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Sector General #4-6
Alien Emergencies: A Sector General Omnibus
This omnibus edition presents books 4–6 of the sci-fi saga chronicling a vast hospital in outer space dedicated to saving both human and alien kind.
James White's tales of Sector General are lively, humorous, and humane, at times shot through with a healer's anger at violence and destruction. These are endlessly inventive dramas of civility and spirituality, tempered with White's gently wicked wit and his keen eye for the remarkable in the everyday.
Now, in a single volume, the second three volumes of the series—Ambulance Ship, Sector General, and Star Healer—return to print in complete and corrected editions, including a sequence ("Spacebird") omitted from previous American editions of Ambulance Ship. The volume is introduced by Hugo Award–winning SF writer and critic David Langford.
James White's tales of Sector General are lively, humorous, and humane, at times shot through with a healer's anger at violence and destruction. These are endlessly inventive dramas of civility and spirituality, tempered with White's gently wicked wit and his keen eye for the remarkable in the everyday.
Now, in a single volume, the second three volumes of the series—Ambulance Ship, Sector General, and Star Healer—return to print in complete and corrected editions, including a sequence ("Spacebird") omitted from previous American editions of Ambulance Ship. The volume is introduced by Hugo Award–winning SF writer and critic David Langford.
612 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2002
About the author
James White
96 books142 followersLibrarian Note:
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
James White was a Northern Irish author of science fiction novellas, short stories and novels. He was born in Belfast and returned there after spending some early years in Canada. He became a fan of science fiction in 1941 and co-wrote two fan magazines, from 1948 to 1953 and 1952 to 1965. Encouraged by other fans, White began publishing short stories in 1953, and his first novel was published in 1957. His best-known novels were the twelve of the Sector General series, the first published in 1962 and the last after his death. White also published nine other novels, two of which were nominated for major awards, unsuccessfully.
White abhorred violence, and medical and other emergencies were the sources of dramatic tension in his stories. The "Sector General" series is regarded as defining the genre of medical science fiction, and as introducing a memorable crew of aliens. Although missing winning the most prestigious honours four times, White gained other awards for specific works and for contributions to science fiction. He was also Guest-of-Honour of several conventions.
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
James White was a Northern Irish author of science fiction novellas, short stories and novels. He was born in Belfast and returned there after spending some early years in Canada. He became a fan of science fiction in 1941 and co-wrote two fan magazines, from 1948 to 1953 and 1952 to 1965. Encouraged by other fans, White began publishing short stories in 1953, and his first novel was published in 1957. His best-known novels were the twelve of the Sector General series, the first published in 1962 and the last after his death. White also published nine other novels, two of which were nominated for major awards, unsuccessfully.
White abhorred violence, and medical and other emergencies were the sources of dramatic tension in his stories. The "Sector General" series is regarded as defining the genre of medical science fiction, and as introducing a memorable crew of aliens. Although missing winning the most prestigious honours four times, White gained other awards for specific works and for contributions to science fiction. He was also Guest-of-Honour of several conventions.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
December 20, 2024
A series I discovered in the bottom shelves of the local library, most likely in my twenties when I was literally checking out almost every sci-fi/fantasy book they had. Unfortunately, they didn't have the whole series, so back then it was catch as I could at different branches. Amazon has started flogging the kindle version at me because I decided one day to search out one of the books I didn't think I've read, and I'm so happy they've done so. This edition has a forward and contains a note about the series from White (deceased now), a tall skinny Irishman who was deeply impacted by both national and world wars. Now I like James White as much as I do his cast.
This is largely an ensemble cast, with reoccurring characters. Some stories might focus more on one member than others. This edition contains three books:
Ambulance Ship
Sector General
Star Healer
that have been corrected and reprinted with a section that was cut from the original.
I enjoy this series quite a bit, but I like ships in space, aliens, and medicine, so I'm a bit prejudiced. So notes in general:
written by an Irishman and published in 1979, there are some time-period and cultural deficiencies, notably, the benign sexism of the time. There's a main recurring character, Nurse Murchison, who is perennially described as curvaceously gorgeous, along with practical and matter-of-fact (this is the ideal stereotype of nurses that we've come to know and hate). Interestingly, beyond the ogling gaze commenting on her beauty, White never dwells on specifics. I think she's dark-haired and curvy, but that's about all the picture I get. By book four, she has developed somewhat and become a pathology expert, as well as a reliable partner for Conway, so she solidly falls into the 'reliable helpmeet' category. There's worse stereotypes, is all I'm saying.
