Stardoc

 

By S. L, Viehl

First book in the Stardoc series.

Cherijo Grey Veil worked hard at her studies and became a very skilled surgeon. Then she found out something about her father, Dr. Joseph Grey Veil, that turned her world upside down. And she fled her home and found a job at a medical clinic on another planet, trying to start a new life on a new world.

As a woman with a strong personality, Cherijo stepped on a few toes, mainly Drs. Mayer and Rogan. Really, though, she never had a chance with Dr. Mayer, who seemed to hate the very sight of her. But when a patient nearly died because of Dr. Rogan's failure to diagnose the patient correctly, Cherijo read him the riot act and earned herself an implacable enemy. 

Cherijo's father found out where she was and sent her threatening messages demanding that she come back home. He even sent people to kidnap her. But Cherijo laughed at his threats and continued on with her work at the clinic, treating whatever beings showed up in need of medical care. 

Most of her patients were not humans but that did not slow Cherijo down. She seemed to have an instinct for what all her patients who came to the clinic needed. That is until Alun Karas, a furry being who accidentally became covered with some kind of plant sap and had a reaction to it. No matter what she tried and for reasons she didn't understand, Alun Karas steadily went downhill, eventually dying. The medical tests showed no source of infection. But even worse, it soon became apparent that whatever had infected Karas was now spreading throughout the city. And none of the doctors have a clue as to what organism or toxin is responsible for the epidemic. Together, they are working to try to understand this sudden illness, but soon most of the doctors and nurses are infected too. Cherijo is unaffected and is bearing the weight of trying to crack this puzzle before the whole city is wiped out.

This was an OK story. Long, though, nearly 400 pages, way longer than it needed to be, I think. The epidemic section was way too long, it just goes on and on about how big of a puzzle the infection is. I found the story slow paced. And I never really liked the main character, Cherijo. I guess a lot of readers do like her story because it became a long series consisting of ten novels.