Summer Group Read: James White's Sector General Books

Welcome, fellow LTers! This group read is to encourage people to try out, or reread, any or all of the 12 Sector General books written by James White between 1957 and 1999. It is intended to be of three months duration, June, July and August. I'll provide both book information and some background information, and then the thread is open for anyone to ask questions, speak about their experiences with this series, or report reading any of the books along with their reactions. I don't really think we need to worry about spoilers, and you really can enter the series at any point. Say hi and let us (me) know you are considering participating!!

The Sector General series consists of 12 books published originally between 1962 (Hospital Station) and 1999 (Double Contact).

From Wikipedia:
The Sector General series began as short stories published in New Worlds from 1957 onwards.Originally White intended to end the series with Star Healer (1985), by which time the central characters had reached the top levels in their careers, but Ballantine Books persuaded him to continue. He extended the stories' range by introducing new central characters beginning with Code Blue - Emergency (1987), and The Genocidal Healer (1992) focused on psychological and theological issues of guilt and forgiveness rather than strictly medical ones.
The books in the series are:
Hospital Station (1962: stories published in New Worlds 1957–1960)3
Star Surgeon (1963)
Major Operation (1971: stories published in New Worlds 1968–1971)25
Ambulance Ship (1979)
Sector General (1983)
Star Healer (1985)
Code Blue - Emergency (1987)
The Genocidal Healer (1992)
The Galactic Gourmet (1996)
Final Diagnosis (1997)
Mind Changer (1998)
Double Contact (1999)
These were also published as omnibus editions:
Beginning Operations (2001) contains Hospital Station, Star Surgeon and Major Operation.
Alien Emergencies (2002) contains Ambulance Ship, Sector General and Star Healer.
General Practice (2003) contains Code Blue - Emergency and The Genocidal Healer.
Tales of Sector General (1999) contains The Galactic Gourmet, Final Diagnosis, and Mind Changer.

The Aliens Among Us and Futures Pasts are collections of short stories, with only one story in each book being a Sector General story.

ETA the omnibus editions are available as ebooks for $9.99 each. Only the final book is unavailable that way.

Here are my copies of the series. Although I have Star Surgeon catalogued, I could not find my copy, so I purchased the ebook omnibus Beginning Operations. I figured it was a good deal since my copies of Hospital Station (1962 Ballantine) and Major Operation (1974 Ballantine) are very brittle and falling apart, not able to stand up to many more physical readings.

Sector General is a gigantic multi-species hospital space station founded as a peace-making project by two heroes from opposite sides of humanity's only full interstellar war. The hospital accommodates patients and staff from dozens of species, with different environmental requirements, behaviors and ailments. Initially most of the stories concern the career of Doctor Conway, who rises from junior surgeon to Diagnostician. In the fourth book the Galactic Federation decides that the emergency service which the hospital offers to victims of space accidents and planetary catastrophes is the most effective means of making peaceful contact with new spacefaring species, which allows the series to expand its range of plots, characters and settings. The seventh and later books each have a different and usually alien viewpoint character, which gave them "considerable new pep". They also expand the range of issues beyond purely medical, and in Mike Resnick's opinion treat issues such as guilt and forgiveness better than most science fiction.
The series defined the subgenre of multi-species medical stories, and was "the first explicitly pacifist space opera" series, when much of contemporary space opera from the United States was notably military.

James White (7 April 1928 – 23 August 1999) was a Northern Irish author of science fiction novellas, short stories and novels. He was born in Belfast and returned there after spending some early years in Canada. After a few years working in the clothing industry, he worked at Short Brothers Ltd., an aircraft company based in Belfast, from 1965 until taking early retirement in 1984 as a result of diabetes. White married Margaret Sarah Martin, another science fiction fan, in 1955 and the couple had three children. He died of a stroke in 1999.
He became a fan of science fiction in 1941 and co-wrote two fan magazines, from 1948 to 1953 and 1952 to 1965. Encouraged by other fans, White began publishing short stories in 1953, and his first novel was published in 1957. His best-known novels were the twelve of the Sector General series, the first published in 1962 and the last after his death. White also published nine other novels, two of which were nominated for major awards, unsuccessfully.
White abhorred violence, and medical and other emergencies were the sources of dramatic tension in his stories. The "Sector General" series is regarded as defining the genre of medical science fiction, and as introducing a memorable crew of aliens. Although missing winning the most prestigious honours four times, White gained other awards for specific works and for contributions to science fiction. He was also Guest-of-Honour of several conventions.