However, this is mitigated by the general wierdness and diversity of aliens. One prominent recurring character, Doctor Prilicla, is an empathic insectoid. So there's this general attention to social feelings that you just don't see in most sci-fi books written by men.
The other note is that there's a general sameness to the plotting of these three books and the series as a whole. There is a medical disaster that involves some quality of a new life-form that seems unsolvable until communication, teamwork, and courage solve it. While I am 100% on board with this as a general plot, they start to feel a bit samey after awhile. White changes it up by changing settings (book four, an ambulance spaceship's first run; book five, spaceship's first mission and return to the hospital; book 6, a rescue mission) and main characters (books 4-6 center on James Conway, our ideal mild-mannered human doctor).
Three and a half stars, rounding up because, damn, we need this messaging (minus the human sexism part).
This is largely an ensemble cast, with reoccurring characters. Some stories might focus more on one member than others. This edition contains three books:
Ambulance Ship
Sector General
Star Healer
that have been corrected and reprinted with a section that was cut from the original.
I enjoy this series quite a bit, but I like ships in space, aliens, and medicine, so I'm a bit prejudiced. So notes in general:
written by an Irishman and published in 1979, there are some time-period and cultural deficiencies, notably, the benign sexism of the time. There's a main recurring character, Nurse Murchison, who is perennially described as curvaceously gorgeous, along with practical and matter-of-fact (this is the ideal stereotype of nurses that we've come to know and hate). Interestingly, beyond the ogling gaze commenting on her beauty, White never dwells on specifics. I think she's dark-haired and curvy, but that's about all the picture I get. By book four, she has developed somewhat and become a pathology expert, as well as a reliable partner for Conway, so she solidly falls into the 'reliable helpmeet' category. There's worse stereotypes, is all I'm saying.
However, this is mitigated by the general wierdness and diversity of aliens. One prominent recurring character, Doctor Prilicla, is an empathic insectoid. So there's this general attention to social feelings that you just don't see in most sci-fi books written by men.
The other note is that there's a general sameness to the plotting of these three books and the series as a whole. There is a medical disaster that involves some quality of a new life-form that seems unsolvable until communication, teamwork, and courage solve it. While I am 100% on board with this as a general plot, they start to feel a bit samey after awhile. White changes it up by changing settings (book four, an ambulance spaceship's first run; book five, spaceship's first mission and return to the hospital; book 6, a rescue mission) and main characters (books 4-6 center on James Conway, our ideal mild-mannered human doctor).
Three and a half stars, rounding up because, damn, we need this messaging (minus the human sexism part).
January 13, 2017
This second omnibus edition of James White's Sector General stories was much more interesting for me than the first one, Beginning Operations. Here we get to go out with Conway and his team in the ambulance ship Rhabwar and we meet a variety of new beings such as a Protector Of The Unborn, a cactus-like plant creature with a (sorry) prickly temperament but the desire to change, and a huge worm being with who knows how many legs. Or were they arms? Or maybe both?
Anyway, there was also a story included here that demonstrated the why and how of the creation of the Sector General hospital, and that story (Accident!) was truthfully one of the most interesting of either volume so far.
As in the first omnibus, there is a lot of repetition of facts here, to catch readers up on basic Sector General and Conway knowledge. But when you read these stories all in one clump like this instead of over several years the way they were originally published, you can surely be forgiven for skipping most of the history bits.
I'm rating this one four stars because I was more captivated by it than by Beginning Operations: A Sector General Omnibus. The stories felt deeper, more polished, and for me were much more exciting.
So, on to my final James White volume: General Practice, A Sector General Omnibus!
Anyway, there was also a story included here that demonstrated the why and how of the creation of the Sector General hospital, and that story (Accident!) was truthfully one of the most interesting of either volume so far.
As in the first omnibus, there is a lot of repetition of facts here, to catch readers up on basic Sector General and Conway knowledge. But when you read these stories all in one clump like this instead of over several years the way they were originally published, you can surely be forgiven for skipping most of the history bits.
I'm rating this one four stars because I was more captivated by it than by Beginning Operations: A Sector General Omnibus. The stories felt deeper, more polished, and for me were much more exciting.
So, on to my final James White volume: General Practice, A Sector General Omnibus!
January 16, 2008
The greatest idea ever: James White's "Sector General" books made into a tv series. What is it? The biggest hospital in outer space. Will need WETA, Henson, and an sfx budget the size of Alaska.
