Rating: 
Summary: Medical Drama, Science Fiction and Romance with Humor
Review: Physician Cherijo Grey Veil needs to get off her world and fast. She hops a space freighter and flies into more trouble -- medical, political and romantical -- than you can shake a stethoscope at. The StarDoc gets herself mixed up with an assortment of weird and wonderful aliens, a plethora of medical emergencies reminiscent of a pangalactic ER, and enough problems of the heart to cause ventricular fibrillation. This fast and entertaining read has plenty of laughs(Cherijo's humor is often wry and self-deprecating which makes her a charming hero), action (requisite battles in the Clinic, on a space ship and in the bedroom) and love interests (so many aliens,so little time!) to make a series -- which is good because this StarDoc isn't finished yet. Reactions from others who have read this book have all been positive. The manager of a large chain bookseller says she doesn't usually read Science Fiction (SF) but was drawn by the Catherine Coulter endorsement on the cover (there is also a nice quote from Anne McCaffrey for fantasy fans). The manager liked the book and recommends it to her romance readers. A librarian I know, an avid SF reader, enjoyed the book immensely and has been recommending it to SF fans. If you are looking for interesting, well-drawn and engaging characters,fast and furious medical action, and all the conventions of SF -- faster than light ships, genetic tampering, aliens of every size and hue, blazing weapons and battles of the sexes -- look no farther than STARDOC. S.L. Viehl is a writer worth following into the vast reaches of black space and the inner working of the beating heart. Now I just have to wait until summer for a sequel! Quick, Healer Grey Veil, pass the tranquilizer hypospray and put me in cryosleep until July!
Rating:
Summary: You HAVE GOT to read this one!
Review: To escape her father on Terra (Earth) Dr. Cherijo Grey Veil (a brilliant surgeon) applied for a position on Kevarzangia Two at a FreeClinic. She had never worked on non-humans, but that area was desperate for any medical person able to hold a stethoscope, so she got the job. She must quickly learn to help over 200 different species (some were extremely dangerous just to LOOK at, much less help them when they are in pain)! Humans were looked down upon so that was a problem. Then there was her father. He found her. Readers, I cannot tell you what was going on there. Only that when Cherijo found out secrets about her father, her choices were run or have guards to keep her in line with a possible mind swipe. But when her father came to retrieve her, it took a large band of Jorenian Warriors to rescue/kidnap her from Kevarzangia Two AND broke treaties among planets! The secret was huge and could change the future for humanity. Daddy was a genious by Terran standards. Daddy was a monster by human standards though! ***** A KEEPER! David Weber and Anne McCaffrey have competition big time! DO NOT MISS THIS ONE! Awesome!
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining
Review: Viehl is an excellent writer. She creates real worlds, and real characters. Having moved into a new culture to be a teacher, a culture composed of at least 8 different cultures, all evolving rapidly, I easily identified with the primary character, Cherijo, as she pursues a professional career on a new planet, teeming with some 200 different species and cultures. Trying to serve the medical needs of 70,000 beings, ranging in size from a snail to a wooly mammoth, is an incredible challenge. This challenge takes what could be a somewhat boring premise- a novel about medical practice in the future- and turns it into a roller-coaster ride of a book, difficult to put down. Then Viehl adds in a number of suprises, up to the very end, as you try to discover just who Cherijo really is. I write of the characters as they are human, because Viehl does such a good job of creating her characters. Science Fiction is sometimes accused of being technology driven- you slap a few people (or species) into a standard plot, throw in a few gimmicks, and you get instafiction. But all good science fiction has been character driven- with just a few things changed to help us understand one possible future, and our possible present. Viehl does this excellently, helping us undersand what it means to be human. And in a genre that often downplays the role of women and minorities, Viehl is to be commended for highlighting both- I don't read much science fiction where the hero is a female Native American.
Rating:
Summary: Odd start, but excellent book.