Beginning Operations

It’s important to know that all the stories in these first three books originally appeared in magazines either as short stories or serialized novellas. The stories in Hospital Station appeared from 1957-1960, for Star Surgeon in 1963, and for Major Operation from 1968 to 1971. As such, the first two in particular mirror the gender stereotypes of the times. The nice thing is that White grew with the times over the 37 years he was writing the series, so don’t be too judgmental here. The other thing to keep in mind is that these are essentially problem-solving stories, so don’t expect deep character development, at least within a story. We do see some over time between the books.

Added this thread to our group wiki.

You are fast, Jim. I was just going to PM you to ask you to do that. You ARE a wizard! Or a rocket scientist. One or the other at least!

Just happened to be surfing LT!

>6 ronincats: Beginning Operations is safely stashed on my Kindle and awaits the off!

I'm in, Roni! I read Hospital Station earlier this year, so I'll be starting with Star Surgeon.

Great set up/info here on the thread - I'm so glad you did this.

Nice intro stuff! I will see if I can get my hands on one. : )

I may read some of these. I've read, I think, all of them - but the only one I've reviewed was Double Contact, and I read that in 2010! (didn't like it, said I'd go back and read some O'Mara and Conway stories because they were better). Because they're all rereads (except possibly Final Diagnosis and _possibly_ Mind Changer), I'd need to pile up a bunch of BOMBs (because I won't let myself reread unless I've "paid" for it with a Book Off My Bookshelf). I'll see what I can do - I would like to revisit Sector General.

Count me in! I've got the first Omnibus winging it's way to me in the post as we speak. I've never read any of the books before, but they sound like just what I need at the moment.

I'll try and join in - but I didn't do too well (ie didn't even start) with the Hub group read.

ETA: So I had a look on Overdrive and only one library has one book; the last in the series. So I’ve put a hold on Double Contact. I had a look at Amazon and their are three omnibus (omnium?) for Kindle at $9.99 each. Do I ... don’t I?

I have the first omnibus but probably won't be able to start it late in June or early July. This is a new author for me and I am looking forward to the read. Thanks for setting this up, Roni.

>15 humouress: Actually, there are FOUR omnibi, Nina. The third one only has two books in it. I don't think I've read Double Contact and one of the reasons spurring this thread is to finally read the three or four I've never read.

Welcome, Jim, Dejah, Kim, hopefully Jenn, Hannah, maybe Nina, and Judy!

I have the first omnibus and have started it, reading about a story a month. It will be great to discuss them with others!

Welcome, Claire! I'm glad you've joined us.

I'll join if I can find any of the books.

>7 drneutron: Do you have a link to the wiki?

I was able to get the first three omnibuses. I will probably read one a month unless I get really hooked,and then it might be one a week.

>21 SilverWolf28: Go to the top of this page and click on the blue link right under the thread name that says:

75 Books Challenge for 2020

That will take you to the Group page. Right under the description of the group are the links to the group wikis. It's the first one.

>23 ronincats: Thanks!

Go on then. I have succumbed and bought Beginning Operations (1, 2 & 4) for my Kindle since it’s $9.99 on Amazon (presumably down from $30 something and instead of about $45 as a paperback). Amazon UK doesn’t seem to have it at all for the Kindle.

I have an omnibus coming that contains the first 4 books in the series. I will get more after I decide whether or not I like those well enough, lol.

I discovered this series last winter and have been steadily making my way through since then. I just finished the penultimate book Mind Changer which brings the original main character O'Mara back to the forefront. I liked the way the book alternated between a current medical case and flashbacks to the past which let the reader see how O'Mara went from how he was in Hospital Station (the first book) to a much changed position in the second book (Star Surgeon).

I have been reading these as ebooks/Kindle books and for some reason Code Blue - Emergency has not been released in ebook format. It is frustrating particularly as none of my local libraries have a print copy (something I investigated before the Covid crisis). Amazon can sell me a paperback copy for $25 if I was willing to spend that much (which I am not). It seems odd to me that this one book in the series hasn't been digitized...

It does exist as an ebook in the omnibus General Practice - Code Blue and Genocidal Healer make it up. But yeah, don't see it as an individual ebook - odd. Nor is there an ebook for the omnibus Tales of Sector General - I see individual ebooks for Mind Changer and Double Contact, but neither individual nor omnibus versions of Galactic Gourmet or Final Diagnosis. Did you find those?

I'm here! I'm here and reading Star Surgeon. Yippeeee!

Sorry to hear it might be difficult to find copies of some books. Paperbackswap.com (free membership) has Double Contact, Star Surgeon, Star Healer and one of my favorites The Galactic Gourmet available right now.

So glad you found your books, Peggy. Were they hiding in plain sight?

