Rating: 
Summary: Devious writting indeed...
Review: Anne McCaffrey was right about this book. The writting _is_ devious. For one thing, the author definitely has a way with words. Some remarks are absolutely delicious in contrast with the events that preceed them. For another thing, the author parcel out information about the background plot in very tiny bits.Doctor Cherijo Grey Veil decides to run away from her controlling father. That he controlled every aspect of her life as if she was one of his experiments she could withstand, but when she finds out a dark secret in his past, she knows she must stay as far away from him as possible, or endanger her own life. So she chooses a distant first stage colony, where humans are less than one percent of the population -- something sure to annoy, to say the least, her deeply bigoted parent. And a very unusual choice too for a human, one of the most bigoted and racist species in the galaxy. A brilliant and experienced doctor, she, nevertheless, has no experience at all with aliens. She also makes quick enemies out of a colleague and her own new boss, and must work with substandard equipment in an E.R. that must be seen to be believed. And life would have been _so_ much easier if that was all that is waiting for her... I strongly recommend this book, but I must warn: the story doesn't end here. The sequel is a must read after this one.
Rating: 
Summary: What a fantastic first novel.
Review: S.L. Viehl's very personal 1st person style causes things to develop more slowly than the same story would in 3rd person, but also more intimately. We aren't just observing Cherijo Grey Veil's journey, we're taking it with her. Viehl has a talent for writing confrontations. Several long term conflicts develop quickly, ensuring that the story's tension never flags for long. Some of the plot twists are very clever. Several times I thought I knew what came next, only to be surprised, then surprised again at what natural extensions of the story this twists really were. It was all done very smoothly and convincingly. The rape scene was one instance when 3rd person could not have conveyed so much. We're right inside of Cherijo's head, experiencing everything as it happens. My great complaint about this story is the proliferation of futuristic object names in the early going. This is on the editor's head though, not S.L Viehl's. Why? Because the editor kept pushing for more of this. Thankfully they reached a compromise and once the story gets going this is no longer a problem. I also wish Cherijo cared more for herself. She's frustratingly accepting of way too much. Considering her background, and what a piece of dung her father is this is probably an unrealistic expectation on my part. S.L. Viehl did tell me that Cherijo develops significantly over the next couple of books. This can only add intensity to an already compelling story.
Rating:
Summary: Very Impressive
Review: I picked up this book on a frantic spree when I had run out of things to read, and couldn't bear to re-read anything. It got me hooked into waiting (pacing) for every book Viehl cares to write. Cherijo is a very believable character, whose side the reader is always on, no matter what. Viehl crafted this novel so masterfully, that she leads the reader around by the nose. Viehl makes readers hate a character with the snap of a finger, and then turn around forgivingly at a moment's notice. The reader doesn't figure this out until exactly when Viehl want's them too, and the rebellious tendencies this releases are just what the author wants. Doctor Cherijo Grey Veil is an accomplished physician/surgeon in the distant future, who tries to escape her creator/father by running to a distant backwater planet. Here, she overcomes aversion and dislike from other characters, and settles in to become an integral part of the community. Just when she saves the planet's diverse population, she finds that she has secretly been led around by the nose by her father (hmm... one of the devices Viehl uses to connect the reader to the character?), and he wants her back now. And so the true adventure of the series begins. READ IT!
Rating:
Summary: Medical Space Opera!
Review: This novel was a promising start to great series!Mix in a spunky lady doctor,a colony world filled with different sorts of alien races add in xenophobic humans, romance, nasty epidemic and plot twists.Dr. Grey Veil was one of the most endearing heroine I've come across since Festina Rampos(the unforgettable heroine of Expendable)You will see Cherijo have confronations with her overbearing father, battle a deadly virus that threatens the planet and carry on a interspecies romance with a dashing alien pilot.I do agree with a previous reviewer in that Viehl does have a bleak view of humanity and how we will probably deal with alien races if we have in contact with them.Viehl has created some imaginative alien races in her debut novel and her world-building skills are above-average.So hope aboard a spaceship with Cherijo and take a adventure into outer reaches of space and inner reaches of the human and the not so human heart.You won't regret the journey, I sure didn't!
Rating:
Summary: Hellooooo Sci-Fi
Review: As a person that likes to read a wide range of genre, I was very happy to find a book in the Sci-Fi section that not only held my attention but made me laugh, sigh, growl and finally, turn the last page with a feeling of sadness that the journey was over. My hats off to S. L Viehl for a book that was worth the time I put into reading it.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a Romance Novel
Review: Cherijo Grey Veil is an interesting character, I decided to buy this novel after reading the excerpt at the end of Catherine Coulter's book, The Courtship, which I enjoyed. The excerpt is one of two love scenes in the entire 394 pages of the book. Two minor love scenes and one violent rape scene do not, in my estimation, describe a romance story. The majority of the novel consists of descriptions of the various "innards" of the many different aliens. Don't get me wrong, the story is interesting, I might even be tempted to buy the second novel in the series. But I will know that it is not a romance novel like Jayne Castle or Nora Roberts or even Dara Joy. My only concern about the next book is that Cherijo Grey Veil will end up with that slimey, unemotional, insulting, translator/rapist, Reever. THAT would be a big tragedy.
Rating:
Summary: ENTHRALLING..
Review: What an awesome find! I actually found the second novel first and being the addict I am had to read the first one instead. So glad I did. If you enjoyed the Honor Harrington novels and the books by Nick O'Donohue you will most assuredly enjoy this new series.... I read both this book and its sequel in one day... the premise is innovative and the characters are engaging. A must read for those who enjoy the thrill of a good series!
Rating: 
Summary: What a stinker
Review: God, this book was terrible. If the cardboard characters had a little more depth, they might qualify as two dimensional. (Plucky, beautiful female heroine, rougish rattletrap spaceship captain, strong, silent hero, gruff boss with a heart of gold, yadda yadda yadda). The science was bad (actual quote: ``some life forms evolved from plants''), and the galactipolitical scene was worse. Avoid.
Rating:
Summary: A really great read
Review: This is the best kind of Science Fiction, the kind that doesn't neglect the characters, their emotions and their interactions in favor of battles and hardware. Oh sure, there's plenty of action as the main character flees her controlling father across space, and fights a deadly epidemic, but the author hasn't forgotten that these exciting, interesting things are happening to PEOPLE (some of them human, some not). It's a pleasure to read a book like this one, and S.L. Viehl is a name to watch. If we're lucky, we'll be hearing much more from this author.
Rating: 
Summary: Should have been in the Harlequin Romances
Review: The book has the plot of a Victorian Romance AND is almost crippled by "political correctness"... The poor heroine runs away from her cold guardian, where everyone loves her except for an obnoxious (and ugly!) rival doctor (male, of course!). She is rescued by an alien crew that loves her so much that they start a war with the evil goons of the chauvinist racist Earth Empire--led by her evil guardian. Before that she saves the planet from an intelligent plague (self-aware viruses), midwifes a pregnant galactic pirate-slaver, and charms everyone she meets... For a self-reliant strong heroine she spends the entire book being saved by adoring fans while she wrings her hands and declaims her complete unworthiness... Give this one a pass! Go read a Bujold book instead!
| 
