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Star Wars: Medstar #2
Jedi Healer
While the Clone Wars wreak havoc throughout the galaxy, the situation on the far world of Drongar is desperate, as Republic forces engage in a fierce fight with the Separatists. . . .
The threatened enemy offensive begins as the Separatists employ legions of droids into their attack. Even with reinforcements, the flesh and blood of the Republic forces are just no match for battle droids’ durasteel. Nowhere is this point more painfully clear than in the steaming Jasserak jungle, where the doctors and nurses of a small med unit face an impossible situation. As the dead and wounded start to pile up, surgeons Jos Vandar and Kornell “Uli” Divini know that time is running out.
Even the Jedi abilities of Padawan Barriss Offee have been stretched to the limit. Ahead lies a test for Barriss that could very well lead to her death–and that of countless others. For the conflict is growing–and for this obscure mobile med unit, there’s only one resolution. Shocking, bold, unprecedented, it’s the only option Jos and his colleagues really have. The unthinkable has become the inevitable. Whether it kills them or not remains to be seen.
The threatened enemy offensive begins as the Separatists employ legions of droids into their attack. Even with reinforcements, the flesh and blood of the Republic forces are just no match for battle droids’ durasteel. Nowhere is this point more painfully clear than in the steaming Jasserak jungle, where the doctors and nurses of a small med unit face an impossible situation. As the dead and wounded start to pile up, surgeons Jos Vandar and Kornell “Uli” Divini know that time is running out.
Even the Jedi abilities of Padawan Barriss Offee have been stretched to the limit. Ahead lies a test for Barriss that could very well lead to her death–and that of countless others. For the conflict is growing–and for this obscure mobile med unit, there’s only one resolution. Shocking, bold, unprecedented, it’s the only option Jos and his colleagues really have. The unthinkable has become the inevitable. Whether it kills them or not remains to be seen.
302 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
About the author
Michael Reaves
108 books196 followersMichael Reaves is an Emmy Award-winning television writer and screenwriter whose many credits include Star Trek: The Next Generation, Twilight Zone, Batman: The Animated Series, and Gargoyles. His novels include the New York Times bestseller STAR WARS: Darth Maul- Shadowhunter and STAR WARS: Death Star. He and Neil Gaiman cowrote Interworld. Reaves has also written short fiction, comic books, and background dialogue for a Megadeth video. He lives in California.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 121 reviews
July 15, 2010
Our team of crack surgeons, nurses, and Jedi healers return in the second part of this set. Jos Vondar has to choose: his family or the love of his life, Tolk. I-Five continues to seek out his lost memory. And there is a spy in their midst!
NOTE: Based on novel and audiobook.
I Liked:
There are a lot of little things I love about part two in this duology. One of the things is just how different it is from the rest of Star Wars EU. There are no major movie characters, no huge, epic battles with people running all over the place. The novel is very focused on one location and on one highly ignored aspect (at least in Star Wars) of fighting. It's refreshing and unique.
The characters continue to intrigue, from Den Dhur befriending I-Five and his quest to get the droid drunk to the reasons why the spy turned against the Republic in the first place to Barris Offee and her addiction to bota. My favorite characters continue to be Den Dhur (the Sullustan reporter out for a story) Barris Offee (the young Jedi Padawan Healer).
I really liked how Jos had to decide whether to choose Tolk or his family. Even today, this is a real concern. Often times, our own families put restrictions on who we should love or spend time with. Plus, this hasn't been addressed in Star Wars, so it's nice to see that Star Wars EU has the same problems we do.
I Didn't Like:
What works for a first novel, often doesn't work for a second. This sequel is a perfect example. Sure, the events in Battle Surgeons was great, but we want something a little different, more expanded this time around. Unfortunately, the authors didn't do that.
Many things in this book were just underutilized, from yet another Tatooine native, Ulie (who reappears in Death Star) to Barris' bota addiction to the spy outcome. Ulie just pops in on the scene and is "I'm here!" At least in the audiobook, he serves no role other than to point out to Jos how everyone knows that Jos and Tolk are going together. And honestly, isn't Tatooine supposed to be the butt crack of the galaxy? Then why is everyone from that planet? Barris' bota addiction was very interesting, but I think the issue should have been brought up in Battle Surgeons, so she could have grown more. The spy issue was interesting, but it was painfully obvious who the spy would be very early on. And Barris basically realizes there is a spy because of the Force. Oh, geez, that was insightful. Not.
Lastly, we spend an awful lot of time on the Black Sun/Kaird subplot, which goes nowhere. In the end, we see Kaird in space vowing revenge. For those who've read Coruscant Nights I, you know he returns, but even there, it isn't very clear what happened to him between the Medstar books and Coruscant Nights.
Dialogue/Sexual Situations/Violence:
"Mopac-faced" replaces "sh**-faced" when referring to someone getting drunk. This sort of substitution occurs frequently.
Tolk and Jos sleep with each other (off-screen, if you will).
Much "action" happens in a surgical unit, and this is Star Wars, so expect explosions and people being held at blaster point.
Overall:
While this isn't a bad book (as in horrible), after the great setup of Battle Surgeons, I almost expected a bit more than what we got here. It ties up the spy plot nicely (almost too nicely), and it's great to see the characters again. However, the last book had a really good ending, so reading this one isn't 100% necessary (unless, of course, you want the full story of Den Dhur and I-Five, recurring characters in Reaves' writing). It deserves a 3.5, but I'll be generous and rate 4.
NOTE: Based on novel and audiobook.
I Liked:
There are a lot of little things I love about part two in this duology. One of the things is just how different it is from the rest of Star Wars EU. There are no major movie characters, no huge, epic battles with people running all over the place. The novel is very focused on one location and on one highly ignored aspect (at least in Star Wars) of fighting. It's refreshing and unique.
The characters continue to intrigue, from Den Dhur befriending I-Five and his quest to get the droid drunk to the reasons why the spy turned against the Republic in the first place to Barris Offee and her addiction to bota. My favorite characters continue to be Den Dhur (the Sullustan reporter out for a story) Barris Offee (the young Jedi Padawan Healer).
I really liked how Jos had to decide whether to choose Tolk or his family. Even today, this is a real concern. Often times, our own families put restrictions on who we should love or spend time with. Plus, this hasn't been addressed in Star Wars, so it's nice to see that Star Wars EU has the same problems we do.
I Didn't Like:
What works for a first novel, often doesn't work for a second. This sequel is a perfect example. Sure, the events in Battle Surgeons was great, but we want something a little different, more expanded this time around. Unfortunately, the authors didn't do that.
Many things in this book were just underutilized, from yet another Tatooine native, Ulie (who reappears in Death Star) to Barris' bota addiction to the spy outcome. Ulie just pops in on the scene and is "I'm here!" At least in the audiobook, he serves no role other than to point out to Jos how everyone knows that Jos and Tolk are going together. And honestly, isn't Tatooine supposed to be the butt crack of the galaxy? Then why is everyone from that planet? Barris' bota addiction was very interesting, but I think the issue should have been brought up in Battle Surgeons, so she could have grown more. The spy issue was interesting, but it was painfully obvious who the spy would be very early on. And Barris basically realizes there is a spy because of the Force. Oh, geez, that was insightful. Not.
Lastly, we spend an awful lot of time on the Black Sun/Kaird subplot, which goes nowhere. In the end, we see Kaird in space vowing revenge. For those who've read Coruscant Nights I, you know he returns, but even there, it isn't very clear what happened to him between the Medstar books and Coruscant Nights.
Dialogue/Sexual Situations/Violence:
"Mopac-faced" replaces "sh**-faced" when referring to someone getting drunk. This sort of substitution occurs frequently.
Tolk and Jos sleep with each other (off-screen, if you will).
Much "action" happens in a surgical unit, and this is Star Wars, so expect explosions and people being held at blaster point.
Overall:
While this isn't a bad book (as in horrible), after the great setup of Battle Surgeons, I almost expected a bit more than what we got here. It ties up the spy plot nicely (almost too nicely), and it's great to see the characters again. However, the last book had a really good ending, so reading this one isn't 100% necessary (unless, of course, you want the full story of Den Dhur and I-Five, recurring characters in Reaves' writing). It deserves a 3.5, but I'll be generous and rate 4.
November 15, 2024
Star Wars: Legends: A Clone Wars Novel: MedStar II: Jedi Healer by Steve Perry, Michael Reaves
adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense
Medium-paced
Plot or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters are a main focus? Yes
4.25 Stars
This is the completion of the MedStar duology. Actually, I'm sad that it's over. I do hope that these characters will weave in and out of the Expanded Universe/now Legends.
Barriss Offee was one of the major POV characters. Here highs and lows were interesting to be in the mind of a padawan Jedi. She's a healer, so her compassion is above and beyond, that of other Jedi who live in the Light. BUT, the temptation to pull from sources to "do good", is the major threat for her personally, and for those who want the power to effect more lives, and by doing so...they "fall" to the Dard Side...inadvertantly.
The other main character that we spent a lot of time with, is Jos. Being a doctor, but also being put in a position to DO "something" to help others and stop the senseless killing that is happening in the galaxy, but especially on this faithless hell hole of a planet. Ugh.
Also, really loved the struggles of I-Five. Reminds me of Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation. It's a droid that is more than just the sum of its parts. The dialogue that he has with other characters in the story was great, but also its own inner dialogue that was special, too.
There was some loss in this story, obviously. I will not easily forget these characters. Shame on you, authors.
Lastly, I will reiterate. This duology...is the M*A*S*H* (TV series), but in the Star Wars galaxy. I really had a lot of fun reading about their immediate lives, but also their hopes for the future (away from this planet, this war, and these harrowing times...to be alive, and trying to keep Clone Troopers and others alive, to fight another day). Ugh.
adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense
Medium-paced
Plot or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters are a main focus? Yes
4.25 Stars
This is the completion of the MedStar duology. Actually, I'm sad that it's over. I do hope that these characters will weave in and out of the Expanded Universe/now Legends.
Barriss Offee was one of the major POV characters. Here highs and lows were interesting to be in the mind of a padawan Jedi. She's a healer, so her compassion is above and beyond, that of other Jedi who live in the Light. BUT, the temptation to pull from sources to "do good", is the major threat for her personally, and for those who want the power to effect more lives, and by doing so...they "fall" to the Dard Side...inadvertantly.
The other main character that we spent a lot of time with, is Jos. Being a doctor, but also being put in a position to DO "something" to help others and stop the senseless killing that is happening in the galaxy, but especially on this faithless hell hole of a planet. Ugh.
Also, really loved the struggles of I-Five. Reminds me of Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation. It's a droid that is more than just the sum of its parts. The dialogue that he has with other characters in the story was great, but also its own inner dialogue that was special, too.
There was some loss in this story, obviously. I will not easily forget these characters. Shame on you, authors.
Lastly, I will reiterate. This duology...is the M*A*S*H* (TV series), but in the Star Wars galaxy. I really had a lot of fun reading about their immediate lives, but also their hopes for the future (away from this planet, this war, and these harrowing times...to be alive, and trying to keep Clone Troopers and others alive, to fight another day). Ugh.
May 2, 2021
I feel almost the exact same way about this book as the first except there was more that was objectionable about this book. Like the first, it is essentially MASH (or at least my understanding of MASH) in space. The characters were vaguely interesting, but the story felt entirely inconsequential to any of the events in the EU. The book completely depended on likeable characters, and I think it failed. The characters that I liked were by and large made less interesting by this story.
I didn't feel like the first book was poorly written. This one was. It was bad enough in the last book when he dropped the, "War. What is it good for?" line. Jedi Healer had that kind of stuff on steroids. There was almost a complete retelling of the golden goose fairytale but he substituted an alien in for the goose. Who thinks this kind of crap is a good idea? Reaves spent far too much of this book droning on about philosophy in sappy and eye rolling fashion. The plot and how Reaves executed the plot was far superior in the first book as well.
