Mass Market Paperback, 192 pages
English language
Published Dec. 12, 1984 by Del Rey.
Great read! Nice length, enjoyed the characters and the challenges they faced. The perspective on the Monitor corps and the internal thought process about them felt realistic and relatable.
It was so refreshing to read a sci-fi book that wasn't just "war/capitalism...but in space!!"
This review basically covers Sector General books #1-#6.
Now I am a very cynical and skeptical person, to the point that I lowered my ratings for books such as Long way to a small and angry planet, Binti, and others like it simply because I saw their optimistic and pacifist messages as naive, unrealistic and sometimes simply because they had a happy ending. But James White with his 50s optimism managed to melt my cynical heart. He managed to create a truly pacifist sci-fi story, that I like to describe it as more Star Trek than Star Trek itself. This was managed by creating a medical drama in space, to the point that everyone would describe this series as Doctor House in space. I only partially agree with this description, yes, the stories center around real medical puzzles but they don't include Dr House's famous cynical line: "Everybody lies". Everyone …
This review basically covers Sector General books #1-#6.
Now I am a very cynical and skeptical person, to the point that I lowered my ratings for books such as Long way to a small and angry planet, Binti, and others like it simply because I saw their optimistic and pacifist messages as naive, unrealistic and sometimes simply because they had a happy ending. But James White with his 50s optimism managed to melt my cynical heart. He managed to create a truly pacifist sci-fi story, that I like to describe it as more Star Trek than Star Trek itself. This was managed by creating a medical drama in space, to the point that everyone would describe this series as Doctor House in space. I only partially agree with this description, yes, the stories center around real medical puzzles but they don't include Dr House's famous cynical line: "Everybody lies". Everyone involved is truly good and our protagonist Dr Convey is a medical genius and a bit full of himself but without major character flaws of Dr House. Also the technology he mentions is charming in it's obsolescence, just imagine putting a complete recording of someones mind on a single reel of magnetic tape.
Now, because these books are reprints of his original stories that were published in SF magazines over a period of a few years. One might get tired of reading the same descriptions quite fast. But this and other typical 50s SF tropes didn't present any problems for me. It just added to its charm and gave me a dream for the future I truly want to live in.
