Leigh Brackett was a long-time SF author who flourished in the ‘40s and ‘50s and beyond. To modern readers perhaps she would be best known as the writLeigh Brackett was a long-time SF author who flourished in the ‘40s and ‘50s and beyond. To modern readers perhaps she would be best known as the writer of The Empire Strikes Back’s first draft. Sadly she died soon after submitting it; fortunately, Lawrence Kasdan was up to carrying on her work there.
I’ve liked Brackett since I was a teen-ager and read The Science Fiction Book Club’s omnibus edition of her Skaith novels. This edition collects several of her SF novellas from the ‘40s, including Black Amazon of Mars, which features her best known character, Eric John Stark, a Tarzan-like figure rescued from the half-human savages of Mercury by an Earthman who raises him like a son.
Though dated, I enjoyed these stories. If you’re interested in classic SF authors, then you owe it to yourself to read Brackett....more
Until now, after taking advantage of a reasonably priced omnibus of the first three books in the series on Kindle: Hospital Station, Star Surgeon and Major Operation.
Sector General is an enormous space station dedicated to the medical needs of every species in the Galactic Federation and any other race that might need their help. White wrote about the myriad crises faced by the humans and ETs of the station into the late ‘90s (RIP – 1999). And Dr. Conway is his protagonist for nearly all of the stories in these first three books. Conway joins the staff as a young, inexperienced intern who exhibits a knack for solving unusual problems and a strong (one might even say, fanatical) commitment to the station’s ethos of healing.
These first three books remind me of TOS and TNG (and all her sister series through Enterprise) Star Trek – an optimistic view of the future where humanity has finally grown up and has helped create a society that promotes cooperation over competition and believes violence is not an answer. It’s also reminiscent of the series House: Conway is a genius MD who’s called upon to resolve apparently hopeless cases.
I never became enamored of the series. The writing is fine but I found Conway’s character annoying. That and the stories were formulaic. Like a typical House episode (or any procedural for that matter), there’s a medical crisis, Conway resolves it after several false steps, and all is well. I will say that the writing in Star Surgeon, when Sector General becomes a battle zone, can be harrowing as the station is turned into a military base (much to the staff’s dismay) and is nearly destroyed. It’s definitely the best of the three novels here, IMO.
Guarded recommendation but I don’t think you need to add this to your “must read before I die” list....more
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