The first book was sort of like a soap opera with the love story, and this book was basically like a stupid teenage love story.
This complaint goes back to the first book. The wonder plant Bota is absurd. I absolutely hate it when an author or a writer for a movie is working within an established universe and they come up with an idea that doesn't fit that universe. Instead of scrapping that idea, they often think to themselves, "I'll just come up with a reason why this doesn't affect anything else in the universe and it's all good." Wrong. It rarely is. My example is always the Last Jedi. This book does something similar (though not nearly as offensive). Bota is pretty much miraculous and can cure anything. It isn't exaggeration to say that it can cure practically anything.
This also goes back to the first book, but it was exasperated in the second book. These wonderful doctors are not the type of people who get drafted.
Much of the writing was laughable in this book. One line went something like this, "The Dark side isn't evil, and it isn't good. It simply is what it is." Wow. Profound. Barriss' argument was essentially that although Dooku murdered a planet or a continent, the slaughter inspired a really nice song, so it wasn't all bad. That was really her argument. It would like saying, "Yeah, it wasn't great that Hitler murdered millions of Jews. BUT, maybe the survivors felt a greater appreciation for life because they survived, so you can't really say Hitler was evil. He just was what he was." If you want to come up with a shades of grey argument, it would be hard to find a worse one that Reaves did. They even make some absurd argument that it would be evil to kill Dooku if they had the chance. Why? It was another one of those, "It would make us just as evil as them" type of arguments, which may be the dumbest argument of all time. It isn't even like the moral dilemma of "would you kill baby Hitler?" This has no dilemma. This isn't about killing baby Dooku. This is, "Would you kill Hitler as he was in the process of murdering millions of people?" Your answer is obviously yes unless you are a total idiot or completely spineless. Reaves has this be an argument that the good side is, "of course we wouldn't kill Hitler because killing is bad". And it is even portrayed as bad that one of them would want to kill him.
The ending
Another irritant was that this was a camp full of nurses and doctors, and they spend about 90% of their free time getting drunk. They daily get random batches of injured people to work on. They never stop drinking, and the only thing Reaves does to try to make it ok is to have I-5 give them some anti-hangover cure. Okay, but what about all the doctors being drunk and then operating on everyone? This being a problem didn't seem to cross Reaves mind.
For reasons I can't understand,
There was a moment where it felt like an editor came to Reaves and said, "Hey man, you haven't referenced other Star Wars locations and species yet. Add in about 30 more." Some of them were okay and not really noticeable. Others were ridiculous like how one doctor hadn't been many places but had been to Hoth. Really. Hoth? The whole point of Hoth was that there was no reason to go there since it was a worthless ball of ice. That's why the rebels hid there. I guess people are supposed to get all giddy and be like, "Hoth. I know that place. This is cool." Another character just happens to be from Tatooine. Someone else if from or went to school on Alderaan. Worst of all, a C-3PO protocol style droid, I-5, plays the exact same board game from A New Hope on the Millennium Falcon. He wins, and the wookie he is playing against rips his arm off. Hmm...sound familiar. I am mostly stunned that whomever was in charge for Lucas allowed this pathetic ripoff to be included.
Another cringe-worthy scene.
We finally find out
Apparently Correllians can't marry outsiders. News to me and all Correllians.
I didn't feel like the first book was poorly written. This one was. It was bad enough in the last book when he dropped the, "War. What is it good for?" line. Jedi Healer had that kind of stuff on steroids. There was almost a complete retelling of the golden goose fairytale but he substituted an alien in for the goose. Who thinks this kind of crap is a good idea? Reaves spent far too much of this book droning on about philosophy in sappy and eye rolling fashion. The plot and how Reaves executed the plot was far superior in the first book as well.
The first book was sort of like a soap opera with the love story, and this book was basically like a stupid teenage love story.
This complaint goes back to the first book. The wonder plant Bota is absurd. I absolutely hate it when an author or a writer for a movie is working within an established universe and they come up with an idea that doesn't fit that universe. Instead of scrapping that idea, they often think to themselves, "I'll just come up with a reason why this doesn't affect anything else in the universe and it's all good." Wrong. It rarely is. My example is always the Last Jedi. This book does something similar (though not nearly as offensive). Bota is pretty much miraculous and can cure anything. It isn't exaggeration to say that it can cure practically anything.
This also goes back to the first book, but it was exasperated in the second book. These wonderful doctors are not the type of people who get drafted.
Much of the writing was laughable in this book. One line went something like this, "The Dark side isn't evil, and it isn't good. It simply is what it is." Wow. Profound. Barriss' argument was essentially that although Dooku murdered a planet or a continent, the slaughter inspired a really nice song, so it wasn't all bad. That was really her argument. It would like saying, "Yeah, it wasn't great that Hitler murdered millions of Jews. BUT, maybe the survivors felt a greater appreciation for life because they survived, so you can't really say Hitler was evil. He just was what he was." If you want to come up with a shades of grey argument, it would be hard to find a worse one that Reaves did. They even make some absurd argument that it would be evil to kill Dooku if they had the chance. Why? It was another one of those, "It would make us just as evil as them" type of arguments, which may be the dumbest argument of all time. It isn't even like the moral dilemma of "would you kill baby Hitler?" This has no dilemma. This isn't about killing baby Dooku. This is, "Would you kill Hitler as he was in the process of murdering millions of people?" Your answer is obviously yes unless you are a total idiot or completely spineless. Reaves has this be an argument that the good side is, "of course we wouldn't kill Hitler because killing is bad". And it is even portrayed as bad that one of them would want to kill him.
The ending
Another irritant was that this was a camp full of nurses and doctors, and they spend about 90% of their free time getting drunk. They daily get random batches of injured people to work on. They never stop drinking, and the only thing Reaves does to try to make it ok is to have I-5 give them some anti-hangover cure. Okay, but what about all the doctors being drunk and then operating on everyone? This being a problem didn't seem to cross Reaves mind.
For reasons I can't understand,
There was a moment where it felt like an editor came to Reaves and said, "Hey man, you haven't referenced other Star Wars locations and species yet. Add in about 30 more." Some of them were okay and not really noticeable. Others were ridiculous like how one doctor hadn't been many places but had been to Hoth. Really. Hoth? The whole point of Hoth was that there was no reason to go there since it was a worthless ball of ice. That's why the rebels hid there. I guess people are supposed to get all giddy and be like, "Hoth. I know that place. This is cool." Another character just happens to be from Tatooine. Someone else if from or went to school on Alderaan. Worst of all, a C-3PO protocol style droid, I-5, plays the exact same board game from A New Hope on the Millennium Falcon. He wins, and the wookie he is playing against rips his arm off. Hmm...sound familiar. I am mostly stunned that whomever was in charge for Lucas allowed this pathetic ripoff to be included.
Another cringe-worthy scene.
We finally find out
Apparently Correllians can't marry outsiders. News to me and all Correllians.
May 19, 2020
Okay, I’m not going to lie: Jedi Healer definitely does not live up to the first book in the duology. The problem is there’s just not as much to do here in comparison. With the nefarious Bleyd gone and replaced by a more upstanding Admiral, there’s much less intrigue to be had. Yes, Black Sun agent Kaird is still around, but his story never intertwines with those of our protagonists, and all his efforts are ultimately abortive. While he appears in later books, and thus his appearance here could be called interesting character building, it doesn’t change the fact that this book as a self-contained story doesn’t have much of a satisfying conclusion. The other plot strand which could have provided such was the continuing presence of the spy in camp, but this was resolved insufficiently as well. At least we do get that thread wrapped up and concluded, but for most of the book nobody investigates this, going through a dramatic process of unravelling and piecing together clues. It’s dropped in as a sudden epiphany in the last 10% of the book, and Barriss’ Jedi powers make it the work of just a couple of minutes to eliminate the alternative suspect; a clear case of being overpowered at least in relation to this plot thread.
So, what do we have instead, if not a compelling conspiracy to follow? There’s the usual round of tense medical drama, of course, but that is a staple for this duology and in this book it has become more the setting than the actual plot. The two main plot strands we do get are Jos and Tolk’s romantic angst, which, I’ll be honest, I could have done without. I like Jos but not enough to really care about who he gets paired up with or to enjoy him as a main character. Especially as his romance seems kind of arbitrary – in the previous book he transfers his interest to Tolk after finding Barriss attractive but mentally categorising her as off-limits; I don’t know, that kind of makes it seem like he was never particularly drawn to Tolk, just any reasonably available woman. The other significant plot strand is Barriss struggle with addiction. That was an interesting angle because it’s not something we see too often (if at all) with a Jedi character, but it could have been more intense than it was. The final conclusion is just sprung on our protagonists and is out of their control – even those who knew it was coming. I get that this is supposed to say something about how small an individual can feel in the midst of war, just trying to do their best to help those around them and with the grand events feeling far out of their ability to influence or control… but with the lack of a strong local plot as well, the final impression I was left with was one where the story happens to the characters, not something they had any part in shaping whatsoever. Overall that feels like a somewhat weak, unsatisfying ending.
I can’t help but think this might have been better as one single book together with the first book. Some of the scenes in this one felt like padding or filler, particularly when we’re dawdling around with the visiting entertainers, and it could have been cut and merged to create a stronger story. The cliffhanger of the previous book was awfully abrupt as well, something else which leads me to suspect this may originally have been one book.
There are other niggles as well. Uli is introduced as a replacement, but he’s not allowed to do very much. I remembered liking his character back in the day, but now I was puzzled as to why. I think it was because of the hints dropped about a mutual attraction between him and Barriss. I’ve always maintained the pre-Empire Jedi dictat about love is seriously short-sighted – not just because Jedi families were already well established in lore, but partly because it’s not love that causes the problems, it’s personal insecurity, and partly because forbidding a natural impulse as universal as love seems like a guaranteed way to ‘criminalise’ a lot of good Jedi. In short, the Jedi need counselling about having strong personal identity and self-worth, not a rule forbidding love. But anyway… conceding that there’s nothing that can be done to change that nonsense, I’d like to see reasonable, upstanding Jedi challenge it more often. Or, at the very least, try on the attitude that a string of casual encounters does attachment constitute. That would stir the pot, alright. I think this is why I remembered liking Uli; his presence and the mutual attraction holds dramatic potential… which is never used. I’m not sure if the authors avoided it because of ‘rules’ about Jedi, or because they felt that Jedi are great characters because they can showcase individual accomplishment without needing to mess around with any romance at all. The former would be a bit silly, the latter admirable, but then why even hint at it at all? I don’t know.
In any case, this is not a bad book. It still contains many of the characters I came to know and enjoyed from the first book. It just doesn’t have the same degree of cohesion, let alone a decent conclusion.
6 out fo 10
January 26, 2016
This didn't grab me as much as the first volume in the duology. The characters were still enjoyable and their interactions entertaining, but it seemed as though the plot was laid out to the reader in the beginning and from then on just sort of rumbled on. I also thought it was very weird and very awkward that they started spelling it Jos Vandar instead of Vondar in like the middle of the book. What was that about?! Even in the blurb on the back it's spelled with an a. *shrugs*
I also pretty much knew what was up with the spy and the bota/force thing, so I wasn't surprised at either. And also because Tolk wasn't as involved as I'd suspected, it just made her an awful, flat, bland, boring character. Her and Jos' storyline was so angsty and boring.
I also pretty much knew what was up with the spy and the bota/force thing, so I wasn't surprised at either. And also because Tolk wasn't as involved as I'd suspected, it just made her an awful, flat, bland, boring character. Her and Jos' storyline was so angsty and boring.
February 8, 2018
If you like anatomy or biology and Star Wars, this is a great book for you! Just read the first book.
