Saxon last name (this one did have a member of the ship crew named Chen, though, so...progress?) Also the way that the men in charge get kind of casually, vocally, irrationally angry every now and then just because they are frustrated or someone proves them wrong. That doesn't age well, but Conway at least notices he does it and apologizes, mostly.
Spoiler
there's a story about a blind race, though it does focus on them trying to find a seeing race to help them understand the universe, so...eh.As with previous books in this series, though, you have to be able to overlook the now-anachronistic way that the far-future hospital and medical corps doesn't have any female doctors or officers (Murchison has now been promoted to pathologist, though I assume her poor female brainmeats still can't handle the species "tapes" that are required for doctors, though...) or hardly anyone without an Anglo-Saxon last name (this one did have a member of the ship crew named Chen, though, so...progress?) Also the way that the men in charge get kind of casually, vocally, irrationally angry every now and then just because they are frustrated or someone proves them wrong. That doesn't age well, but Conway at least notices he does it and apologizes, mostly.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content
serenedancer's review
4.0
If you like the other books you'll like this one. Still slightly repetitive if you've read the earlier books but those parts are easy enough to skip over. The different stories have a decent mystery and the new characters are okay. Not great though as the fact that Conway doesn't like them clearly colors our view of them which is quite annoying. Though personally Conway always seemed like a prick to me so maybe that's just me.
In this book Murchinson is a doctor which is cool. However, he still focuses on her looks too much. I get that she's hot but every new human Male doesn't have to bring it up. Also that topheavy comment in the last story was stupid. Still glad to see her develop.
Not much to say, if you like the other ones you'll like this one.
In this book Murchinson is a doctor which is cool. However, he still focuses on her looks too much. I get that she's hot but every new human Male doesn't have to bring it up. Also that topheavy comment in the last story was stupid. Still glad to see her develop.
Not much to say, if you like the other ones you'll like this one.
bookcrazylady45's review
3.0
Another three interesting cases solved by Conway. Sector General now has its own ambulance and Conway has been assigned.
More...