They sort of were, Roni, except that a door is propped open against that book shelf, so its contents weren't easily glimpsed.

>28 jjmcgaffey: I found both Galactic Gourmet and Final Diagnosis on Open Library (and most of the other books in the series). It is a free library for ebooks, requiring only a valid email address to join:

openlibrary.org

oh. One of the scanner sites - they're not (generally) scams for readers, but as the sister of an author I'm disinclined to use them for books in copyright. They buy a book, scan it, and make it available to everyone for free...which may be why there's no (authorized) ebook copy of those later books. Which is sort of shooting themselves in the foot (if there's no authorized version people will go to the free ones) but still.

Ah, it's Internet Archive - they're currently being sued by a bunch of authors for scanning and releasing their books without permission.

Project Gutenberg spends so much time and effort on making sure the books they put up are out of copyright, and IA just goes ahead and grabs whatever they feel like...

Not much action here so far. Are people not reading yet, or just not sure how to discuss? Here's what I've read so far.



Book #65 Hospital Station by James White (191 pp.)
Book #66 Star Surgeon by James White (160 pp.)
Book #67 Major Operation by James White (183 pp.)

These are the first three books in the Sector General series, books about the operation of a HUGE multi-species hospital in outer space, and of the problems in diagnosing and treating such a diverse population, some of whom have never been encountered before. The first two books were published in the early 60s and reflect some of the non-woke sexism of the times as well as their initial publications as short stories or serializations in the pulp magazines (mainly through the repetition of established facts or procedures of the hospital). By the third book, published in 1971, Nurse Murchison has become a pathologist and kept her own name when marrying a senior doctor. This is problem-solving science fiction that reflects the biases of its Northern Ireland author in its equal treatment of all aliens and pacifist approach to dealing with conflict.



Book #73 Ambulance Ship by James White (192 pp.)

There were a number of Sector General books that I missed back in those pre-Internet days, and I think this was one of them. Our team has now been moved from the great hospital to an Ambulance Ship, designed to respond to distress signals in space. Each episode takes the ship to a different disaster with different problems that need to be solved. Still good stuff with such interesting aliens!

*sigh* Star Surgeon is good, but my heart is back at the hospital - definitely my preferred setting. And I miss my favorite character, Dr. Prilicla.

Well, Prilicla is back in the next few books!

I've started Hospital Station and I'm really enjoying it so far! The ambiguous nature of O'Mara's character and and the mammoth (in more ways than one!) task he gets given of caring for the orphaned baby alien is a slightly unusual start that has a great pay off. It immediately made me feel like I will definitely enjoy what's coming next.

I've just read the first chapter of Hospital Station. It reminds me of my children, especially when my youngest was a newborn. He'd wait about half a second after waking up before yelling for his feed and he'd sound so outraged, as though you'd been starving him for days. Come to think of it, his personality hasn't changed much ...

>34 ronincats: okay, okay. I found a copy of Hospital Station and will try it out after it arrives.

I also like that White reviewed the basis of classification early on in this one. This is one time I don't mind being told at all!

I've read the stories in Hospital station and really enjoyed them, despite the dated aspects mentioned in >34 ronincats:. White has created an amazing range of life forms and thought about how they could co-exist (or not) on one space station - it is a nice change from the basically humanoid types of alien. I would love to see a chart of the different classifications!

I've finished Hospital Station and enjoyed it! I'll dive straight into the next in the series very soon!

>41 Sakerfalcon: Huh. I was sure someone would have made one - the closest I got was a listing of classifications mentioned in the books, with descriptions and identifiers for individuals thus classified. https://www.sectorgeneral.com/articlesclassification.html

Not a chart, not a real explanation of the system, just a list. I don't know if there's enough data to make a real chart...but I'm surprised no one's apparently tried.

>41 Sakerfalcon: >43 jjmcgaffey: Ooh - a group project! :0)

“Oh, well, misogyny is an allowable neurosis,”

From the last paragraph of ‘Trouble with Emily’.

>41 Sakerfalcon: >44 humouress: I sort of wonder whether White really thought through the classification. It feels more to me that after a general statement, he simply slapped initials around. How about it, Roni?

The first initials are pretty consistent - the "what you breathe" ones. Beyond that, I don't really know.

Right, Jim. I was wondering more about the others, and "what you breathe" is the easy one.

I really think the first classification is the only one that really mattered for the purposes of the stories. White poked fun at himself after the mobile vegetables were encountered and had to be classified as AA because vegetables are more primitive on the classification scale than water-breathing life, pointing out the discrepancy was due to a lack of imagination by the creators of the classification system!