July 27, 2022
2.5 stars
For 2022, I decided to go back in time and reread all the Prequels Era novels published between 1999 and 2005, plus a smidgen of other novels (like Survivor's Quest and the Dark Nest trilogy) released during that time frame. This shakes out to 21 novels, four eBook novellas, and at least thirteen short stories.
This week’s focus: the second book in the MedStar duology by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry, MedStar II: Jedi Healer
SOME HISTORY:
Dave Seeley made a number of covers for the Star Wars books that were released in the mid-2000s, but I think that his cover of MedStar II: Jedi Healer is one of my favorites. It depicts Jedi Padawan Barriss Offee using the Force to heal a clone trooper, and is heavily inspired by Michelangelo's sculpture of the Pietà, depicting the Virgin Mary cradling the body of Jesus. Knowing that the cover art has a real world analog makes it even more interesting to me—the way that Seeley is playing with this very famous piece of art from our own world by restaging it in the Star Wars universe.
MY RECOLLECTION OF THE BOOK:
As with Medstar I: Battle Surgeons, I had very good memories of Jedi Healer, but it had been years since I revisited it.
A BRIEF SUMMARY:
As the Republic and the Separatists battle for control of the bota plant on the jungle planet of Drongar, the doctors and nurses of Rimsoo Seven struggle with their own issues as well. Barriss Offee faces her greatest challenge yet as she discovers that the bota holds innumerable power for Force sensitive individuals—but little do any of them know that a traitor lurks in their ranks…
THE CHARACTERS:
Jedi Healer picks up where Battle Surgeons let off: Surgeon Zan Yant died as they were evacuating the Rimsoo to a new location, so we have a new surgeon here. He’s like a Doogie Howser character, a nineteen-year-old surgeon from Tatooine named Uli Divini. (This was one bit I side-eyed, because if Tatooine is truly the most out of the way, podunk world, why do we meet so many characters from it?) Anyway, Uli is a nice chap, his mom’s a famous entomologist, he has some good conversations with Barriss, and that’s pretty much it. I wish that Uli's character could have been better used here, because he doesn't interact with the others in the same way that Zan did. He doesn't join their sabacc game until near the end of the story, and it seems like his age is his defining characteristic. But at the same time, his age excludes him from the rest of the group. So why make him this young whiz kid, if he’s not going to interact with the others much outside of the operating theater?
If Jos Vondar's internal conflicts in the first book had been coming to terms with whether he wants to pursue a relationship with Tolk le Trene as well as realizing that his concept of the clones was absolutely wrong, Reaves and Perry dropped the latter plotline in this book and mainly focused on his relationship with Tolk. His great uncle (their new commanding Admiral) appears, and we learnt that he followed the same path that Jos is starting down. (He was excommunicated from their insular group years ago because he married someone ekster, and he doesn’t want Jos to go through the same emotional trauma.)
So he meddles, and the end result is that Jos and Tolk break up. They're not communicating for a lot of the story, and it's not till the end that Jos realizes that his uncle had intervened. Jos and Admiral Kersos hash things out, Jos and Tolk are all happy and reunited, and his uncle's gonna do everything he can for them. It's okay! I just wasn't expecting so much of Jos's arc to be relationship drama, as I thought it had been concluded in book one. But since there's a second book something had to happen, so there's this breakdown of his relationship with Tolk.
As in the first book, we never get Tolk’s viewpoint, so when she stops talking to Jos the reader has no idea why. We have no idea of her reasoning until the end, because we’re never in her head. This also leads to Tolk being one of the options for the spy, as Barriss has no idea what she’s thinking.
Den Dhur is still trying to find the big story that will make his name in the journalistic world, as one of his stories in book 1 was too dangerous to run, and the second twisted his words all around. Den Dhur is one of the first people to learn that bota is losing its potency—since the plant is adaptogenic, it’s starting to evolve and lose its medical goodness. This could be a huge story, but Den Dhur has started to develop a conscience and realizes that if he runs this story, the Separatists will attack the remaining bota fields and his friends will be at risk.
He also has a romantic plot line with one of the entertainers that’s stuck on Drongar, a Sullustan lady named Eyar Marath. She wants him to return to Sullust and become the patriarch of her family group (apparently Sullustans have these big polygamous family groups?), but he gets cold feet.
In the beginning, Bariss thinks that she’ll be transferred somewhere else because the awry bota shipments stopped with the death of Filba the hutt and Admiral Bleyd. However, her Master tells her that she needs to stay on Drongar because she's there for a reason; Barriss has to figure out what is the reason. Through an accident, she discovers that bota has a strange side effect for Force sensitive individuals: it opens them up to the power of the Force.
She has this unique vision of the entire galaxy and what's going on around her, so Barriss's main conflict is whether she should continue to use the bota to gain these insights and immeasurable power. Is this right? Towards the end, Barriss realizes that her compulsion to use the bota is like an addiction, and that perhaps this is the Dark Side—not intentionally doing evil things, but thinking that you're doing the right thing and doing it in a selfish manner. With the immeasurable power of the bota, she thinks she can solve all the wrongs around her, and that’s building herself up to be something that she's not, something that is very dangerous to pursue.
I-Five's plot involves recovering his lost memories, and then getting drunk. He remembers that Lorn Pavan asked him to watch over his son if anything happened to him, and he wants to return to Coruscant for Jax. Meanwhile, Den Dhur has become obsessed with getting I-Five drunk, and he succeeds. I-Five writes a program that stimulates a drunken state, he gets his arm ripped off by a Wookiee over a game of dejarik, and it’s very silly. However, I do really appreciate seeing I-Five again! He's such a good character; I love droids that have their own personality, and in I-Five’s case probably his own sentience. Even though he’s a droid, he’s still a distinct character (in more ways than one).
On the bad guy front, Kaird the Nedij is still here?? He’s trying to reestablish Black Sun’s bota operations, so he brings in a Falleen woman and an Umbaran man to set things up. Kaird’s plotline feels singularly useless to me. The only reason I think he’s here is so that he can be the first one to discover that the bota is evolving, but when that happens he conceals the information and tries to get back to Black Sun with a bunch of frozen bota. The duo backstab him (a bomb for the bota), and he’s like “I’ll get my revenge” but then we don’t see him again for the rest of the book?? I guess that he’ll reappear in Reaves’s Coruscant Nights trilogy, but it was a very satisfying ending. (Why kill off Bleyd in the first book, if Black Sun was still going to tinker with the bota shipments?)
The spy continues to do villainous things, as the Separatists order them to go up to the Medstar and cause a devastating explosion. Barriss immediately knows that it’s sabotage, but then…doesn’t investigate further. We eventually have two candidates for the spy: the Equani minder Klo Merit, and the nurse Tolk le Trene. But it’s not until the end of the book that Barriss realizes that either one could be the culprit, as she can’t see inside their minds like the other characters. Why wasn’t Barriss working from the beginning to figure this out? It seemed like the ball got dropped, because the spy and their motivations are revealed but in a frustrating way.
ISSUES:
A group of entertainers arrive on Drongar, only to be grounded when the holo shield malfunctions and the Rimsoo is covered in snow. They are obviously SW versions of famous Earth performers, which is fine. I guess. However, their names are blatant anagrams of these Earth performers. Bob Hope is "Epoh Trebor." Martha Raye is "Eyar Marath." I don't recognize the other ones, like "Jasod Revoc" and "Lili Renalem," but they're probably also puns. You can put a Bob Hope analog in your story, just don't name him "Robert Hope" backwards!
I think the plotline with Barriss's bota addiction would have worked more effectively for me if it had been in both of the books in the duology. As it stands, she accidentally injects herself with the boda halfway through Jedi Healer, so her struggles are restricted to the second half of the book. Barriss is sent to Rimsoo Seven to investigate why the bota is going missing, and she doesn't really investigate that at all. And then the first half of book 2 is Barriss wondering why she’s still there. What if this had happened in the first book—maybe Zan Yant brought her in on his clandestine treatment of troopers, and her accident happened in book 1—so that this was something that she wrestled with longer? Maybe this plotline, and her revelations about the Force and the Dark Side wouldn’t have felt quite so rushed to me.
But my biggest issue with Jedi Healer was that it did not hold up as well as the first book for me. I thought the first book did a really good job of incorporating humor with these unique revelations into the Clone Wars. Because we were looking through the eyes of characters who are not typical Jedi or clones or officers, we saw a different side of the conflict. Jos and Den Dhur and Barriss had distinctly different experiences on Drongar, and I found that their realizations added a new dimension to the Clone Wars.
But in the second book, Jos's dilemma boils down to “why isn’t my girlfriend talking to me.” Barriss’s dilemma was “should I keep using this drug or not.” Den Dhur’s dilemma was less “should I run this story that may have grave consequences for my friends,” and more “should I follow this lady back to my homeworld.” I didn’t feel like I got the same unique insights that I did in the first book.
And I think part of that was the villain problem! By the second book, we only have two villains. One of them is useless (IMO—he doesn’t seem to be doing much to affect the story). Perhaps if Kaird or the other villain had been actively working to make the bota ineffective, but instead it naturally evolves that way without (intentional) outside interference.
With the spy, we are presented with the dilemma that it is either Tolk le Trene or Klo Merit. If Tolk is the spy, we’re not going to have a happy ending, Jos’s heart will be broken, and everyone will be confused and dismayed because they trusted her and they were friends with her. So it can’t be Tolk, and it must be Klo Merit. So then I’m left wondering WHY. When we’re in the spy’s viewpoint, we get hints that something happened to make the spy hate the Republic, but we don’t know why. And we don’t learn why until Jos confronts Klo Merit and becomes the unwilling audience to a Villain Monologue. The Republic was testing the laser for (maybe) a very early prototype Death Star, and shot a blast into his homeworld’s sun. The resulting solar flare killed everyone on Equanus, and the only Equani who survived were offworld at the time.
So understandably, Klo Merit hates the Republic—but I wish that revelation would have come out within the story, instead of a Villain Monologue. Perhaps if Barriss was actively investigating the spy (she can investigate and become obsessed with bota, you can do both!) and maybe she brought Den Dhur into her investigation. One of them could uncover that Equanus wasn’t destroyed in a natural disaster, but in a Republic military mishap, and then they could start to suspect him before the very end. As it stands, the spy is revealed and then killed and that’s that, and I found this plot element frustrating to read.
IN CONCLUSION:
Did I enjoy Jedi Healer as much as I enjoyed Medstar I: Battle Surgeons? No, I didn’t…the villains were disappointing, and I think some of the character arcs would have worked better if they were sustained through both books. Because as it stands, Barriss’s bota addiction felt rushed and abbreviated when consigned to the second half of book 2. There were some good moments and some humorous moments, but this story didn’t have the unique elements that book 1 contained.
Next up: another Clone Wars book, this one primarily about Anakin Skywalker but also featuring Nejaa Halcyon: Jedi Trial by David Sherman and Dan Cragg
My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/fridwy-pYaU
For 2022, I decided to go back in time and reread all the Prequels Era novels published between 1999 and 2005, plus a smidgen of other novels (like Survivor's Quest and the Dark Nest trilogy) released during that time frame. This shakes out to 21 novels, four eBook novellas, and at least thirteen short stories.
This week’s focus: the second book in the MedStar duology by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry, MedStar II: Jedi Healer
SOME HISTORY:
Dave Seeley made a number of covers for the Star Wars books that were released in the mid-2000s, but I think that his cover of MedStar II: Jedi Healer is one of my favorites. It depicts Jedi Padawan Barriss Offee using the Force to heal a clone trooper, and is heavily inspired by Michelangelo's sculpture of the Pietà, depicting the Virgin Mary cradling the body of Jesus. Knowing that the cover art has a real world analog makes it even more interesting to me—the way that Seeley is playing with this very famous piece of art from our own world by restaging it in the Star Wars universe.
MY RECOLLECTION OF THE BOOK:
As with Medstar I: Battle Surgeons, I had very good memories of Jedi Healer, but it had been years since I revisited it.