THE PITCH: HOUSE meets MEN IN BLACK. DEEP SPACE E.R.!
Alien patients! Alien diseases! Alien surgeons! Operating on humans! No Andorians or Vulcans here - aliens are ALIEN: six-foot radial lobsters; empathic butterflies; hyper-heavy fire hydrants who eat with their skin; tactless, shiny silver caterpillar/water shrews that talk with their fur; telepathic fetuses; giant paranoid fish; space whales, and communal hedgehogs whose defense response is a natural disaster! (And that's just off the top of my head!)
Absorbing, tense medical mysteries that actually work!
Unique personal dramas. Short, conclusive episodes and LOOOONG character arcs. Truly impossible romances.
Culture clashes and diplomatic crises.
Individuality v. monumental bureaucracy.
Doctors v. military.
Medical research "personality recordings" and the personality problems they cause.
Huge sets, like the artificial beach, and simulated pocket environment wards for alien patients, like "extra-terrariums".
A hulking, grizzled, quiet, scary chief of staff with hidden pain (Ron Perlman, please).
Sympathetic secret lovers who take forever to get it together.
PLUS an ambulance/hospital ship!!
DO YOU NOT WANT TO SEE THIS?
THE PITCH: HOUSE meets MEN IN BLACK. DEEP SPACE E.R.!
Alien patients! Alien diseases! Alien surgeons! Operating on humans! No Andorians or Vulcans here - aliens are ALIEN: six-foot radial lobsters; empathic butterflies; hyper-heavy fire hydrants who eat with their skin; tactless, shiny silver caterpillar/water shrews that talk with their fur; telepathic fetuses; giant paranoid fish; space whales, and communal hedgehogs whose defense response is a natural disaster! (And that's just off the top of my head!)
Absorbing, tense medical mysteries that actually work!
Unique personal dramas. Short, conclusive episodes and LOOOONG character arcs. Truly impossible romances.
Culture clashes and diplomatic crises.
Individuality v. monumental bureaucracy.
Doctors v. military.
Medical research "personality recordings" and the personality problems they cause.
Huge sets, like the artificial beach, and simulated pocket environment wards for alien patients, like "extra-terrariums".
A hulking, grizzled, quiet, scary chief of staff with hidden pain (Ron Perlman, please).
Sympathetic secret lovers who take forever to get it together.
PLUS an ambulance/hospital ship!!
DO YOU NOT WANT TO SEE THIS?
February 4, 2017
This book makes the shift from the first book which is more like "meet new aliens who are injured" to more of a more usual hospital setting just with a common set of aliens and the occasional special one. The main character got to a place career-wise with lots of stress. I'm content to part ways with him and wish him well. I have bought the third book but I don't plan to read it, at least not yet.
Goodbye, Space Healer. Continue doing God's work and appreciating the variety of species.
Goodbye, Space Healer. Continue doing God's work and appreciating the variety of species.
March 25, 2024
It's slow, quiet, yet got me hooked on almost every story I read. I wish the last book was able to really treat all it's cases with equal gravity, it felt as scatter brained as the diagnosticians within it, leading to a very unsatisfying conclusion to an overall okay collection of stories. I may look into reading the others, but some elements were so dated that I have second thoughts on diving into even older installations.
May 22, 2017
I loved these novels of doctors in space as a teenager. The challenges of treating new species, when communication was impossible and the charming, hypersensitive insectoid empath was my favorite character. On re-reading, the medical mysteries and solutions are just as charming. In the later stories, Murchinson begins to get the respect she deserves. The casual sexism is less in the later ones, but still a bit jarring when contrasted with the understanding shown other species.
Still, a terrific series.
Still, a terrific series.
May 8, 2019
This was a collection of stories with an interesting viewpoint that even nowadays is underdeveloped in the field of SF (if I'm wrong, please do not hesitate to correct me.), that of the intra-species healer, and thus must certainly have been novel if not revolutionary when they were first published.
There's a rather large assortment of aliens present in the stories and very few of them suffer from that strange Star Trek affliction where you have to differentiate the different species by their foreheads. Some species are more improbable than others, to which I say...Good! Look at all the weirdness on our own rock!
What's not novel but which can largely be explained as a sign of the times (I hope), is the attitude towards women, ranging from the brilliant-but-also-sexy-we-must-always-mention-her-breasts pathologist Murchison (in love with the protagonist, of course) to we-cover-all-kinds-of-aliens-but-even-the-methane-breather-females-are-overly-emotional.