>48 LizzieD: Jennifer, not Jim. Somehow jjm (Jennifer Jean McGaffey) gets read as Jim a lot...

Ooops! My apologies, Jennifer. I did merely glance at the ID, which bears no resemblance at all to drneutron!
Thanks for the explanation, Roni.

'Sector General' (Chapter 2 of Hospital Station) has a lot of beings scattered through it with their classifications mentioned or used instead of/ as well as their nationality(?) and towards the end has an explanation of the taxonomy, to some extent. For the most part, though, I've only seen one type of species within each classification except for ours, where we're matched with the red teddy bears.

I went back through the book and started a list but it's not getting very far.

My library system had only one book of the series and that one seems to be right in the middle. I read Galactic Gourmet. I wan't sure that I was going to like it but I found myself really enjoying it.

>53 Kristelh: That's one of my favorites, Kristel. Glad you liked it!

>53 Kristelh: I think that most of the books in the series can be read as stand-alones. I am glad that you enjoyed Galactic Gourmet; it is certainly a unique perspective of interstellar relations!

>1 ronincats: Thank you for hosting this topic! I hadn't heard about the Sector General books before this, and now it's one of my most favorite series.

>52 humouress: Nina, I had thought of keeping a list too, but I'm too lazy. I congratulate you on your ambition, wish you well with it, and hope that you'll let us all see it when you're done. None of the tedium and all of the profit sounds like my kind of deal, I'm sorry to say.
Meanwhile, I'm still reading a bit a day in #2 and enjoying it immensely!

>52 humouress:, >57 LizzieD: Let me point out that Jenn referenced an existing list at >43 jjmcgaffey::
https://www.sectorgeneral.com/articlesclassification.html

>56 SilverWolf28: You are very welcome. I generally host an author/series about once every year or so and the goal each time is to introduce readers to something I've enjoyed and think they might as well.

Let me point out to the group that there is no need to read the series exhaustively as I am doing, mainly to fill in the gaps that I missed back in the years before the internet, book availability, and disposable income. If you enjoy these type of puzzle plots, by all means enjoy. As noted, the first 6 feature Sector General mostly from the viewpoint of Conway, while after that, the viewpoint shifts to different, often alien views (as in Galactic Gourmet where we have an alien master chef faced with the problem of providing tasty hospital food for all those species). But this is one you can dip into and out of according to whim.

>57 LizzieD: It sounds like my kind of deal too. Unfortunately, it looks like I'm on the wrong end of this one *sigh*
;0)

>58 ronincats: I like the description there of humans.

After reading the Murderbot novellas recently, I've realised that I really like books that take place at least in part on space stations! The Sector General books certainly fit that bill. I like seeing different species mingling and interacting, and imagining how our own familiar environments of shopping malls, hotels and, in this case, hospitals, might work in outer space. I especially like the sound of Galactic gourmet - outer space medicine and cooking combined in one book? Sign me up!

>60 Sakerfalcon: psst. If you like books that take place on space stations with different species, you need to try CJ Cherryh's Chanur series starting with The Pride of Chanur.

Addendum: oops! You've already read it, ha.

My copy of Hospital Station arrived yesterday, though I'm unsure of when I'll read it. Right now I am deep in a rut and so am reading Merchanter's Luck to get back on track.

>61 fuzzi: I love the Chanur books! I still have the final one to read, I'm saving it to put off the moment when there are no more new Chanur books to be read.

>62 Sakerfalcon: I liked Chanur's Legacy quite a bit!

I wish CJ would finish her Nighthorse trilogy 😢.

>62 Sakerfalcon: >63 fuzzi: I have to live a long, long time so that I can read everything that CJ has ever written! (Our two oldest cats, btw, are Tully and Hilfy Bit.)

Book #79 Code Blue--Emergency by James White (280 pp.)

White was originally going to end the series after Star Healer, the sixth in the series, where Conway reached his highest possible promotion. But his publisher pressed him for more, and he responded by having a non-human protagonist in the remaining stories. All of these later stories are written as full novels and lack the more episodic structure of the earlier books. This one traces the adventures and misadventures of Cho Thrat, the first of her species to come to Sector General as a student, and is tremendously entertaining in all respects. This is my first time reading this one.

>64 LizzieD: I just need to finish the Foreigner series, only read the first three.

And I want to read the next Hinter Stars book. I keep looking to see when it will be published.

>66 fuzzi: I have my next Foreigner lined up, fuzzi, but I've been distracted by Rider at the Gate. FIRST, I will finish Star Surgeon!
Do keep reading. The Foreigners get better and better. Each of the early ones gives us at least one great revelation about one of the major characters. Then there are Cajieri and Ilisidi, who are two of the best characters in the whole series. You have a lot to look forward to, and so do I!