A BRIEF SUMMARY:
As the Republic and the Separatists battle for control of the bota plant on the jungle planet of Drongar, the doctors and nurses of Rimsoo Seven struggle with their own issues as well. Barriss Offee faces her greatest challenge yet as she discovers that the bota holds innumerable power for Force sensitive individuals—but little do any of them know that a traitor lurks in their ranks…
THE CHARACTERS:
Jedi Healer picks up where Battle Surgeons let off: Surgeon Zan Yant died as they were evacuating the Rimsoo to a new location, so we have a new surgeon here. He’s like a Doogie Howser character, a nineteen-year-old surgeon from Tatooine named Uli Divini. (This was one bit I side-eyed, because if Tatooine is truly the most out of the way, podunk world, why do we meet so many characters from it?) Anyway, Uli is a nice chap, his mom’s a famous entomologist, he has some good conversations with Barriss, and that’s pretty much it. I wish that Uli's character could have been better used here, because he doesn't interact with the others in the same way that Zan did. He doesn't join their sabacc game until near the end of the story, and it seems like his age is his defining characteristic. But at the same time, his age excludes him from the rest of the group. So why make him this young whiz kid, if he’s not going to interact with the others much outside of the operating theater?
If Jos Vondar's internal conflicts in the first book had been coming to terms with whether he wants to pursue a relationship with Tolk le Trene as well as realizing that his concept of the clones was absolutely wrong, Reaves and Perry dropped the latter plotline in this book and mainly focused on his relationship with Tolk. His great uncle (their new commanding Admiral) appears, and we learnt that he followed the same path that Jos is starting down. (He was excommunicated from their insular group years ago because he married someone ekster, and he doesn’t want Jos to go through the same emotional trauma.)
So he meddles, and the end result is that Jos and Tolk break up. They're not communicating for a lot of the story, and it's not till the end that Jos realizes that his uncle had intervened. Jos and Admiral Kersos hash things out, Jos and Tolk are all happy and reunited, and his uncle's gonna do everything he can for them. It's okay! I just wasn't expecting so much of Jos's arc to be relationship drama, as I thought it had been concluded in book one. But since there's a second book something had to happen, so there's this breakdown of his relationship with Tolk.
As in the first book, we never get Tolk’s viewpoint, so when she stops talking to Jos the reader has no idea why. We have no idea of her reasoning until the end, because we’re never in her head. This also leads to Tolk being one of the options for the spy, as Barriss has no idea what she’s thinking.
Den Dhur is still trying to find the big story that will make his name in the journalistic world, as one of his stories in book 1 was too dangerous to run, and the second twisted his words all around. Den Dhur is one of the first people to learn that bota is losing its potency—since the plant is adaptogenic, it’s starting to evolve and lose its medical goodness. This could be a huge story, but Den Dhur has started to develop a conscience and realizes that if he runs this story, the Separatists will attack the remaining bota fields and his friends will be at risk.
He also has a romantic plot line with one of the entertainers that’s stuck on Drongar, a Sullustan lady named Eyar Marath. She wants him to return to Sullust and become the patriarch of her family group (apparently Sullustans have these big polygamous family groups?), but he gets cold feet.
In the beginning, Bariss thinks that she’ll be transferred somewhere else because the awry bota shipments stopped with the death of Filba the hutt and Admiral Bleyd. However, her Master tells her that she needs to stay on Drongar because she's there for a reason; Barriss has to figure out what is the reason. Through an accident, she discovers that bota has a strange side effect for Force sensitive individuals: it opens them up to the power of the Force.
She has this unique vision of the entire galaxy and what's going on around her, so Barriss's main conflict is whether she should continue to use the bota to gain these insights and immeasurable power. Is this right? Towards the end, Barriss realizes that her compulsion to use the bota is like an addiction, and that perhaps this is the Dark Side—not intentionally doing evil things, but thinking that you're doing the right thing and doing it in a selfish manner. With the immeasurable power of the bota, she thinks she can solve all the wrongs around her, and that’s building herself up to be something that she's not, something that is very dangerous to pursue.
I-Five's plot involves recovering his lost memories, and then getting drunk. He remembers that Lorn Pavan asked him to watch over his son if anything happened to him, and he wants to return to Coruscant for Jax. Meanwhile, Den Dhur has become obsessed with getting I-Five drunk, and he succeeds. I-Five writes a program that stimulates a drunken state, he gets his arm ripped off by a Wookiee over a game of dejarik, and it’s very silly. However, I do really appreciate seeing I-Five again! He's such a good character; I love droids that have their own personality, and in I-Five’s case probably his own sentience. Even though he’s a droid, he’s still a distinct character (in more ways than one).
On the bad guy front, Kaird the Nedij is still here?? He’s trying to reestablish Black Sun’s bota operations, so he brings in a Falleen woman and an Umbaran man to set things up. Kaird’s plotline feels singularly useless to me. The only reason I think he’s here is so that he can be the first one to discover that the bota is evolving, but when that happens he conceals the information and tries to get back to Black Sun with a bunch of frozen bota. The duo backstab him (a bomb for the bota), and he’s like “I’ll get my revenge” but then we don’t see him again for the rest of the book?? I guess that he’ll reappear in Reaves’s Coruscant Nights trilogy, but it was a very satisfying ending. (Why kill off Bleyd in the first book, if Black Sun was still going to tinker with the bota shipments?)
The spy continues to do villainous things, as the Separatists order them to go up to the Medstar and cause a devastating explosion. Barriss immediately knows that it’s sabotage, but then…doesn’t investigate further. We eventually have two candidates for the spy: the Equani minder Klo Merit, and the nurse Tolk le Trene. But it’s not until the end of the book that Barriss realizes that either one could be the culprit, as she can’t see inside their minds like the other characters. Why wasn’t Barriss working from the beginning to figure this out? It seemed like the ball got dropped, because the spy and their motivations are revealed but in a frustrating way.
ISSUES:
A group of entertainers arrive on Drongar, only to be grounded when the holo shield malfunctions and the Rimsoo is covered in snow. They are obviously SW versions of famous Earth performers, which is fine. I guess. However, their names are blatant anagrams of these Earth performers. Bob Hope is "Epoh Trebor." Martha Raye is "Eyar Marath." I don't recognize the other ones, like "Jasod Revoc" and "Lili Renalem," but they're probably also puns. You can put a Bob Hope analog in your story, just don't name him "Robert Hope" backwards!
I think the plotline with Barriss's bota addiction would have worked more effectively for me if it had been in both of the books in the duology. As it stands, she accidentally injects herself with the boda halfway through Jedi Healer, so her struggles are restricted to the second half of the book. Barriss is sent to Rimsoo Seven to investigate why the bota is going missing, and she doesn't really investigate that at all. And then the first half of book 2 is Barriss wondering why she’s still there. What if this had happened in the first book—maybe Zan Yant brought her in on his clandestine treatment of troopers, and her accident happened in book 1—so that this was something that she wrestled with longer? Maybe this plotline, and her revelations about the Force and the Dark Side wouldn’t have felt quite so rushed to me.
But my biggest issue with Jedi Healer was that it did not hold up as well as the first book for me. I thought the first book did a really good job of incorporating humor with these unique revelations into the Clone Wars. Because we were looking through the eyes of characters who are not typical Jedi or clones or officers, we saw a different side of the conflict. Jos and Den Dhur and Barriss had distinctly different experiences on Drongar, and I found that their realizations added a new dimension to the Clone Wars.
But in the second book, Jos's dilemma boils down to “why isn’t my girlfriend talking to me.” Barriss’s dilemma was “should I keep using this drug or not.” Den Dhur’s dilemma was less “should I run this story that may have grave consequences for my friends,” and more “should I follow this lady back to my homeworld.” I didn’t feel like I got the same unique insights that I did in the first book.
And I think part of that was the villain problem! By the second book, we only have two villains. One of them is useless (IMO—he doesn’t seem to be doing much to affect the story). Perhaps if Kaird or the other villain had been actively working to make the bota ineffective, but instead it naturally evolves that way without (intentional) outside interference.
With the spy, we are presented with the dilemma that it is either Tolk le Trene or Klo Merit. If Tolk is the spy, we’re not going to have a happy ending, Jos’s heart will be broken, and everyone will be confused and dismayed because they trusted her and they were friends with her. So it can’t be Tolk, and it must be Klo Merit. So then I’m left wondering WHY. When we’re in the spy’s viewpoint, we get hints that something happened to make the spy hate the Republic, but we don’t know why. And we don’t learn why until Jos confronts Klo Merit and becomes the unwilling audience to a Villain Monologue. The Republic was testing the laser for (maybe) a very early prototype Death Star, and shot a blast into his homeworld’s sun. The resulting solar flare killed everyone on Equanus, and the only Equani who survived were offworld at the time.
So understandably, Klo Merit hates the Republic—but I wish that revelation would have come out within the story, instead of a Villain Monologue. Perhaps if Barriss was actively investigating the spy (she can investigate and become obsessed with bota, you can do both!) and maybe she brought Den Dhur into her investigation. One of them could uncover that Equanus wasn’t destroyed in a natural disaster, but in a Republic military mishap, and then they could start to suspect him before the very end. As it stands, the spy is revealed and then killed and that’s that, and I found this plot element frustrating to read.
IN CONCLUSION:
Did I enjoy Jedi Healer as much as I enjoyed Medstar I: Battle Surgeons? No, I didn’t…the villains were disappointing, and I think some of the character arcs would have worked better if they were sustained through both books. Because as it stands, Barriss’s bota addiction felt rushed and abbreviated when consigned to the second half of book 2. There were some good moments and some humorous moments, but this story didn’t have the unique elements that book 1 contained.
Next up: another Clone Wars book, this one primarily about Anakin Skywalker but also featuring Nejaa Halcyon: Jedi Trial by David Sherman and Dan Cragg
My YouTube review: https://youtu.be/fridwy-pYaU
August 14, 2008
Reviewed in 2005 at gs.designbymk.com
With the release of The Revenge Of The Sith growing ever nearer I was encouraged to appease the anticipation with some Clone Wars reading. I find many of the extended universe books to be superbly intriguing, especially when considering them in relation to the Star Wars timeline. This time I picked up the Medstar duology, Battle Surgeons and Jedi Healer.
By far, the best part of these books are the characters. They have been well developed despite the fact that all of the characters have their debut in this duology. No doubt it is also their fifteen minutes of fame, so to speak, because the next books on the timeline return to more familiar characters, which is a real shame. You can’t help but wonder what happens to padawan Barriss Offee, as well as the other detailed and emotionally developed characters.
One year prior to Episode III, Barriss Offee arrives on Drongar, a rim planet, to assist one of the Republic’s medical units, after all she is a healer. In the midst of her and the other lead medical staff is a spy, aiding the separatists and sabotaging the unit. There is little sword play and more physiological fights and mystery. Not the typical Star Wars book, yet it is intriguing.
One technical note about the writing style. There are just too many ellipses and em dashes. Sometimes it’s the over use of exclamation marks. Many a paragraph end like…
With the release of The Revenge Of The Sith growing ever nearer I was encouraged to appease the anticipation with some Clone Wars reading. I find many of the extended universe books to be superbly intriguing, especially when considering them in relation to the Star Wars timeline. This time I picked up the Medstar duology, Battle Surgeons and Jedi Healer.
By far, the best part of these books are the characters. They have been well developed despite the fact that all of the characters have their debut in this duology. No doubt it is also their fifteen minutes of fame, so to speak, because the next books on the timeline return to more familiar characters, which is a real shame. You can’t help but wonder what happens to padawan Barriss Offee, as well as the other detailed and emotionally developed characters.
One year prior to Episode III, Barriss Offee arrives on Drongar, a rim planet, to assist one of the Republic’s medical units, after all she is a healer. In the midst of her and the other lead medical staff is a spy, aiding the separatists and sabotaging the unit. There is little sword play and more physiological fights and mystery. Not the typical Star Wars book, yet it is intriguing.
