Final Diagnosis : A Sector General Novel

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Summary: I'm glad this wasn't the last book in the series after all
Review: *Final Diagnosis* refers back to *Star Surgeon*, which pleased me because that the first Sector General book I ever read [in 1967 or 1968, when paperbacks were only 50 cents]. If you've read that earlier book you'll enjoy reading how things turned out, and you should enjoy the book even if you haven't. Although, as another reviewer mentioned, it's easy to figure out most of what's going on (once Hewlitt remembers his kitten's accident, the incident with Morredeth is inevitable, etc.), that doesn't matter much. Never mind the "mystery", the book is worth reading for the characters alone. I only wish, for new readers' sake, that series remained in print as long now as they did when I was a girl. The internet makes it easier to find out-of-print books than it used to be, but that's no substitute for being able to order all the earlier books from the publisher. Ann E. Nichols

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Summary: Great medical detetive story with a twist!
Review: A different look at both medicine and culture, and how the two interact, with both interesting charaters and believable situations involing both medicine, patient's rights and how de-humanizing medicine can be "for our own good", and madding when doctors try to make our decisions for us, Petient Hewlitt must fight those who view him as a mential case looking for attention. This is a field seldom looked into in Science Fiction, where it is assumed the future will hold no illness, and everthing can be cured.

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Summary: White is still the best at this style scifi!
Review: As a long time reader of White's Sector General novels i was definitly not disappointed with his newest. I really enjoyed Patient Hewlett's attempts to get over his xenophobia. No one writes aliens like White. You really want to meet these creatures by the end of his books. His plots are always wonderfully off kilter. It is good old fashioned science fiction in the best sense of the word. You can read them out of order but to get the full effect try to find the earlier books as well.

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Summary: The Sun Never Sets On Sector General
Review: For anyone who has long been a fan of James White's Sector General novels, this is a welcome return to the style of his earlier stories. The protagonist is once again human (though unlike any of White's previous characters), and most of the old favorite characters once again check in, even Diagnostician Conway (although in a limited role). The search for a mystery ailment that breaks all the rules of inter-species immunity leads the medics on a chase for causes and cures. This is more a mystery than a pure science-fiction story, but the solutions to all the questions occur to the reader considerably before they are reached in the story, especially to those familiar with White's earlier work. There is nothing really new here, as this is derived from previous stories, but White's usual crystal-clear easygoing narrative makes this an easy and enjoyable read. Rather than plowing new ground, this book is much like a reunion with cherished old friends, and there's a worthwhile new friend here, too

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Summary: This sci-fi book was a find which surprised and intrigued me
Review: I have not read the rest of James White's Sector General series but I now eagerly anticipate reading them. The humor and mystery of the book were only equalled by White's talent for describing enthralling alien characters. He paints a picture of the future with a different slant than any I have read thus far, an uplifting look at human/life ironies told from a sympathetic point of view, like a Norman Rockwell doctor who routinely treats nitrogen-breathing slime creatures from a planet with five times our gravity!

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Summary: Another Amusing, Well-Written "Sector General" Novel
Review: James White has written an entire series of novels set in "Sector General", an enormous spaceship/space station that functions as an interspecies hospital of the future, inhabited by dozens of different species of sentient beings from across the galaxy. The stories are always well-written, fast-paced, character-based but filled with action, and touched with satire and humor.

In this particular novel, a human named Hewlitt was raised on a colony planet and has a history of near-fatal illnesses without apparent cause, followed by miraculous recoveries. All of his life, the semi-xenophobic Hewlitt has been the target of doubt and skepticism from medical personnel, who think his episodes of illness are either self-induced (Munchausen Syndrome) or hypochondriacal in nature. In a last-ditch attempt to accurately diagnose ("final diagnosis") and treat his "illness", he goes to the galaxy-renowned Sector General hospital. I won't give away the rest of the story, but adventures and mishaps abound, with a fascinating double-climax (Hewlitt's final diagnosis and then dealing with its implications).

The story is hard to put down, and is very enjoyable reading. That's expectable from this entire series of books, with "The Genocidal Healer" being the best of a good bunch.

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Summary: Too much background
Review: Maybe it's because I've read most of the other Sector General stories.. I felt that Final Diagnosis had way too much explanation in it. Most of the other books do explain the alien physiology classifications that White uses, which is fine, but this particular plot could have fit in a thimble after all the explanations had been cut.