The age of the series sometimes shows in some minor ways (Exoplanets are exceedingly rare and many scenes would look utterly different if drones and robot surgery were applied to them) but I personally file those under "Well, that's endearing.".
What did make it a slog to read through the series, was the fact that nobody ever told the author about "show, don't tell.".
I get the appeal of telling everybody about this cool new species you thought up, their evolutionary history and the related health issues because creating all that must feel very satisfying...but as a reader, I'd rather get bits and pieces so I can try and solve the puzzle myself, rather then get an infodump at the start of each story (admittedly, sometimes in the middle of a story).
BUT...the concept is still a very interesting one AND the "show, don't tell" approach slowly starts to creep in towards the later stories in this omnibus.
This happens mostly as the problems Conway (the protagonist) is faced with get more expansive and the solutions less obvious.
In fact, I'm now curious enough about the Gogleskan problem that I might just pick up the later stories in the Sector General series...but only if I happen to come across them, I won't go looking for them.
There's a rather large assortment of aliens present in the stories and very few of them suffer from that strange Star Trek affliction where you have to differentiate the different species by their foreheads. Some species are more improbable than others, to which I say...Good! Look at all the weirdness on our own rock!
What's not novel but which can largely be explained as a sign of the times (I hope), is the attitude towards women, ranging from the brilliant-but-also-sexy-we-must-always-mention-her-breasts pathologist Murchison (in love with the protagonist, of course) to we-cover-all-kinds-of-aliens-but-even-the-methane-breather-females-are-overly-emotional.
The age of the series sometimes shows in some minor ways (Exoplanets are exceedingly rare and many scenes would look utterly different if drones and robot surgery were applied to them) but I personally file those under "Well, that's endearing.".
What did make it a slog to read through the series, was the fact that nobody ever told the author about "show, don't tell.".
I get the appeal of telling everybody about this cool new species you thought up, their evolutionary history and the related health issues because creating all that must feel very satisfying...but as a reader, I'd rather get bits and pieces so I can try and solve the puzzle myself, rather then get an infodump at the start of each story (admittedly, sometimes in the middle of a story).
BUT...the concept is still a very interesting one AND the "show, don't tell" approach slowly starts to creep in towards the later stories in this omnibus.
This happens mostly as the problems Conway (the protagonist) is faced with get more expansive and the solutions less obvious.
In fact, I'm now curious enough about the Gogleskan problem that I might just pick up the later stories in the Sector General series...but only if I happen to come across them, I won't go looking for them.
September 22, 2023
James White found a way to combine two areas of interest of mine -- space and medicine. In these 3 novels from the Sector General series, he reveals how Sector General came to be, and follows the career of Senior Physician Conway. David Langford contributes an amusing and informative introduction to this omnibus, and White himself gives us his own introduction. Each of the novels presents a medical problem and what Conway and his team do to solve it. None of the medical cases are of earth humans but of species from other planets, making some of the issues especially challenging.
Ambulance Ship covers Conway's first assignment on the ambulance ship Rhabwar and the reader meets his highly competent team. Some of the writing is a bit cliched but I really enjoy White's sense of humor and the predicaments he puts Conway and the other characters in as they go out into space on rescues.
Sector General begins with the accident that served as the impetus to create the massive space hospital called Sector General. It is a suspenseful read. The novel continues with Conway and his team dealing with a survivor of a space accident. They must figure out what happened, and then how to treat the survivor -- from a species they haven't encountered before. What they discover astonishes them and challenges their approach to medicine.
In Star Healer Chief Psychologist O'Mara tells Conway that he's being offered the opportunity to try for Diagnostician, the highest medical position in the hospital. As a result, several challenging cases are thrown at him, the most suspenseful being the Protector giving birth to its Unborn.
James White focuses on xenobiology, medicine and medical procedures, and the effects of space on creatures. His imagined variety of species is great fun. But White isn't as focused on character development as far as creating depth of character. The reader follows the development of working relationships primarily, and with Conway some development of personal relationships.
I recommend these novels for sci fi readers interested also in medicine. White has done a good job of creating a space hospital and describing its operation and activities. And I do enjoy White's sense of humor!
Ambulance Ship covers Conway's first assignment on the ambulance ship Rhabwar and the reader meets his highly competent team. Some of the writing is a bit cliched but I really enjoy White's sense of humor and the predicaments he puts Conway and the other characters in as they go out into space on rescues.