One technical note about the writing style. There are just too many ellipses and em dashes. Sometimes it’s the over use of exclamation marks. Many a paragraph end like…
January 11, 2014
The second book of a duology set in the expanded universe. Once again, we are at the "M*A*S*H" unit that is trying to save clones. This book was a disappointment compared to the first one. The first book had moral issues and was a well written book. In my mind, this book's issues were trivial and did not help the development of the characters. Also, I believe that some character's actions just took too long to happen. I think the problem with this book was the authors had insufficient material for a second book. This book should have been combined with the first one. The only reason to read this one is if you are looking for a conclusion to the character's plotline from the first novel.
March 29, 2021
There is still far too much here that bored me (especially anything with the words "Black Sun"). But it's counter-balanced by more wonderful background details on Jos & his family life on Corellia, and -- best of all -- Barriss' psychedelic journey from Jedi Padawan to Jedi Knight. It's still not strong enough to make it to a 4 star rating, but it's much more impressive than the first Medstar book, so I'll settle on a strong 3.5 star rating in my head.
November 28, 2022
Ta część była zdecydowanie lepsza. Wreszcie autor zrobił coś z postacią Barriss i bardzo mi się to podobało. Poza tym Jos jest cudowny. Każda postać była ciekawie rozbudowana, tylko nie podoba mi się rozwiązanie wątku tolk i josa oraz tożsamość szpiega. Będę mile wspominać tą duologię.
July 8, 2024
More like a 3.5. Michael Reaves is a 10/10 storyteller, a 7.5/10 writer. I really enjoyed this dialogue!! Going to miss reading these books. 100% recommend anyone who read the Coruscant Nights series!
October 4, 2024
Similar problems to the first one but worse. I’m just not a fan of this duology.
June 16, 2018
The second part of the story was good. Kept my interest. A couple different stories the book.
February 10, 2021
I bought this book series on google play books, and my opinions are my own.
I really wish there were more of the MedStar series. These two books have been one of the most original explorations of The Clone Wars in specific and Star Wars in general save the Republic Commando series.
And just as that series had its glorious flaws, such as the author not being informed of key plot points that might have helped better develop the story and enrich the characters, so too does the Medstar series have its own.
Among them are some of the relationships between the characters and dangling plot threads for sequels never written. For that, one demerit, but only one. After all, we have to consider the source material, and its long list of now non-canon fiction written to fill gaps in the plot of the movies to begin with.
Also, if you've come for Barris, there's plenty of story that enriches her journey, but doesn't extend or end it.
In fact, the MC here is an original, well thought out Corellian surgeon with a palladium scalpel named Jos Varnar, and Barriss Offee often takes a passenger seat to his driving of the plot. With his sassy quips and razor-sharp wits that are dulled only by the complete exhaustion that befalls everyone in this Rimsoo, or R*M*S*U, Jos has been conscripted like everyone else to help fight a war he doesn't believe in. Rather than completely shame and exile himself from his Corellian family by conscientiously objecting and running off, he finds himself constantly overworked, understaffed, and undersupplied in a conflict over a planet where a panacea grows.
The plant called bota adapts to any species' biology and cures every wound, disease, or mental illness it comes across. It's an invaluable resource in the war no matter what side you're on. And so both the Republic and the Confederacy are eagerly, desperately trying to lay claim to the entire supply, or at least prevent the other from gaining access to it. And they aren't the only ones. Black Sun has quite a large stake in the endeavor as well, and has its own agents stirring the pot to a frothing boil.
Jos is understandably lonely for both home and romance. But he is also forced to choose between a boring, loveless marriage at home on Corellia with the prescribed successful practice, kids, and well-respected family or a relationship with one of the many beautiful non-Corellian women he has met out here in the galaxy. Sex, let alone marriage, with a non-Corellian is verboten by his society. If he does mess up and sleep with one from time to time, well, it's acceptable, understandable, even, as long as he doesn't talk about it or bring any of them home. That would be a scandal to ruin his family's good name, and force him back off-planet to make his own way. But Jos is also the sort who knows himself well enough to realize he couldn't just engage in rando hookups. He wants more, a lot more, and it's making him absolutely miserable.
And that's where my one star for problematic relationships starts to come in: clearly, in the first novel, Jos is romantically and sexually attracted to Barris, a gorgeous, mysterious young woman whose curious, benevolent nature hides the iron will and discipline of a highly regarded Jedi padawan. But he is also attracted to his nurse, another gorgeous young Lorrdian woman named Tolk Le Trene (yes, seriously), who has the near-human species' ability to read emotion through body language. And it just so happens she's particularly attuned to Jos's. Well, of course she is, he's her superior officer and he chooses her more often than not to assist him in delicate surgeries.
We really never get to know much more than that about her, although the MC's character progression is mainly fueled by his inner conflicts about Tolk, as well as various other characters like the droid medical assistant I-Five (groan). The reprogrammed protocol droid is military property, like a weapon or a crate of bandages. But his sarcasm betrays a far-deeper self-awareness than any droid Jos ever known. If he's actually sentient, then Jos can no longer ignore the intrinsic suffering of the clone soldiers he operates on daily. Yet to do so would open Jos up to the actual true horror of their situation.
Sadly, although these issues are mainly resolved by the beginning of the first novel, we don't really get to know any of the other protagonists beyond snappy one-liners, gallows humor for the soon to be deceased.
We do get pretty full characterization of some of the villains, such as the spy, the crooked Admiral, the assassin, and the vague Sithiness that is the martial arts instructor.
And that fills a great many gaps in my like column for these stories. Too often, we see cardboard cutout villains that are practically clones of Darth Sidious, Darth Maul, or Darth Vader, whether it's in a Star Wars novel or other fiction. So I didn't take another star away when the journalist, a rather charming Sullustan named Den Dhurr, fails some pretty big morality checks for the sake of not spoiling the plot and perpetuating the myth of his conscienceless avarice for the story, a being that will do anything to see it to its end.
It wouldn't be the first time in Star Wars or other stories that we are left wondering why characters are blind to easy solutions, and others pay the price for their self-centeredness as they pat themselves on the back for neatly avoiding becoming a known villain to the friends he values. I liked Den a lot, but like the chorus in a Greek tragedy, we the readers are left to bemoan the irony of the characters' actions.
Other things I really liked about the books were the attention to detail in terms of scientific and medical realities, and metaphor. If I see one more Star Wars story where any one of the characters refers to the bathroom instead of the 'fresher, I will personally track down the editor and give them a good finger-wagging. These writers really put some though into the metaphors the characters would use, the literature they'd refer to, the morality lessons given by professors, Jedi Masters, and deities. The glimpse into Sullastan domesticity was also quite interesting, as well as the extrapolation of Corellian social norms.
Overall, this is a fine and thoughtful addition to the Star Wars universe, and it's a real shame it has been relegated to "Legends" status. There are plenty of books and comics that predate this one and really belong there (New Jedi Order, I'm looking at you!), but this is not one of them.
I really wish there were more of the MedStar series. These two books have been one of the most original explorations of The Clone Wars in specific and Star Wars in general save the Republic Commando series.
And just as that series had its glorious flaws, such as the author not being informed of key plot points that might have helped better develop the story and enrich the characters, so too does the Medstar series have its own.
Among them are some of the relationships between the characters and dangling plot threads for sequels never written. For that, one demerit, but only one. After all, we have to consider the source material, and its long list of now non-canon fiction written to fill gaps in the plot of the movies to begin with.
Also, if you've come for Barris, there's plenty of story that enriches her journey, but doesn't extend or end it.
In fact, the MC here is an original, well thought out Corellian surgeon with a palladium scalpel named Jos Varnar, and Barriss Offee often takes a passenger seat to his driving of the plot. With his sassy quips and razor-sharp wits that are dulled only by the complete exhaustion that befalls everyone in this Rimsoo, or R*M*S*U, Jos has been conscripted like everyone else to help fight a war he doesn't believe in. Rather than completely shame and exile himself from his Corellian family by conscientiously objecting and running off, he finds himself constantly overworked, understaffed, and undersupplied in a conflict over a planet where a panacea grows.
The plant called bota adapts to any species' biology and cures every wound, disease, or mental illness it comes across. It's an invaluable resource in the war no matter what side you're on. And so both the Republic and the Confederacy are eagerly, desperately trying to lay claim to the entire supply, or at least prevent the other from gaining access to it. And they aren't the only ones. Black Sun has quite a large stake in the endeavor as well, and has its own agents stirring the pot to a frothing boil.
Jos is understandably lonely for both home and romance. But he is also forced to choose between a boring, loveless marriage at home on Corellia with the prescribed successful practice, kids, and well-respected family or a relationship with one of the many beautiful non-Corellian women he has met out here in the galaxy. Sex, let alone marriage, with a non-Corellian is verboten by his society. If he does mess up and sleep with one from time to time, well, it's acceptable, understandable, even, as long as he doesn't talk about it or bring any of them home. That would be a scandal to ruin his family's good name, and force him back off-planet to make his own way. But Jos is also the sort who knows himself well enough to realize he couldn't just engage in rando hookups. He wants more, a lot more, and it's making him absolutely miserable.
And that's where my one star for problematic relationships starts to come in: clearly, in the first novel, Jos is romantically and sexually attracted to Barris, a gorgeous, mysterious young woman whose curious, benevolent nature hides the iron will and discipline of a highly regarded Jedi padawan. But he is also attracted to his nurse, another gorgeous young Lorrdian woman named Tolk Le Trene (yes, seriously), who has the near-human species' ability to read emotion through body language. And it just so happens she's particularly attuned to Jos's. Well, of course she is, he's her superior officer and he chooses her more often than not to assist him in delicate surgeries.
We really never get to know much more than that about her, although the MC's character progression is mainly fueled by his inner conflicts about Tolk, as well as various other characters like the droid medical assistant I-Five (groan). The reprogrammed protocol droid is military property, like a weapon or a crate of bandages. But his sarcasm betrays a far-deeper self-awareness than any droid Jos ever known. If he's actually sentient, then Jos can no longer ignore the intrinsic suffering of the clone soldiers he operates on daily. Yet to do so would open Jos up to the actual true horror of their situation.
Sadly, although these issues are mainly resolved by the beginning of the first novel, we don't really get to know any of the other protagonists beyond snappy one-liners, gallows humor for the soon to be deceased.
We do get pretty full characterization of some of the villains, such as the spy, the crooked Admiral, the assassin, and the vague Sithiness that is the martial arts instructor.
And that fills a great many gaps in my like column for these stories. Too often, we see cardboard cutout villains that are practically clones of Darth Sidious, Darth Maul, or Darth Vader, whether it's in a Star Wars novel or other fiction. So I didn't take another star away when the journalist, a rather charming Sullustan named Den Dhurr, fails some pretty big morality checks for the sake of not spoiling the plot and perpetuating the myth of his conscienceless avarice for the story, a being that will do anything to see it to its end.
It wouldn't be the first time in Star Wars or other stories that we are left wondering why characters are blind to easy solutions, and others pay the price for their self-centeredness as they pat themselves on the back for neatly avoiding becoming a known villain to the friends he values. I liked Den a lot, but like the chorus in a Greek tragedy, we the readers are left to bemoan the irony of the characters' actions.
Other things I really liked about the books were the attention to detail in terms of scientific and medical realities, and metaphor. If I see one more Star Wars story where any one of the characters refers to the bathroom instead of the 'fresher, I will personally track down the editor and give them a good finger-wagging. These writers really put some though into the metaphors the characters would use, the literature they'd refer to, the morality lessons given by professors, Jedi Masters, and deities. The glimpse into Sullastan domesticity was also quite interesting, as well as the extrapolation of Corellian social norms.