>67 LizzieD: don't forget to read the Rider sequel Cloud's Rider ("bacon") 😉

So far I have read all the Sector General books through Star Healer. I will be reading the rest of the series in July.

I've just finished Star Surgeon. I have one more book in this omnibus edition of the first three and then I will have to start tracking down the others!

I was more than a little flustered to find I no longer had any James White paperbacks. I had read a couple years ago and apparently passed them along in a periodic downsizing of read books. Our library has zero James White books as far as i can tell ( and the libe is only open for pickups on holds or by appointment for a one hour visit). Anyway, I found one. In a monster sized anthology I have put out in 2016, The Big Book of Science Fiction edited by Ann and Jeff Vandermeer it has a section titled "Sector General" with an introduction to James White and what the editors call a 1957 novella that started the series titled, of course, "Sector General". So I have something after all. In the introduction among many things the editors say this:

The Sector General stories are underrated within the science fiction canon, perhaps because they do not depend on typical conflict or story lines for their resolution. But this is exactly what makes them unique and still fresh to this day. "Sector General" remains one of the most potent, demonstrating White's ability to tell an engrossing story while also exploring the hospital and presenting the reader with a unique experience.

"Sector General" first appeared in the magazine New Worlds Science Fiction, #65 November 1957, and was later included in the 1962 book "Hospital Station"

I finally finished Hospital Station. I'm no longer thrilled by the overly independent Dr. Conway. He is surrounded by experts he can't trust. In any normal narrative, that man would be seen to have major problems. Also, nothing more than the vaguest hints of personal life for the staff which seems to be permanently stuck in a pretty comfortless station. What's there is interesting a lively, but what isn't there is much of what I've come to relate to in modern SF.

I've just finished Star Surgeon. I quite liked Dr. Conway in *HS*, but I'm wearied of him a bit in this one. Even more am I weary of the unthinking sexism - women's minds are incapable of adapting to the alien tapes that allow a doctor of one species to treat another. The hospital itself is my favorite character, so I suspect that this one won't be my favorite. All that said, I enjoyed the book and I'll be on to the next later in July.
Speaking of the tapes, I wonder if this was the germ of C.J. Cherryh's tapes in the Alliance/Union novels. I always thought the concept was a tiny bit quaint. I need to google to find out when dear Janice started writing.

ETA: Wikipedia says her first was 1976.

>73 LizzieD: I haven't read that far, but does that only apply to human women? I didn't notice gender differentiation in his aliens in the first book.

Hi, everyone! Good to see you here.

Peggy, the good news is that Star Surgeon has the most sexism in it--it gets better after this although White feels he has to stick to the gender specific tape thing. Nina, in the book I just finished, the main pov character is a female alien who inadvertently gets the equivalent of tapes in her brain. I don't know what if anything he does with this down the road.

Thanks, Roni! Good news!

I finished the first book in my omnibus, Hospital Station. (I'm thinking that I must have the same omnibus as >70 HanGerg: .

I enjoyed it - as others have said, I am a fan of the non-humanoid aliens. I grew up watching Lost in Space and Star Trek in the 60's. And while I understand the difficulties in having non-humanoid aliens on the tube during that era, it's eye-opening to me that these amazing alien life forms were written in the 50's.

Spoiler for the last story in Hospital Station I was glad to find the large orange ship was a hospital ship. I had it pegged as something much more nefarious - some sort of specimen collecting ship for private zoos or research, say

I'll go on with Star Surgeon later this month. It's good to know about the sexism in this next one, as well as Roni saying in >6 ronincats: "As such, the first two in particular mirror the gender stereotypes of the times. The nice thing is that White grew with the times over the 37 years he was writing the series, so don’t be too judgmental here."

Regarding the exasperation with Dr. Conway mentioned by both Susan and by Ron on his thread, I wanted to add the observation that, actually, in today's vocabulary, I see Conway as somewhat neuroatypical, on the spectrum. While this POV may not reduce that exasperation, it may help make it more tolerable.

And to expand upon that:

"People with Asperger's syndrome have normal to above-average intelligence but typically have difficulties with social skills and often have pervasive, absorbing interests in special topics."

"Positive characteristics of people with Asperger syndrome have been described as beneficial in many professions and include:

the increased ability to focus on details,
the capacity to persevere in specific interests without being swayed by others' opinions,
the ability to work independently,
the recognition of patterns that may be missed by others,
intensity, and
an original way of thinking."