Sector General begins with the accident that served as the impetus to create the massive space hospital called Sector General. It is a suspenseful read. The novel continues with Conway and his team dealing with a survivor of a space accident. They must figure out what happened, and then how to treat the survivor -- from a species they haven't encountered before. What they discover astonishes them and challenges their approach to medicine.
In Star Healer Chief Psychologist O'Mara tells Conway that he's being offered the opportunity to try for Diagnostician, the highest medical position in the hospital. As a result, several challenging cases are thrown at him, the most suspenseful being the Protector giving birth to its Unborn.
James White focuses on xenobiology, medicine and medical procedures, and the effects of space on creatures. His imagined variety of species is great fun. But White isn't as focused on character development as far as creating depth of character. The reader follows the development of working relationships primarily, and with Conway some development of personal relationships.
I recommend these novels for sci fi readers interested also in medicine. White has done a good job of creating a space hospital and describing its operation and activities. And I do enjoy White's sense of humor!
July 26, 2020
Three books in one volume:
1. Hospital Ship
As promised the change from the early work to this later set of books, written through the seventies into the early 80's is dramatic. White can handle continuity, character development and a dramatic increase in humor. Conroy meets his match in Captain Fletcher when he is assigned to a space ambulance. Luckily Murchison, his friend and partner is there and Prilicla the empathic dragonfly-like being. Anyway, I am hooked, for sure.
2. Sector General
The first story predates the hospital and explains its inception after an incident at a space station causes the Monitor Corps to reassess their ideas about alien interactions. In another story a hair-raising planet-side rescue takes place after a ship crashes in mysterious circumstances. Among other things, predatory thorn bushes! In the last story a giant segmented being is discovered scattered all over space--their ship hit by a meteor and now the whole in danger of being drawn into the gravity well of a sun. Conway and co. to the rescue! Fletcher and Conway are getting along a little better and a whole slew of battleships etc. get involved in the mission. Rather a lot of detail about how these being couple and uncouple . . . but oh-kay. . . the usual solid entertainment and humor.
3. Star Healer. White does get better and better!! Several of these stories featuring Conway were truly fascinating. Khone, from the previous book, is still in Conway's head-Conway has to figure out if that is a good or bad thing, the violent non-sentient Protector he saved earlier is ready to give birth and Conroy wants to save the sentient telepathic Unborn from descending into the Protector mode, and there is Conroy's possible rise to the status of Diagnostician, so he has five OTHER tapes from brilliant alien surgeons in his head too. What will this do to his relationship with Murchison? -- astonishingly imaginative, convincing in detail, and involving, a total page turner! Really the three books together rate a ****1/2
1. Hospital Ship
As promised the change from the early work to this later set of books, written through the seventies into the early 80's is dramatic. White can handle continuity, character development and a dramatic increase in humor. Conroy meets his match in Captain Fletcher when he is assigned to a space ambulance. Luckily Murchison, his friend and partner is there and Prilicla the empathic dragonfly-like being. Anyway, I am hooked, for sure.
2. Sector General
The first story predates the hospital and explains its inception after an incident at a space station causes the Monitor Corps to reassess their ideas about alien interactions. In another story a hair-raising planet-side rescue takes place after a ship crashes in mysterious circumstances. Among other things, predatory thorn bushes! In the last story a giant segmented being is discovered scattered all over space--their ship hit by a meteor and now the whole in danger of being drawn into the gravity well of a sun. Conway and co. to the rescue! Fletcher and Conway are getting along a little better and a whole slew of battleships etc. get involved in the mission. Rather a lot of detail about how these being couple and uncouple . . . but oh-kay. . . the usual solid entertainment and humor.
3. Star Healer. White does get better and better!! Several of these stories featuring Conway were truly fascinating. Khone, from the previous book, is still in Conway's head-Conway has to figure out if that is a good or bad thing, the violent non-sentient Protector he saved earlier is ready to give birth and Conroy wants to save the sentient telepathic Unborn from descending into the Protector mode, and there is Conroy's possible rise to the status of Diagnostician, so he has five OTHER tapes from brilliant alien surgeons in his head too. What will this do to his relationship with Murchison? -- astonishingly imaginative, convincing in detail, and involving, a total page turner! Really the three books together rate a ****1/2
December 16, 2021
Ambulance Ship (#4)-This series is rather like comfort food. They are not complex and read quickly. There is the mental stimulation of trying to figure out the species and treatment of new extraterrestrials. The world has an optimistic vision of the future, where all types of species can not only coexist, but work together to help others (no matter who or what shape they are).
