Omega Games

Stardoc #8

by S.L. Viehl

Dr. Cherijo Torin faces a different kind of epidemic a mysterious black crystal spreading like cancer throughout the galaxy. The hunt for information leads Cherijo to the planet Trellus, whose inhabitants exhibit excessive paranoia and anger, taking out their frustrations in the Omega Dome in simulated combat against battle drones. But someone is killing victims outside the arena, and Cherijo believes the black crystal infection is responsible for this horror...

Genres: Science Fiction, Space Opera, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Romance, Fantasy, Aliens

384 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Also see Lynn Viehl, Gena Hale, Jessica Hall and Rebecca Kelly.

Reviews

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oy, I am so struggling with this series now.

******SPOILER!!!






Viehl took a huge risk: about two books ago in the Stardoc series, she had the main character (Cherijo) get shot point-blank in the head. Cherijo suffered from severe brain damage, obviously, and in essence became a different person. These last couple of books are about the "new" Cherijo, who even goes by the name of Jarn. Not only is it difficult to maintain the quality of writing for series fantasy (this is the 8th book in the series), but it's also really difficult when you take a beloved charater and turn her into someone else entirely. I haven't really decided to give up on this series entirely, but it's a close call.

[Kelly (Maybedog) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really dislike Jarn and I want Cherijo back. Although the latter is bitchy and rude, Jarn is doubly so plus she is self-righteous and judgmental and seems to be miserable all the time. She dislikes everything, doesn't understand why anyone does things differently than she is used to, yet her culture was horrific and treated her like garbage. As of the last book, she has the memories of both characters even if Cherijo's don't feel like her, so why can't she see that the horrifically sexist and backwards culture she came from wasn't perfect? I actually tossed the book aside completely done with the series but I read a spoiler about the next book and I'm considering going back. It possibly will get better. Possibly.

[Isabel · Rating 2 out of 5]

i am on page 188. i think i'm stopping here. i picked this book up in a used book store, not having heard of the series before. doctors in space! perfect for me! yeah, but the characters are completely flat and uninteresting, which i suppose might be different if i had read the previous books in the series. and certain things here are setting my teeth on edge, particularly the main character's description of the ragingly misogynistic society she's from. just kind of creepy, not fun for me to read about. it's a shame, because of the xenomedicine is actually reasonably well done.
but when a book like this becomes a slog, and everything i see is more appealing to read, i know it's time to call it. life's too short to read mediocre fiction.

[Kessily Lewel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Omega Games is book eight of the StarDoc series. When Cherijo Veil died on the ice planet Akkabarr her body continued to live. With her memory centers destroyed, a new personality was born. Jarn is just as skilled a surgeon as Cherijo and retains all the medical knowledge to be an excellent doctor, but as a person she is incredibly different.

She doesn’t have the ego that Cherijo had, and as a woman raised on a male-dominated planet she often struggles to remember the power she wields in her position, but when her life is threatened by another plot to gain control of her immortality, Jarn shows that she’s just as capable as Cherijo of making the right choices.

Once again Jarn is forced to leave her daughter behind in safety while her and her husband go to face a new threat, but the situation is not what it seems and soon they end up trapped on an alien planet with a murdering shape-changer.

I can’t tell you how much I love seeing the contrast being Cherijo and Jarn. They develop into two distinct people and while I loved Cherijo I love Jarn just as much. It’s not easy for her to slide into Cherijo’s life but once she does, she fits. I think Reever is able to love her more too because she doesn’t put medicine before everything else the way Cherijo was trained to.

Another great chapter to this series and the introduction of Jarn has completely refreshed the few parts that were starting to get stagnant. Highly recommend for anyone who loves sci-fi.

[Freyja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cherijo is regaining some of her memories, but not all. Now, she not only has to cope with a resistant infection, there is a killer on the planet where she and Reever crashed. They must eliminate the killer before they will be removed again from the colony. There are fights, battle damage to repair, and beings she has never encountered or even imagined existed. The book keeps the action going well, and doesn't drag. This will be another re-read.

[Jerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book series continues to be good; however, the plot is similar to rest of the series. Very little change in character or story line. Planet finds itself in need of the Star Doc.
I'll read the rest of the series.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

So Jarn and Duncan find themselves once again caught in the middle of trying to save a world when they are lured to and stranded on a planet where a creature is killing people by taking over their bodies and leaving behind nothing but their skins. The action was constant and interesting. There were some new characters introduced that I liked a lot and the twist was interesting. Overall a good read.

My one complaint is the whole Cherijo/Jarn thing. I don't know anymore who I like the best. At first it was hard to think of Jarn as her own person, but now I am beginning to like her a little more and from her POV Cherijo was not such a wonderful person. But I really liked Cherijo before the author decided to 'kill' her off and give us this new character. So why am I now liking Jarn more and Cherijo less? Confusion!! Well maybe we will get some resolution in the next book since this series seems to be coming to an end soon.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not much better than the previous book. I don't like Jarn and I still don't like Reever. It's somewhat interesting to see how Cherijo's friends and family are seen from this different perspective, but Jarn is too annoying to make it work. She rightly notes Joey's sometimes rash behavior, but is sanctimonious about her own. It's taking too long to get to the inevitable integration of the personalities. And yet another crash and hostage crisis didn't help.

There were a few interesting additions to the overall story arc, but not enough progress. I suddenly realized that my impression that this series was wrapping up in the next few books could be totally wrong. I thought it was an older series that had been completed, but the next book was just published in 2009. Does anyone know how many books this series has/will have in total?

[Steph · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping a title like "Omega Games" meant this was going to be the last book and I'd be done with the series, but it was another monster of the week sort of book. This series is getting more and more like a romance novel too with the "oh we complete each other" and "I need you or I'll die" sort of nonsense. Reever is so controlling and possessive; I really dislike him as a character. And Cherijo was a horrible person sometimes, but Jarn is just a doormat. I'm ready for her to fade away.

[Marcela]

I will stick to the series only to see if cherijo will be back..
i loved Duncan when he had to struggle for his waenara, love is not easy, as they have not have any easyness in the 5 fisrt books i dont spect to be any different now.
But i´m hoping to have her back.
starttttiiinngggg NOW!!

So nothing new...

[Carolyn F. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Am I the only one who likes Jarn and is not looking forward to having Cherijo back? I love how Jarn and Duncan are together and I have a feeling that unless Jarn's love morphs onto Cherijo, she'll be back to pushing him aside and that would be a huge shame not only for her but for their daughter and especially Duncan. I hope there's a happy melding taking place in the near future.

[Joshua Hall]

So far this book is Amazing. By far one of the best books I've ever read. Initially I started reading it just to pass time. But then I got sucked into it. Now I have a hard time putting it down, when I pick it up. Great Read. I recommend it for Sci Fi lovers.

[Kendra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good, though certainly interesting! Still working with Jarn, but more and more of Cherijo's personality is starting to come back. Enjoyed all of the twists and turns, especially towards the end.

[Fangtasia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit boring at times and felt like a sub-plot more than a whole book... But the new characters were interesting, but the Sovant/skin dropper thing was okay-ish... The mining colony, Trellus, is remote and reminded me of Jarn's home world... Hmm not the best...

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though others give this series low ratings, I like it. I give it a five star just for the interesting concepts and the action in the stories. I also am a pushover for strong women characters.

[Hanna Sandvig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the best in the series, but still lots of fun.

[Lynn Calvin]

Amazon preorder

[Lesli · Rating 3 out of 5]

At this point, you either love the series or can't stand to not finish it.

[Moodyfeline · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have enjoyed this entire series. Book 5 was a make-or-break sort of book, a real game changer, but Viehl made it work in book 6. At this point I intend to finish the whole series.

[B.E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this once, years ago, but I didn't remember it, so it was like reading it new all over again. Inhaled it. Awesome 8th book in an awesome series.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the StarDoc series, but this seemed like the weakest entry in the series to date.

[Bob · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one really wobbles. It feels like every chapter is a first draft.

[Karen Desmond · Rating 4 out of 5]

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