Overall, this is a fine and thoughtful addition to the Star Wars universe, and it's a real shame it has been relegated to "Legends" status. There are plenty of books and comics that predate this one and really belong there (New Jedi Order, I'm looking at you!), but this is not one of them.
July 19, 2017
I think this is my favorite - or close to favorite - of all the Star Wars novels I have read.
I picked it up because I was staring at the Star Wars section at the library and wanted something to read and had just finished the Clone Wars tv series and wanted to read something about Barriss from outside that timeline.
Now my expectations aren't terribly high when I pick up a Star Wars novel - I'm looking for decent entertainment for a couple hours. This book surprised me. It's not what you would typically expect from a SW novel, especially one set in the middle of the Clone Wars, as it has virtually no combat, only incidental interactions with clones, and Barriss is the only Jedi actually present throughout the narrative. It deals with the daily lives and interactions of a group of surgeons, nurses, various military personnel, and civilians living and working in a Rimsoo - a Republic Mobile Surgical Unit (MASH, anyone?? Yes, it reminded me a bit of that). This means that the novel takes a much more personal and character driven approach to depicting this part of the war - and I though it worked really well. Touches on the humanity of clones, sentience of droids, PTSD / stress / anxiety of the doctors and nurses (and Barriss), and has a remarkable storyline about love and family. I was impressed. If you're at all curious, I would encourage you to read this.
I picked it up because I was staring at the Star Wars section at the library and wanted something to read and had just finished the Clone Wars tv series and wanted to read something about Barriss from outside that timeline.
Now my expectations aren't terribly high when I pick up a Star Wars novel - I'm looking for decent entertainment for a couple hours. This book surprised me. It's not what you would typically expect from a SW novel, especially one set in the middle of the Clone Wars, as it has virtually no combat, only incidental interactions with clones, and Barriss is the only Jedi actually present throughout the narrative. It deals with the daily lives and interactions of a group of surgeons, nurses, various military personnel, and civilians living and working in a Rimsoo - a Republic Mobile Surgical Unit (MASH, anyone?? Yes, it reminded me a bit of that). This means that the novel takes a much more personal and character driven approach to depicting this part of the war - and I though it worked really well. Touches on the humanity of clones, sentience of droids, PTSD / stress / anxiety of the doctors and nurses (and Barriss), and has a remarkable storyline about love and family. I was impressed. If you're at all curious, I would encourage you to read this.
January 22, 2021
Consequences and Fallout For Some-A Thrilling Conclusion
Another great book from the team of Michael Reaves and Steve Perry. Jedi Healer picks up where Battle Surgeons left off. The loss of a close friend left Jos reeling, the spy continues to wreck havoc, along with the Black Sun syndicate after the valuable crop of boat. This book answers many of the questions posed by the first and focuses a bit more on Barris Offee and her quest to become a Jedi knight. This is particularly sad if you know the rest of her story, she handles herself so well under these trying circumstances. I love how this series shows a different side of the Star Wars universe and the medical terminology and situations feel realistic along with the in universe quotes. For those interested, you will meet up with I-5, Den and others in the Coruscant Nights series. A fantastic read, continuing the MASH feel. Star Wars fans will definitely enjoy this thrilling adventure.
Another great book from the team of Michael Reaves and Steve Perry. Jedi Healer picks up where Battle Surgeons left off. The loss of a close friend left Jos reeling, the spy continues to wreck havoc, along with the Black Sun syndicate after the valuable crop of boat. This book answers many of the questions posed by the first and focuses a bit more on Barris Offee and her quest to become a Jedi knight. This is particularly sad if you know the rest of her story, she handles herself so well under these trying circumstances. I love how this series shows a different side of the Star Wars universe and the medical terminology and situations feel realistic along with the in universe quotes. For those interested, you will meet up with I-5, Den and others in the Coruscant Nights series. A fantastic read, continuing the MASH feel. Star Wars fans will definitely enjoy this thrilling adventure.
February 11, 2009
It was good...really good, until we got to the climax.
One moment the force dome is collapsing and both good and bad guys are at risk, the next a point-of-view characters is regaining consciousness in orbit. When he asks what happened, they point to a Republic Star Destroyer in orbit near them.
No, it doesn't work. Our Jedi had had her epiphany, but she needed to do something! The MASH--oops, RMSU unit was being overrun. A battleship in orbit doesn't get the medic's bacon out of the fire. What a dramatic climax, and we don't see it. It wasn't even off stage. It was skipped. Very disappointed.
Cover art quip: did you recognize the pose on the cover? Except for repositioning the healer's left hand, it copies Michelangelo's Pieta. (Hey, if you're going to steal, hit a bank, not a meat market.)
One moment the force dome is collapsing and both good and bad guys are at risk, the next a point-of-view characters is regaining consciousness in orbit. When he asks what happened, they point to a Republic Star Destroyer in orbit near them.
No, it doesn't work. Our Jedi had had her epiphany, but she needed to do something! The MASH--oops, RMSU unit was being overrun. A battleship in orbit doesn't get the medic's bacon out of the fire. What a dramatic climax, and we don't see it. It wasn't even off stage. It was skipped. Very disappointed.
Cover art quip: did you recognize the pose on the cover? Except for repositioning the healer's left hand, it copies Michelangelo's Pieta. (Hey, if you're going to steal, hit a bank, not a meat market.)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 28, 2008
Very disappointing to say the least from these two authors. The book as a Star Wars was just bad and as a Sci Fi book blah.
The Jedi character was barely developed into a fighter. There was no action and it seemed everyone was just at the bar and nothing else. The driod finally got drunk from what it was trying to do in the first book and what happens? A wookie takes off one of its arm in a card game...ohhh great reference to the movie.
Just a bad book overall.
The Jedi character was barely developed into a fighter. There was no action and it seemed everyone was just at the bar and nothing else. The driod finally got drunk from what it was trying to do in the first book and what happens? A wookie takes off one of its arm in a card game...ohhh great reference to the movie.
Just a bad book overall.
May 12, 2018
A Star Wars version of a story in a MASH unit. Actually has some good medical references.
June 26, 2021
(DISCLAIMER: I read the abridged Audible version of this book, so certain pieces of the story were likely missing/edited down.)
We cap off the Clone Wars multimedia books available on Audible (if I ever re-learn to read and remember what I read, I'll read Yoda: Dark Rendezvous) with Medstar II: Jedi Healer. And honestly, this book has about as much weight and coherence as its predecessor. That doesn't sound like a bad thing, considering I like the first book. But that's the issue I take with this one: It doesn't really do anything new or push the envelope of the Medstar pocket of the Star Wars universe. I'm not even really sure how much I have to say. I do have a few talking points though, mostly little problems or weird things I found.
I5, the droid of the duology, can program himself to get drunk? And the Audible version of this story spends a LOT of time of it. And if I recall, this doesn't even contribute anything to the book? I think it was just for comic relief. And while it was silly at first, it ultimately ended up feeling like a waste of time.
Barriss Offee essentially takes a hallucinogenic drug that makes her feel like a god and strengthens her connection to the Force. It was incredibly odd. At least this had a purpose to her mini character arc though: she learns that she can be a strong person and Jedi on her own with her own abilities. I thought that was quite nice, seeing as she was a little bit eager and anxious throughout both books regarding her knighthood. But the way her "trip" was described was so bizarre, and I don't like the idea of a drug that makes you feel as if you're "in" the Force.
Jos Vandor and Tolk le Trane's love story turned INCREDIBLY soap opera-y. There's interference from a relative of Jos' that dissuades Tolk from their relationship, there are cultural customs to make the relationship feel special or important, and there's a lack of communication between the two which ensures that their problems won't get solved for a long time. I mean, eventually their problems DO get solved, but the process wasn't that engaging. I've never felt this passive reading a Star Wars book. (Actually, okay... Jedi Trial exists, so that was a lie!)
In short, while Medstar II tries to continue the strengths of its predecessor, it carries a bit more weakness with it as well. Still not bad though, and proof that taking such a fun and unique approach to the Star Wars universe can result in memorable stories, moments, and concepts.
We cap off the Clone Wars multimedia books available on Audible (if I ever re-learn to read and remember what I read, I'll read Yoda: Dark Rendezvous) with Medstar II: Jedi Healer. And honestly, this book has about as much weight and coherence as its predecessor. That doesn't sound like a bad thing, considering I like the first book. But that's the issue I take with this one: It doesn't really do anything new or push the envelope of the Medstar pocket of the Star Wars universe. I'm not even really sure how much I have to say. I do have a few talking points though, mostly little problems or weird things I found.
I5, the droid of the duology, can program himself to get drunk? And the Audible version of this story spends a LOT of time of it. And if I recall, this doesn't even contribute anything to the book? I think it was just for comic relief. And while it was silly at first, it ultimately ended up feeling like a waste of time.
Barriss Offee essentially takes a hallucinogenic drug that makes her feel like a god and strengthens her connection to the Force. It was incredibly odd. At least this had a purpose to her mini character arc though: she learns that she can be a strong person and Jedi on her own with her own abilities. I thought that was quite nice, seeing as she was a little bit eager and anxious throughout both books regarding her knighthood. But the way her "trip" was described was so bizarre, and I don't like the idea of a drug that makes you feel as if you're "in" the Force.
Jos Vandor and Tolk le Trane's love story turned INCREDIBLY soap opera-y. There's interference from a relative of Jos' that dissuades Tolk from their relationship, there are cultural customs to make the relationship feel special or important, and there's a lack of communication between the two which ensures that their problems won't get solved for a long time. I mean, eventually their problems DO get solved, but the process wasn't that engaging. I've never felt this passive reading a Star Wars book. (Actually, okay... Jedi Trial exists, so that was a lie!)
In short, while Medstar II tries to continue the strengths of its predecessor, it carries a bit more weakness with it as well. Still not bad though, and proof that taking such a fun and unique approach to the Star Wars universe can result in memorable stories, moments, and concepts.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 20, 2024
Finally, I'm done.
Pretty much all of my problems I had with the first book were only worse in this one. There was even less medical stuff, even more interpersonal drama (especially with Jos and Tolk), even more relatively boring stuff when it came to the spy and the Black Suns subplot, even more chapters just abruptly ending and even more telling and not showing.
Two examples for the latter:
One chapter has I-5 going through a bit of a crisis where it just abruptly ends with him saying he think's he's having an anxiety attack. No explanations, no going into details or perspectives, it just ends. And it isn't mentioned again until a few chapters later where it doesn't seem to actually be all that important or have any real impact.
The other is when Jos went to go and speak to his uncle able interfering with his relationship with Tolk. A few chapters later we're then told that the couple are back together instead of actually seeing them having a conversation and actually making up properly.
Barriss, again, doesn't actually really do anything other than injure herself, do some self reflection, take a few drug hits then, at the very last minute, actually decide to do her job in trying to figure out who the spy is. She doesn't even go to confront them herself and instead leaves that for Jos to deal with, even though it's technically none of his actual business.
As for the spy, it was obvious from the start. They authors try to set up two possibilities but considering we had the first book where we spent a lot of time with one of the characters, it made no sense for it to be them. The other character, by virtue of their position, would have had access to way more information, personal and otherwise.
It wasn't bad. It just was not interesting at all and was almost mind numbingly boring at times. I had to force myself to finish it because I just had no interest in it at all.
Pretty much all of my problems I had with the first book were only worse in this one. There was even less medical stuff, even more interpersonal drama (especially with Jos and Tolk), even more relatively boring stuff when it came to the spy and the Black Suns subplot, even more chapters just abruptly ending and even more telling and not showing.
Two examples for the latter:
One chapter has I-5 going through a bit of a crisis where it just abruptly ends with him saying he think's he's having an anxiety attack. No explanations, no going into details or perspectives, it just ends. And it isn't mentioned again until a few chapters later where it doesn't seem to actually be all that important or have any real impact.