>78 ronincats: LOL - that makes so much sense in retrospect!

I have finished Double Contact, the final book in the series. I liked having Dr. Prilicla as the main character but was a bit sad that Conway wasn't present in this last book.

>79 leslie.98: THANK YOU, Leslie! I've been waiting (and waiting) for SOMEONE to come by and comment on it. It's not something I would have had experience with back when I first read these books, but now it does seem SO obvious!

Book #85 The Genocidal Healer by James White (219 pp.)

I am more and more impressed by these later Sector General books that I hadn't read, both this one and the previous one included in General Practice. The novel-length stories are much richer with more detail and depth of thought than the earlier books and deal with really interesting issues.

>82 ronincats: I found Lorien a tad frustrating but I liked the way he developed into the 'Padre'.

>83 leslie.98: Oh he was, but that was the point, wasn't it? Now I'm into The Galactic Gourmet, which IS a reread and one I remember enjoying quite a bit the first time through.

>84 ronincats: I just finished The Galactic Gourmet and I liked it a whole lot.

>85 SilverWolf28: I just finished my re-read as we!l, and still like it a whole lot! Glad you liked it too.

Oh Joy! I knew this read was here, but somehow what with everything I couldn't get myself here. I've read the first three yonks ago -- in 2014 and my reviews of them are on the May 2014 thread, actually they are fairly amusing, so I will bring them over here eventually.

So I'll be starting in on Ambulance Ship What is amazing to me was that as I read the reviews everything came roaring back. Some details and the general outline were already accessible -- always a good sign!

I have all four omnibuses and I finally got upstairs to where the sf hoard is to get them!!! -- I've been upstairs usually once a day, but I can only carry a few things down at a time, so White had to wait. (I broke my ankle 8 weeks ago, but I'm in the home stretch now)

Book #86 The Galactic Gourmet by James White (288 pp.)

White returns to Sector General to tell the tale of the great Gurronsevas, a massive, six-legged alien of considerable dignity, who is the most renowned chef in all the galactic federation.
Chef? Just so. But now, at the peak of his career, Gurronsevas finds that fame, honor, and a large staff of scurrying minions aren't enough anymore. He wants to take on the greatest challenge of his professional life: making hospital food palatable.
And not just any hospital, either. Gurronsevas has come to Sector General. And interspecies understanding may never recover....

This one is a reread, and I enjoyed it just as much this time as the last time! And probably even more because, reading it in sequence, characters from the previous books have an additional depth and resonance that I would not have picked up on the first time.



Book #87 Final Diagnosis by Jame White (320 pp.)

This book refers not only to previous characters but to the events in Star Surgeon, the second book in the series. I love the way White ties in not only the characters but the plots of previous books and continues to develop novel and fascinating alien situations!



Book #89 Mind Changer by James White (301 pp.)

This reads like the final book of the series, although there will be one more. O'Mara, the chief other-species psychologist, has been there since Sector General was being built, a legend in his own time and behind the scenes in every book. But now he is appointed chief administrator, charged with choosing and then training his successor, and then retiring. Through a series of flashbacks interspersed with yet another medical mystery problem needing solving, we follow him throughout the history of Sector General, as well as dealing with the current-day issue. I didn't remember anything about the book except that when we reached the ultimate scene, I knew who and what it was and so must have read it before.

I will read the final book, featuring Dr. Prilicla, but this really reads like the culmination of the series and I am more impressed than ever before at what James White hath wrought.

I have completed the first book, Hospital Station and I really enjoyed this first entry. Considering that these stories were written in the 1950s, it didn't feel all that dated to me. I loved that cooperation and communication between species was front and center, instead of mistrust and wars.

>89 DeltaQueen50: Yes - I love the fact that White has created great stories that focus on peaceful cooperation between species while still having plenty of adventure!

And I come to the end...



Book #90 Double Contact by James White (311 pp.)

The Rhabwar, Sector General's ambulance ship, is sent out to investigate a distress call and ends up encountering not one but two first contact species. This book is narrated from Dr. Prilicla's POV and is as usual a highly imaginative adventure with original aliens, but I do have a fondness for the character of Sector General itself and miss it when we are off in space instead. This is the final book in the series.