Review: Stardoc is a novel that has the ability to get you lost in the world within. It is very well-paced after the first 100 pages or so. The first part isn't bad to be sure -- but it's an awkward "coming of age" series where the protagonist, Cherijo, wrestles with leaving her home and everything she knows to live on an alien world and treat non-human life forms in what is made to sound like a cesspit of a place. It is interesting, but perhaps it is the fact that the second half of the book is absolutely amazing that makes the first 1/4 or so look spare by comparison. The main character, a female Terran doctor, is brilliant yet terribly naieve. Her thoughts and adventures are wonderful to read, from her first sexual experience, to dealing with self-identity problems and concerns, to the delightful interactions with her cat Jenner. What usually swings science fiction novels for me into the "better" category as opposed to "drek" is 1) how they handle the science, and 2) how they handle minor characters. Stardoc isn't hard science fiction, but it is reasonably plausible, and in fact enjoyable so. It perhaps looks strange to see that the science must be enjoyable, but indeed, it is an integral part of the story -- especially this story in particular. As for #2, the minor characters...they were very well done. They weren't cardboard stand-ins for plot, or merely a catalyst to prod the story on with a haphazard jolt of bad writing. The minor characters help make this story. Even though the appearances of quite a few are brief, they shine without taking Cherijo's star, and are just as interesting as she; a rare feat of balance indeed. So if you're tired of most "modern" science fiction, especially with badly written female leads, StarDoc is for you. It will probably spark your enjoyment in the genre. If you're looking for hard sci-fi or military sci-fi, this probably won't turn your crank as well. However, although I am a vested lover of hard sci-fi, I found this jaunt quite enjoyable nonetheless.
Rating: 
Summary: Immature protagonist doing implausible medicine
Review: I'm a SF reading veteran, and I especially like female heroines. That being said, this is possibly the worst female heroine book I've read in the last 5 years. Cherijo starts off and consistently displays many characteristics of immaturity only seen in teenagers, even though with 7 years of medical practice she must be in her mid thirties. Running away from home, crying at every hint of adversity, feeling certain of being in love after 2 dates, throwing a tantrum and breaking things frequently, physically attacking other people when she dislikes them, a heightened sense of tunnel vision where she can only see immediate benefits without the long term side effects, the list goes on and on. As to the story value, the author is trying to create an ER-like environment of doctors treating patients amidst chaos. Unfortunately the plausibility of treament is ludicrous at best. Even though the author boasts 'medical experience' herself, it's obvious she has no idea how medicine or biology actually works. If the reader was science oriented, the suspension of disbelief is very difficult to maintain as the scenes are one non-sense after another. I admit however, that if you don't know anything about biology, and enjoy an ER-like TV show just for its atmosphere, you might be ok here. An early example: Cherijo has no idea or experience on alien physiology, but insists on treating patients without learning about it first. That's like a florist suddenly wanting to take a turn as a surgeon in the ER. There's a machine with an extensive database that can help her immensely, but she REFUSES to use it because it's currently used by someone she personally dislikes. I mean, she should be in jail for gross negligence, not praised for insisting to work. Another fault that's been mentioned by several reviewers is that fact that most men except her lover are completely incompetent. They are there at every turn merely to disagree with everything she does just so she can prove them wrong in the following pages. So in summary, if you like reading about a hugely egotistical whiny teenager against the world story, with nonsense science, you would enjoy the story. If any of that puts you off, stay away from this novel.