The other is when Jos went to go and speak to his uncle able interfering with his relationship with Tolk. A few chapters later we're then told that the couple are back together instead of actually seeing them having a conversation and actually making up properly.
Barriss, again, doesn't actually really do anything other than injure herself, do some self reflection, take a few drug hits then, at the very last minute, actually decide to do her job in trying to figure out who the spy is. She doesn't even go to confront them herself and instead leaves that for Jos to deal with, even though it's technically none of his actual business.
As for the spy, it was obvious from the start. They authors try to set up two possibilities but considering we had the first book where we spent a lot of time with one of the characters, it made no sense for it to be them. The other character, by virtue of their position, would have had access to way more information, personal and otherwise.
It wasn't bad. It just was not interesting at all and was almost mind numbingly boring at times. I had to force myself to finish it because I just had no interest in it at all.
June 15, 2019
This book provides a somewhat disappointing conclusion to the story begun in Battle Surgeons.
Picking up just days after the previous novel left off, we are again following the exploits of the staff at a mobile surgical hospital on Drongar. There are several overlapping plots here, so it's sometimes hard to pick out the main storyline. Jos Vandar, one of the top surgeons, receives more pages than the rest and comes as close to being the main character as anyone. He is depressed over the loss of his friend Zan Yant and attracted to one of the nurses, Tolk. But cultural taboos keep him from expressing his love for her. Meanwhile, Jedi Padawan Barriss Offee learns that the Bota plant which makes Drongar a valuable asset, can expand Jedi capabilities. The power it offers tempts her to move to the Dark Side. We also have plot lines around the reporter Den Dhur, the Black Sun operative Kaird, and the droid I-5YQ, not to mention the spy that authors Michael Reaves and Steve Perry keep telling us about. So for a relatively short book, once again, there's a lot going on.
It doesn't quite hold together. Reaves and Perry keep all the balls in the air, but other than the setting, they don't really give us a compelling rationale as to why these stories all belong together. Thus, the Medstar books feel like a soap opera, with a multitude of characters on a variety of individual quests, but no grand, unifying theme. I still enjoyed some of the characters and the unusual setting. And I found the misdirection around the identity of the spy quite good; I bought the wrong suspect for a long time. But in the end I found this entry in the Clone Wars unmemorable. I was on the fence between two and three stars with the previous book in this pair. This one lands cleanly in two stars.
Picking up just days after the previous novel left off, we are again following the exploits of the staff at a mobile surgical hospital on Drongar. There are several overlapping plots here, so it's sometimes hard to pick out the main storyline. Jos Vandar, one of the top surgeons, receives more pages than the rest and comes as close to being the main character as anyone. He is depressed over the loss of his friend Zan Yant and attracted to one of the nurses, Tolk. But cultural taboos keep him from expressing his love for her. Meanwhile, Jedi Padawan Barriss Offee learns that the Bota plant which makes Drongar a valuable asset, can expand Jedi capabilities. The power it offers tempts her to move to the Dark Side. We also have plot lines around the reporter Den Dhur, the Black Sun operative Kaird, and the droid I-5YQ, not to mention the spy that authors Michael Reaves and Steve Perry keep telling us about. So for a relatively short book, once again, there's a lot going on.
It doesn't quite hold together. Reaves and Perry keep all the balls in the air, but other than the setting, they don't really give us a compelling rationale as to why these stories all belong together. Thus, the Medstar books feel like a soap opera, with a multitude of characters on a variety of individual quests, but no grand, unifying theme. I still enjoyed some of the characters and the unusual setting. And I found the misdirection around the identity of the spy quite good; I bought the wrong suspect for a long time. But in the end I found this entry in the Clone Wars unmemorable. I was on the fence between two and three stars with the previous book in this pair. This one lands cleanly in two stars.
February 23, 2020
Very similar to the first installment.
The annoying admiral is dead, but a lot of pages were taken up with Bird Gangster's plans and thoughts that by and large were pointless. His schemes had approximately zero impact on the greater story arc of the Rimsoo, and I genuinely don't even know why he was even there.
Barriss's experience with the bota was interesting. In all the wikis and other material it's called "an addiction," but it seems that she was able to stop without any physical symptoms like withdrawal. The temptation, though, seemed particularly suited to Barriss's temperament; she's always thinking she's too slow, too stupid, too naive, always calling herself "an amateur." With the psychedelic Force effects of the bota, she is given the chance to transcend what she sees as her own weakness. I'm proud of her for stopping.
Also... was I RIGHT or was I RIGHT about the identity of the spy???! They kept trying to imply that it was Tolk, but I wasn't taken in, oh no.
Overall, this entire duology is a little strange. It's very heavy on the tech details, and very heavy on everyone's individual arcs. We get an introspective arc for Jos, an introspective arc for Den, an introspective arc for Barriss, an introspective arc for the droid and even for Bird Gangster. None of these arcs intersect; they hang out and small talk in the cantina, but really they're all just in their own little worlds experiencing the war.
I'm not sure what the point of any of it was, and somehow I'm left in the position of wishing there had been more actual plot, as well as more connection between characters.
The annoying admiral is dead, but a lot of pages were taken up with Bird Gangster's plans and thoughts that by and large were pointless. His schemes had approximately zero impact on the greater story arc of the Rimsoo, and I genuinely don't even know why he was even there.
Barriss's experience with the bota was interesting. In all the wikis and other material it's called "an addiction," but it seems that she was able to stop without any physical symptoms like withdrawal. The temptation, though, seemed particularly suited to Barriss's temperament; she's always thinking she's too slow, too stupid, too naive, always calling herself "an amateur." With the psychedelic Force effects of the bota, she is given the chance to transcend what she sees as her own weakness. I'm proud of her for stopping.
Also... was I RIGHT or was I RIGHT about the identity of the spy???! They kept trying to imply that it was Tolk, but I wasn't taken in, oh no.
Overall, this entire duology is a little strange. It's very heavy on the tech details, and very heavy on everyone's individual arcs. We get an introspective arc for Jos, an introspective arc for Den, an introspective arc for Barriss, an introspective arc for the droid and even for Bird Gangster. None of these arcs intersect; they hang out and small talk in the cantina, but really they're all just in their own little worlds experiencing the war.
I'm not sure what the point of any of it was, and somehow I'm left in the position of wishing there had been more actual plot, as well as more connection between characters.
March 10, 2022
Woof. This one was definitely not as good as the first, and the first didn't blow my socks off. I felt they got the "M*A*S*H*" aspects down a little better (the surgery scenes felt less disconnected, there's the weird snowfall section that feels like an episode of a TV show, etc.) but it honestly felt like a lot of the stuff that happened here could've been folded into the first book and you'd have one pretty good 400-page book.
Weird things:
I really hate all the "cutesy" changes they like making to modern phrasing. It always fell flat.
Column/Lens is revealed, and I honestly didn't remember who that character was till like the second chapter after the reveal b/c they hadn't made much of an impression on me. (Also I never cared who s/he was ... I always skipped past the Column and ... Kaird? the bird guy ... chapters.)
The ebook version ends at 68% of the way through (!!!) - the rest is a Legends timeline & a VERY extended excerpt from Jedi Trial, apparently. I think I might have felt less like it was overstaying its welcome if I'd realized it was only 2/3 as long as I thought it was.
There are a couple of interesting characters, for sure, and it was nice to see I-Five again, though he's mostly wasted in this book (no pun intended, as his like main arc is about trying to get drunk). Den was pretty much always entertaining. I know I-Five shows up again in Coruscant Nights (well, I would ASSUME so ...). I really wonder if Den or Jos will show up later in anything.
Weird things:
I really hate all the "cutesy" changes they like making to modern phrasing. It always fell flat.
Column/Lens is revealed, and I honestly didn't remember who that character was till like the second chapter after the reveal b/c they hadn't made much of an impression on me. (Also I never cared who s/he was ... I always skipped past the Column and ... Kaird? the bird guy ... chapters.)
The ebook version ends at 68% of the way through (!!!) - the rest is a Legends timeline & a VERY extended excerpt from Jedi Trial, apparently. I think I might have felt less like it was overstaying its welcome if I'd realized it was only 2/3 as long as I thought it was.
There are a couple of interesting characters, for sure, and it was nice to see I-Five again, though he's mostly wasted in this book (no pun intended, as his like main arc is about trying to get drunk). Den was pretty much always entertaining. I know I-Five shows up again in Coruscant Nights (well, I would ASSUME so ...). I really wonder if Den or Jos will show up later in anything.
July 19, 2024
2.5-ish stars
Ambivalent feelings on this one. Reaves and Perry know how to spin an enjoyable, pulpy Star Wars tale, the characters are still about as fun as in the first book, and I didn't have a bad or even boring time reading this novel. In fact, my favorite parts, as I hoped, were indeed Barriss' reflections on the Force and morality - a very of-its-time (New Jedi Order says hi) tale on ends-justify-the-means morality and how it relates to inner darkness.
Sadly, everything here just seems rushed and inconsequential. The villains are poor, and poorly utilized at that. The Spy plotline is flaccid. Jos' plotline boiling down to woes about forbidden love (since when did Corellians of all people follow cultural isolationism?) did not catch my attention. Even Barriss' subplot with the bota, though interesting in concept, is not given the time it needed to develop. And is it just me, or was there a lot less of an emphasis on surgical work in here? Had the authors (or Del Rey?) decided to work the ideas present here into a longer, single Medstar book, we might've had a truly era-defining Clone Wars tale at hand.
I have to say, the Medstar midquel short story, MedStar: Intermezzo, furthered the initial novel's story with more satisfying results.
Ambivalent feelings on this one. Reaves and Perry know how to spin an enjoyable, pulpy Star Wars tale, the characters are still about as fun as in the first book, and I didn't have a bad or even boring time reading this novel. In fact, my favorite parts, as I hoped, were indeed Barriss' reflections on the Force and morality - a very of-its-time (New Jedi Order says hi) tale on ends-justify-the-means morality and how it relates to inner darkness.
Sadly, everything here just seems rushed and inconsequential. The villains are poor, and poorly utilized at that. The Spy plotline is flaccid. Jos' plotline boiling down to woes about forbidden love (since when did Corellians of all people follow cultural isolationism?) did not catch my attention. Even Barriss' subplot with the bota, though interesting in concept, is not given the time it needed to develop. And is it just me, or was there a lot less of an emphasis on surgical work in here? Had the authors (or Del Rey?) decided to work the ideas present here into a longer, single Medstar book, we might've had a truly era-defining Clone Wars tale at hand.
I have to say, the Medstar midquel short story, MedStar: Intermezzo, furthered the initial novel's story with more satisfying results.
November 27, 2012
Jedi Healer
, by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry is the second and last of the Medstar duology. Good riddance. This book felt like a long and convoluted second half of a single volume. In the first book, titled
Battle Surgeons
, readers were introduced to a few, unknown characters who were part of a medical unit helping clone soldiers on a remote planet called Drongar.
The first novel primarily set up the characters, including Jedi Padawan Barriss Offee, who had been sent to Drongar to help heal people, and as a final test to her becoming a Jedi Knight. The other character prominent character introduced is Jos Vandar, a surgeon who fans will come to either love or hate throughout the series.
Though Battle Surgeons was fairly successful in revealing an interesting story, Jedi Healer fails on almost every level to deliver a satisfying conclusion. The only thing it has in its favor is a bit of humor, and the fact that it manages to tell a story not seen in the Clone Wars so far: a battle of spirit on an out-of-the-way planet, and does so without any major characters.