Overall, there have been 12 books, 6 in the first sequence following Dr. Conway; four dealing with Sector General through the eyes of other characters, one of whom is human but the others are alien; one from O'Mara's viewpoint over the many years of Sector General; and a final book, the one above, from Dr. Prilicla's perspective. All have been essentially puzzle books as the medical team interacts with new alien species in the midst of medical emergencies. Characterization has not been a priority, but we have come to know and love the recurring characters, as well as the viewpoint characters in the last half of the series, where there is more depth and development of both plot and character. And underlying all of it, White's conceptualization of the galaxy of beings as generally one where science and knowledge are respected, the integrity of the individual and the species is respected, and prioritizing finding middle ground and agreement rather than conflict is the top goal. This was unusual enough in the 50s and 60s where science fiction, in the middle of the Cold War, tended much more to strife and conflict--it caused White to stand out--but I think is still to be prized today, especially in the midst of a pandemic and a culture war. No, Virginia, the Suck Fairy has NOT visited these books--still very enjoyable and worthwhile today.

sf ****
Ambulance Ship Bk 1 in Alien Emergencies James White

As promised the change from the early work to this later set of books, written through the seventies into the early 80's is dramatic. White can handle continuity, character development (conflict between colleagues, etc,) and a dramatic increase in humor now. Conroy meets his match in Captain Fletcher when he is assigned to a space ambulance. Luckily Murchison, his friend and partner is there and Prilicla the empathic dragonfly-like being. Anyway, I am hooked, for sure!****

On to Book 2 in this omnibus: Sector General.

I'm just waiting for my copy of the above second Omnibus and then I shall be continuing with this adventure. Just a tip that might be helpful to those folks that don't have the books already; this second Omnibus was quite expensive on Amazon(or it was in UK, maybe not elsewhere?) It was about £18 for a new copy with no good second hand options either. The individual books were expensive too. So I had a bit of a look around and found I could get each novel on eBay for a little under the Amazon omnibus cost. But then I lucked out and found a copy of the omnibus version at a really good price - £7 plus £3 postage so in all nearly half what an Amazon copy was. Hopefully there's a few more bargains out there for others too!

And the Kindle versions of each of the omnibi are only $9.99 each, so that's fairly reasonable as well.

Finished Book 2 in this second Omnibus!

sf ****
Sector General Bk 2 in Alien Emergencies James White

The first story predates the hospital and explains its inception after an incident at a space station causes the Monitor Corps to reassess their ideas about alien interactions. In another story a hair-raising planet-side rescue takes place after a ship crashes in mysterious circumstances. Among other things, predatory thorn bushes! In the last story a giant segmented being is discovered scattered all over space--their ship hit by a meteor and now the whole in danger of being drawn into the gravity well of a sun. Conway and co. to the rescue! Fletcher and Conway are getting along a little better and a whole slew of battleships etc. get involved in the mission. Rather a lot of detail about how these being couple and uncouple . . . but oh-kay. . . the usual solid entertainment and humor. ****

This one has the oft-quoted Murchison promise:

"Murchison cleared her throat delicately and said, "If anyone wishes at this juncture to make a general observation regarding the superiority, physical or intellectual, of the male over the female, be advised that I shall spit in his, or her, or its eye."

Go Murchison!!!

>94 ronincats:. I just checked Amazon and getting a Kindle version doesn't appear to be an option in the UK - how odd! Surely a Kindle version is a Kindle version wherever you reside? Publishing rights wrangles I guess.

sf ****1/2
3 books in Alien Emergencies James White sf classic

Hospital Ship Bk 1 in Alien Emergencies James White

As promised the change from the early work to this later set of books, written through the seventies into the early 80's is dramatic. White can handle continuity, character development and a dramatic increase in humor. Conroy meets his match in Captain Fletcher when he is assigned to a space ambulance. Luckily Murchison, his friend and partner is there and Prilicla the empathic dragonfly-like being. Anyway, I am hooked, for sure. ****

Sector General Bk 2 in Alien Emergencies James White

The first story predates the hospital and explains its inception after an incident at a space station causes the Monitor Corps to reassess their ideas about alien interactions. In another story a hair-raising planet-side rescue takes place after a ship crashes in mysterious circumstances. Among other things, predatory thorn bushes! In the last story a giant segmented being is discovered scattered all over space--their ship hit by a meteor and now the whole in danger of being drawn into the gravity well of a sun. Conway and co. to the rescue! Fletcher and Conway are getting along a little better and a whole slew of battleships etc. get involved in the mission. Rather a lot of detail about how these being couple and uncouple . . . but oh-kay. . . the usual solid entertainment and humor. ****

As promised White does get better and better. In the 3d Star Healer Several of these stories were truly fascinating. Khone, from the previous book, is still in Conway's head-Conway has to figure out if that is a good or bad thing, the violent non-sentient Protector he saved earlier is ready to give birth and Conroy wants to save the sentient telepathic Unborn from descending into the Protector mode, and there is Conroy's possible rise to the status of Diagnostician, so he has five OTHER tapes from brilliant alien surgeons in his head too. What will this do to his relationship with Murchison? -- astonishingly imaginative, convincing in detail, and involving, a total page turner! ****1/2

Obviously I am just galloping along!