Rating:
Summary: Take a pleasant mindless trip into a space/medical/thriller
Review: I am actually a bit embarrassed to give this a five star rating, but cannot deny the fact that I tore through it in an un-put-downable frenzy, quickly picking up the sequel to continue my quest with Dr. Cherijo Grey Veil. More Sci-Fi than any other genre, this series nonetheless crosses genre borders and has something for everyone; medical thriller, murder mystery, space travel sci-fi, weird aliens, and a bit of romance and comedy for its lighter moments. This author has brought to us bookworms a series of novels that are purely mindlessly enjoyable reads, perfect for any occasion; travel, curling up on a cold night, staying up all night, whatever you choose. A far shot from great fiction, it still deserves a five star rating for capturing my wandering mind and even diverting me from my own writing. Dr. Cherijo Grey Veil is a feisty well trained surgeon who flees her homeworld of Terra after finding that her father has not only betrayed her but endangered her by her very existence. She takes a quick shuttle from Terra to K2 where she has accepted a position as a doctor in their free clinic, immediately immersed in treating all types of alien life forms she has never before encountered. She begins her service there under the animosity and hostility of both the clinic's administrator and one of her fellow practitioners. Things go from bad to worse. She meets and falls in love with Kao Torin, an alien who Chooses her; and also a fellow Terran named Duncan Reever who was raised off world, who she cannot seem to get along with at all. Other friends and enemies are formed among the habitants of K2 during her residency, including a previously undiscovered cluster of sentient beings that call themselves The Core. Shortly after her bonding with Kao, he becomes infected with an unidentified contagion and she is forced to save his life with dramatic measures, only to discover that they may not have been worth the price. In the meantime, with her newly discovered telepathic ability with Reever, she must find the cure for the contagion. Her obsessive compulsion to perform her oath as a doctor to the fullest, combined with her previously undiscovered romantic ability, to the clash with her fellow Terran, to the climatic confrontation with those who would persecute her; plus a not inconsiderable amount of medical intrigue and murder mystery, leads to a rapid fire reading pleasure that will suck you into her frantic and outlandish world and leave you turning pages as quickly as you can. Nothing but warm hearted good old fashioned reading pleasure here, an escape that readers so often seek out, with a cross-genre combination that actually works in that wondrously mysterious way we readers find so pleasing in a purely fictional escape from our cluttered lives. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: A lot of fun!
Review: Aside from a slightly slow beginning (hence the four - it's really a 4.5) StarDoc is nothing but sheer scifi adventure. In the words of the immortal Furby, "Big fun!" The first-person POV is something you don't often see in SF, and I love "hearing" Cherijo's asides and thoughts. She's smart, funny, kind of naive, and generally likable - and if you're willing to suspend disbelief, she will take you on a roller coaster ride you won't soon forget. Most of the quibbles I've seen are coming from scientists and mathematicians (hmmm...) and I say forget them. This book is not focusing on perfecting technology - it's focusing on telling a story. The science contained within is classic SF galaxy-hopping stuff and it worked just fine for me. The nitpickers are just that: nitpickers. They're better off reading the "hard" sci-fi that focuses so intently on creating plausible, "good" science that it leaves the story with no soul. StarDoc, with its attention to character and humor, is like turning on the AC on a 110-degree day. Now that I've picked up my paycheck I'm definitely off to get the next book in the series. Hooray for Cherijo!
Rating:
Summary: Medic To the Stars
Review: Stardoc is the first novel in the Stardoc series. Cherijo Grey Viel is a physician and surgeon and has discovered an awful secret about her arrogant and manipulative, but brilliant, father, Doctor Joseph Grey Veil. To escape from him, she finds a position as a physician at the FreeClinic Trauma Center on Kevarzangia Two (K-2), but she has to find non-scheduled transportation to the planet if she is going to evade her father. She discovers Dhreen in a bar, the Slow Lazy Sax; she thinks he is too young to pilot a star shuttle, but the bartender notes that his species stay young looking longer than humans. When she introduces herself, Dhreen thinks she looks too young to be a qualified physician and surgeon, but a bar fight soon gives her a chance to demonstrate her competence in emergency medical techniques. Dhreen takes her money and tells her to be on his shuttle, the Bestshot, in four hours. He tells her to look for the ugliest hunk of junk in the port ... and he isn't kidding. When she arrives on K-2, Cherijo reports to the FreeClinic and is told that she has an orientation presentation in two hours. She requests a tour of the facility before the orientation and soon meets the FreeClinic's incompetent slackard, Dr. Phorap Rogan, who quickly becomes irritated at her gung-ho attitude and walks off the job, leaving her stuck with his patient queue. Now she is responsible for treating any patient that comes in for treatment before the end of the current shift, but she has never treated a non-human sentient before. Moreover, Rogan tells the other physicians that she does not need a diagnostic