The Medstar duology truly should have been one book, and in fact, shouldn’t have been published to begin with; there are simply too many problems in this series. For instance, early in the novel, we are told that Jos Vandar is Corellian. Strange, since the first book does a pretty good job of telling readers how his culture looks down very harshly on being involved with people not from his planet. Therefore, readers begin to assume his love interest, Tolk, is either not human at all, or that Jos is from a strange, secluded planet. Not so if he’s from Corellia. But if that culture frowns on the prospect of people marrying from other cultures, why didn’t Han Solo have a problem with getting involved with Leia in the Original Trilogy, or in the subsequent books? Why was it never mentioned? To the authors’ credit, later in the book, there’s talk of how attitudes on Corellia are changing but it comes far too late to keep the reader from being helplessly confused.
This book was also horribly proof-read--much like this review--and spelling mistakes, grammar errors, and many other problems mar this book throughout. As if the problem with Corellians being ostracized marrying "eksters" isn’t bad enough, it’s even worse when they refer to the same thing as "eskers" several times. Make up your mind please. (Note to LucasBooks and Del Rey Editors: Microsoft Word has an excellent feature called ‘Find & Replace’ I would also turn off the proofreading markup features and try reading these manuscripts. You’d catch more errors that way.) Star Wars books have been getting progressively worse about these types of errors lately, and it’s embarrassing to see how poorly some of these books read.
As if proofreading mistakes weren’t enough to drive the reader crazy, many of our modern-day sayings and phrases are translated and inserted into Jedi Healer. In fact, the language rating of this novel would have to be at least PG-13. After all, "no mopek" isn’t going to fool anybody. A few ‘curse’ words won’t bother some people, but it just sounds dumb to see "getting his drive tubes scoured," when we know what they mean. It’s okay every now and then, but not as often as this book parades these phrases around.
Among the other problems in this book, and quite possibly the most frustrating: it has a see-through plot. Near the end of Battle Surgeons, the authors set up the fact that there’s a spy in the midst of the characters introduced. Readers will probably begin to suspect a particular character as the spy, and will most likely be correct. Throughout most of Jedi Healer, Reaves and Perry try to keep a lot of drama going on this fact, hoping that it will pay off at the ‘reveal’ near the end. However, they do very little to draw guilt away from the character most readers should be suspicious of. Granted, the authors try to distract the reader, in poor fashion and with more embarrassing, overlooked mistakes, but the story is so cliché that it fails to excite. Readers may doubt their assumptions once or twice, but when the Reveal finally happens, it’s entirely too short, and extremely un-gratifying. It’s not surprising at all; downright disappointing is more like it.
Though the book suffers through many hurdles, it does have its high points. Unfortunately, those high points are still depressingly low. A couple of fairly noteworthy events are the appearance of a Republic Star Destroyer, and a mention of the Modal Nodes--the band playing in the cantina in A New Hope. Another fascinating--if not confusing--point talks about Republic weapon tests of what we can only assume is the Death Star.
Overall, the book tries to deliver a story, but instead reveals itself for what it truly is: a commercial attempt to extort the Star Wars franchise in order to elicit fans to buy the latest offering. Del Rey knows that fans will buy it if it says Star Wars. It’s sad that they would use that to promote this Medstar duology. Rather than write books around a good story, they tried to wrap an ill-conceived story around two books, to make money not just once, but twice. What easily could have been a single volume was instead split into two. Twice the page count, twice the profit, right? Or was it simply because there were two authors? Either way, these books could have never seen the light of a word processor, and it probably would have been for the better.
Unless you’re a die-hard fan, who doesn’t need the extra $14 USD, skip ‘em.
The first novel primarily set up the characters, including Jedi Padawan Barriss Offee, who had been sent to Drongar to help heal people, and as a final test to her becoming a Jedi Knight. The other character prominent character introduced is Jos Vandar, a surgeon who fans will come to either love or hate throughout the series.
Though Battle Surgeons was fairly successful in revealing an interesting story, Jedi Healer fails on almost every level to deliver a satisfying conclusion. The only thing it has in its favor is a bit of humor, and the fact that it manages to tell a story not seen in the Clone Wars so far: a battle of spirit on an out-of-the-way planet, and does so without any major characters.
The Medstar duology truly should have been one book, and in fact, shouldn’t have been published to begin with; there are simply too many problems in this series. For instance, early in the novel, we are told that Jos Vandar is Corellian. Strange, since the first book does a pretty good job of telling readers how his culture looks down very harshly on being involved with people not from his planet. Therefore, readers begin to assume his love interest, Tolk, is either not human at all, or that Jos is from a strange, secluded planet. Not so if he’s from Corellia. But if that culture frowns on the prospect of people marrying from other cultures, why didn’t Han Solo have a problem with getting involved with Leia in the Original Trilogy, or in the subsequent books? Why was it never mentioned? To the authors’ credit, later in the book, there’s talk of how attitudes on Corellia are changing but it comes far too late to keep the reader from being helplessly confused.
This book was also horribly proof-read--much like this review--and spelling mistakes, grammar errors, and many other problems mar this book throughout. As if the problem with Corellians being ostracized marrying "eksters" isn’t bad enough, it’s even worse when they refer to the same thing as "eskers" several times. Make up your mind please. (Note to LucasBooks and Del Rey Editors: Microsoft Word has an excellent feature called ‘Find & Replace’ I would also turn off the proofreading markup features and try reading these manuscripts. You’d catch more errors that way.) Star Wars books have been getting progressively worse about these types of errors lately, and it’s embarrassing to see how poorly some of these books read.
As if proofreading mistakes weren’t enough to drive the reader crazy, many of our modern-day sayings and phrases are translated and inserted into Jedi Healer. In fact, the language rating of this novel would have to be at least PG-13. After all, "no mopek" isn’t going to fool anybody. A few ‘curse’ words won’t bother some people, but it just sounds dumb to see "getting his drive tubes scoured," when we know what they mean. It’s okay every now and then, but not as often as this book parades these phrases around.
Among the other problems in this book, and quite possibly the most frustrating: it has a see-through plot. Near the end of Battle Surgeons, the authors set up the fact that there’s a spy in the midst of the characters introduced. Readers will probably begin to suspect a particular character as the spy, and will most likely be correct. Throughout most of Jedi Healer, Reaves and Perry try to keep a lot of drama going on this fact, hoping that it will pay off at the ‘reveal’ near the end. However, they do very little to draw guilt away from the character most readers should be suspicious of. Granted, the authors try to distract the reader, in poor fashion and with more embarrassing, overlooked mistakes, but the story is so cliché that it fails to excite. Readers may doubt their assumptions once or twice, but when the Reveal finally happens, it’s entirely too short, and extremely un-gratifying. It’s not surprising at all; downright disappointing is more like it.
Though the book suffers through many hurdles, it does have its high points. Unfortunately, those high points are still depressingly low. A couple of fairly noteworthy events are the appearance of a Republic Star Destroyer, and a mention of the Modal Nodes--the band playing in the cantina in A New Hope. Another fascinating--if not confusing--point talks about Republic weapon tests of what we can only assume is the Death Star.
Overall, the book tries to deliver a story, but instead reveals itself for what it truly is: a commercial attempt to extort the Star Wars franchise in order to elicit fans to buy the latest offering. Del Rey knows that fans will buy it if it says Star Wars. It’s sad that they would use that to promote this Medstar duology. Rather than write books around a good story, they tried to wrap an ill-conceived story around two books, to make money not just once, but twice. What easily could have been a single volume was instead split into two. Twice the page count, twice the profit, right? Or was it simply because there were two authors? Either way, these books could have never seen the light of a word processor, and it probably would have been for the better.
Unless you’re a die-hard fan, who doesn’t need the extra $14 USD, skip ‘em.
September 30, 2023
Drongar is still a Clone Wars hotspot, thanks to the miraculous bota. More sabotage points to a spy in the Republic's midst and there's more than one being trying to make a profit off this mess. Meanwhile, Bariss continues her journey towards Knighthood. Maybe I should have just copied and pasted my summary from the previous review, since it's almost the same book!
A tad worse than the first instalment of the duology. I definitely wanted the spy to be uncovered (even if I guessed who it was early on) and I enjoyed the interactions between the characters. This book is easy to read. But it's a subpar (and frustratingly constant) repetition of Battle Surgeons. Not even the many sly Earth references could improve my mood - ugh, they were so abundant this time that they became annoying. I'm not so fazed about the nods to Bob Hope, Casablanca or The Wizard of Oz but geez, come up with more original names for your damn drinks. Don't steal them from Douglas Adams or call them something as cringey as a "Sonic Servodriver" (what is this - sci-fi franchise bingo?).
Whew. I'm glad that's over.
A tad worse than the first instalment of the duology. I definitely wanted the spy to be uncovered (even if I guessed who it was early on) and I enjoyed the interactions between the characters. This book is easy to read. But it's a subpar (and frustratingly constant) repetition of Battle Surgeons. Not even the many sly Earth references could improve my mood - ugh, they were so abundant this time that they became annoying. I'm not so fazed about the nods to Bob Hope, Casablanca or The Wizard of Oz but geez, come up with more original names for your damn drinks. Don't steal them from Douglas Adams or call them something as cringey as a "Sonic Servodriver" (what is this - sci-fi franchise bingo?).
Whew. I'm glad that's over.
February 24, 2022
"I really liked it." - 3.5 out of 5 star rating, with a round up to a 4.
I really love oddball entries like this within the Star Wars books. Red Harvest comes to mind which essentially Star Wars + zombies, then Maul: Lockdown where our favorite Zabrak goes to prison for an absolutely amazing wild ride of a story that is truly unique and just another Empire vs Rebellion variation... and then there is this Medstar duology: Star Wars + Heavy emphasis on combat medicine.
I wonder if the author was a medic in the Army or something the way this is written, or if he did interviews/research to get everything so well done as he did, either way he absolutely nailed it. This is a very pleasing read on battlefield operations when it comes to saving lives, organ transplants, etc., but of course wrapped in Star Wars plastic, delivered with excellence.
Finally, the last Clone Wars book on my list from Canon and Legends! As much fun as it has been, I am really ready to move on from this part of the timeline.
Very excited to start a new era with Reign of the Empire next.
I really love oddball entries like this within the Star Wars books. Red Harvest comes to mind which essentially Star Wars + zombies, then Maul: Lockdown where our favorite Zabrak goes to prison for an absolutely amazing wild ride of a story that is truly unique and just another Empire vs Rebellion variation... and then there is this Medstar duology: Star Wars + Heavy emphasis on combat medicine.
I wonder if the author was a medic in the Army or something the way this is written, or if he did interviews/research to get everything so well done as he did, either way he absolutely nailed it. This is a very pleasing read on battlefield operations when it comes to saving lives, organ transplants, etc., but of course wrapped in Star Wars plastic, delivered with excellence.
Finally, the last Clone Wars book on my list from Canon and Legends! As much fun as it has been, I am really ready to move on from this part of the timeline.
Very excited to start a new era with Reign of the Empire next.
February 22, 2023
A csillagot csak azért vontam le, mert ennyi előkészítés után valami sokkal tragikusabb véget vártam volna. Igy kicsit olyan „hát ez könnyen ment” – érzése lett az embernek. Picit túl sok volt a happy end: a jók megkapták méltó jutalmukat, a fő bonyolító (akire tippeltem is!) megbűnhődött, és szinte mindenki esélyt kapott egy jobb fordulatra a végén… Hm. Ahhoz képest, hogy végig embertelen körülmények közt szenvedtek, ez nem volt annyira logikus. És volt pár olyan momentum, amit jobban ki lehetett volna bontani. A Halálcsillag c. regényben azért ott volt a végén a katartikus vég és menekülés, amiért többen is feláldozták magukat a csapatból. Itt ez hiányzott, az elején kinyírták szegény Zant, aztán senki mást… Ennek ellenére érdekfeszítő, néhol megindító regény a háború mocskáról, és hogyan lehet embernek (értelmes lénynek) maradni annak árnyékában…meg, hogyan kísérti meg Barrisst a sötét oldal, ill. Uli és Barriss barátsága hátteret ad majd az orvosnak a Halálcsillagon való akcióihoz.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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