>96 HanGerg: Canada is abysmal in terms of selection of books from the US (also movies on the various cyber outlets). Australia is difficult too. I have a sister in one country and a brother in the other -- so I get an earful.

I'm glad you were able to find the books as books!

>95 sibylline:, >97 sibylline: Excellent! I predict you will enjoy the next two omnibi even more!!
>96 HanGerg: That's a pity, Hannah, but I also am glad you found some physical copies.

So, among the few reading the books, can we have some discussion? How about the aliens? Even though there must be thousands, White wisely chooses to focus on a limited subset that we see again and again in the stories. Leaving out Prilicla, which was your favorite alien in the books you have read so far, and why? Often species characteristics end up playing an important part in a story--can you name a favorite there?

I found the variety of the aliens amazing. From the Protector of the Unborn with its telepathic embryo to the continental-sized aliens on Drambo, White continually comes up with surprisingly different alien physiologies!

I would say that my favorite species from the hospital regulars are the Kelgians with their bluntness & lovely rippling fur.

I'm half way through Star surgeon so haven't really got to know which aliens are regulars yet. It did amuse me that the Nidians, which look like big red teddy bears, are in the same classification as us! (And I like that no-one refers to "people" because everyone thinks their species is people. A very good point.)

I'm finding the plot of Star surgeon very engaging as Conway is sent off planet and finds a planet of very unwell people, that is part of a politically unwell Empire. I look forward to seeing how he will get out of this one!

And Lonvellin is a good example of how ignorance of a species' physiology nearly leads to disaster ...

My favorite shifts around but I think I have a new one as I get into Code Blue--Emergency -- Cha Thrat and her twelve limbs and her astonishment at the rudeness and bluntness and sloppy manners, inefficiency and so on. She's just learning to swim in the Chalder water environment and I know I'm going to love watching her learn and change. I'm sorry to leave Conway but White is wise to move on.

sf classic ****1/2
The Genocidal Healer in General Practice James White

White tackles guilt and forgiveness and the effect of shame and despair on the health of an individual. Lioren, a Tarlan surgeon, made a decision about how to treat some aliens in desperate need and things didn't go so well (he did, in fact succeed at what he was trying to cure, but he didn't anticipate the consequences). He wants to be condemned to death, but chief psychologist Dr. O'Mara is having none of that! Mary Doria Russell is one of the only others who have put sf and religion together successfully. With truly breathtaking tact and intelligence
White takes on religious practices, ethics and you name it with grace and expansive common sense. White has learned to have moments of humor that bring to life the characters and make the deeper interactions fit more naturally. ****1/2

I'm going to take a little pause here with only one of the big volumes and a novel left to go -- yep, hoarding! I'll be sorry to finish.

I've just finished Ambulance Ship. The final part, about the telepathic embryos was very moving and rather mind blowing. The embryo about to be born and thereby loose its sentience "To be born is to die my friends". And the dying wish of this creature, that their rescuers should safeguard and "cherish" their own unborn... Wow.
I do think in general (ha! ha!), White's stories feature a differentiation between "thinking" and "unthinking" alien species (the bench mark for being thinking seeming to be having achieved interstellar travel, which is a little worrying) - that feels somewhat dated. My understanding of modern thought about animal consciousness is that we now concede that we ain't really all that different from the apes from whom we are descended. We see it clearly at the beginning of Ambulance Ship, where they battle hard to save the large birdlike e-t until they solve the puzzle of how that creature is just the means by which the sentient species travel through space. The cruel way this bird has been used apparently warrants no mention!

I finally started Hospital Station and enjoyed the first chapter.

So far it reminds me of old school SciFi by Asimov or Heinlein, and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

So, I'm extending the range for this group reading through the end of September, because it sure still feels like summer around here. So let's hear from some of you late starters!!

I'm behind in posting! I have finished The Galactic Gourmet and loved it! Only two novels left to go, sadly. You'll be glad to know Roni that I got my husband started on these and he gobbled them up and was so pathetic about me "hoarding" the Tales collection that I had to give it to him to read and take a break myself!

I am assuming that White and Gene Roddenberry were friendly? So much of the philosophy and some of the stories feel very allied to Roddenberry's vision for Star Trek.

>108 sibylline: There is nothing in White's bio that suggests they were friends, Lucy, but maybe Roddenberry was a reader and a fan? I love The Galactic Gourmet; I find it hilarious.