analyzer and so she has to work without its database. She gets plenty of experience that day in rapid diagnosis and treatment, making a number of minor mistakes. She spends that first day in a confused haze, but survives with the assistance of the friendly nursing staff. She relates to the other, non-human, doctors well, but has problems with the FreeClinic's Chief of Staff, Doctor William Mayer. He is gruff and abrupt as well as highly skeptical about her abilities. On the other hand, she makes a friend of her Admin mentor, Ana Hansen. However, her relationship with the Chief Linguist, Duncan Reever, is mostly adversative, for he gives her the creeps, but is also strangely attractive. She also makes other friends in her housing area as well as at work. After the first day in the trauma center, Cherijo comes home to find that Jenner, her Tibetan Temple Cat, is not in the apartment. Before she can go out to look for him, Jenner is brought home by Alunthri, a Chakacat, a talking, but technically nonsentient, species. Cherijo and Jenner become friends with Alunthri and, later, adopt Alunthri when its owner dies. Cherijo also is introduced by a neighbor to a pilot friend, Kao Torin, and becomes romantically involved. Since Kao is a Jorenian, a rather overlarge humanoid alien, this bothers some of the more xenophobic Terrans in the community. This novel is soft science fiction, for the astronautical details are filled with errors, but the human -- and alien -- relationships are fairly well done. There is a touch of stereotyping, but the author tries to let the characters lead the plot. The author is also fond of the wheels within wheels style of plot yet does give fair warnings and does not resort to deus ex machina solutions to problems. However, the author seems to overemphasize the difficulties of implementing some of these solutions, possibly based on personal experiences. This novel is not great science fiction, for too much is derivative. The Sector General series, for example, is only a recent example of xeno-medicine tales. Moreover, the central medical problem in this novel is very similar to that of a recent Slonczewski novel and the concept actually antedates both works. However, some interesting medical concepts are mentioned in passing and the sociological structures are noteworthy. Nonetheless, the crux of the story is the relationship between Cherijo and Reever. Recommended for Sectory General fans and anyone else who enjoys tales of medical and surgical emergency practice in a SF setting, with a touch of romance.
Rating:
Summary: Putting the Science Back into Science Fiction
Review: What an excellent book! This novel combines a fast-moving, refreshingly
original plot with strong, well-defined characters and fascinating
science-fictional ideas to create a wonderful sci-fi adventure! However,
the aspect of the book I think I enjoyed the most was the
xenobiology. The author has a medical background, and she puts it to
good use, creating fascinating aliens and grippingly realistic hospital
scenes. It always annoys me to no end whenever an author falls victim
to what I call the "pointy ear syndrome" -- when the author's "aliens"
aren't really aliens at all, but human beings with a few cosmetic differences
(a la the different pointy-eared alien races on Star Trek. "Look! That
otherwise perfectly normal human being has pointy ears! Obviously he must
be an alien!" T.V. shows do it for practical reasons -- i.e., their
budget, the fact that they're working with human actors, etc -- but books
have no excuse except for the author's paucity of imagination). Stardoc's
aliens are actually *alien*! Physically, her alien races are wonderfully
weird, with a whole spectrum of different physiological characteristics --
and it all makes logical, medical sense (at least as far as this medical
ignoramus can tell). Even more delightfully, the aliens are sociologically
different too, with distinct, original cultures for each race.
This is universe-building par excellence! On another level, this story was just plain fun -- romance, adventure,
intrigue, and medical plagues. There were two or three plot points that
were slightly contrived, but they nevertheless moved the action of the
overall story along, so that's a forgivable flaw. And the secrets that
are revealed at the end of the novel turn much of what we think we know
on its head, and those plot points are revealed to be not so contrived
after all. All in all, this is a superb first installment in a series that I know I'm
going to be reading as long as the author cares to write it!
Rating:
Summary: Ugh...
Review: I'm an avid science fiction reader, and I was very disappointed with this novel. The main character seems very immature at times, and everyone hates her for no particular reason. Her romance is undeveloped and seems to just have happened suddenly, out of nowhere. At the same time, her lover is pretty one-dimensional. The main crisis in the novel, about the virus epidemic, is resolved instantly once Cherijo figures out what was causing it. It was as if the author had tired of the issue and just wanted to get on with the story... There were a lot of things that didn't make any sense. For example, in the middle of a pending virus outbreak, when Cherijo is doing research on the source of the virus, her boss sends her off on a mandatory vacation because he fears she has been working too hard. It's really ridiculous. And Reever, who apparently is supposed to be a sympathetic character, comes off as crazy and in need of some serious therapy. Don't read this if you like plot lines and characters that are at least reasonably logical and well-developed.
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