Are they "old-fashioned" science fiction? Assuredly. But they help clean the palate after reading about dysfunctional folks and conflicts and negativism. In other words, I like these.
Sector General (#5)-Another collection of short stories featuring the crew and medical staff on the space ambulance affiliated with Sector General, the future multi-species hospital in space. Each story could be an episode of a Star Trek-type TV series, although there is an element of continuing story concerning the recurring persons .
I find this series to be a form of comfort read. Multiple species from around galaxy come together with the mission to help those in need of medical attention. The ambulance team, especially, often is called in "first contact" situations concerning new species of "aliens" (although on doctor of an insectoid species points out that the earth-humans are aliens to many of the staff). Featured staff include males, females, and others.
Some is dated, but it's still an easy, upbeat read. The first story, "Accident", has much of an Enemy Mine vibe.
Star Healer (#6)- Continuation of the Sector General series. These are simple, quick reads, that are like comfort food. It's always interesting to see how Conway figures out how to treat unknown alien species!
Are they "old-fashioned" science fiction? Assuredly. But they help clean the palate after reading about dysfunctional folks and conflicts and negativism. In other words, I like these.
Sector General (#5)-Another collection of short stories featuring the crew and medical staff on the space ambulance affiliated with Sector General, the future multi-species hospital in space. Each story could be an episode of a Star Trek-type TV series, although there is an element of continuing story concerning the recurring persons .
I find this series to be a form of comfort read. Multiple species from around galaxy come together with the mission to help those in need of medical attention. The ambulance team, especially, often is called in "first contact" situations concerning new species of "aliens" (although on doctor of an insectoid species points out that the earth-humans are aliens to many of the staff). Featured staff include males, females, and others.
Some is dated, but it's still an easy, upbeat read. The first story, "Accident", has much of an Enemy Mine vibe.
Star Healer (#6)- Continuation of the Sector General series. These are simple, quick reads, that are like comfort food. It's always interesting to see how Conway figures out how to treat unknown alien species!
April 22, 2023
James White’s Sector General series should be required reading for ANYONE assigned to first contact missions. Note in the first paragraph below (from Alien Emergencies), the inclusion of specialists in communications, philosophy, and psychology. Note the exclusion of specialists in any of the hard sciences. And the military. (Note also, the more effective way.)
“The Cultural contact people were the elite of the Monitor Corps, a small group of specialists in e-t communications, philosophy and psychology. Although small, the group was not, regrettably, overworked …
“… During the past twenty years,” O’Mara went on, “they have initiated First Contact procedure on three occasions, all of which resulted in the species concerned joining the Federation. I will not bore you with the details of the number of survey operations mounted and the ships, personnel and materiel involved, or shock you with the cost of it all. I mention the Cultural Contact group’s three successes simply to make the point that within the same time period this hospital became fully operational and also initiated First contacts, which resulted in seven new species joining the Federation. This was accomplished not by a slow, patient buildup and widening of communications until the exchange of complex philosophical and sociological concepts became possible, but by giving medical assistance to a sick alien.”
I can’t recommend White’s work enough. Finally, an intelligent approach to alien life. (Because yes, pretty much every novel I’ve read, and every movie I’ve seen, to date, has been embarrassing for its UNintelligent approach to alien. Why haven’t we discovered intelligent life out there? Because we’re too stupid to visit.)
“The Cultural contact people were the elite of the Monitor Corps, a small group of specialists in e-t communications, philosophy and psychology. Although small, the group was not, regrettably, overworked …
“… During the past twenty years,” O’Mara went on, “they have initiated First Contact procedure on three occasions, all of which resulted in the species concerned joining the Federation. I will not bore you with the details of the number of survey operations mounted and the ships, personnel and materiel involved, or shock you with the cost of it all. I mention the Cultural Contact group’s three successes simply to make the point that within the same time period this hospital became fully operational and also initiated First contacts, which resulted in seven new species joining the Federation. This was accomplished not by a slow, patient buildup and widening of communications until the exchange of complex philosophical and sociological concepts became possible, but by giving medical assistance to a sick alien.”
I can’t recommend White’s work enough. Finally, an intelligent approach to alien life. (Because yes, pretty much every novel I’ve read, and every movie I’ve seen, to date, has been embarrassing for its UNintelligent approach to alien. Why haven’t we discovered intelligent life out there? Because we’re too stupid to visit.)
July 6, 2013
More stories featuring aliens with bizarre medical problems? Sure, why not? The Sector General series remains a beloved locale and series of stories even nearly fifteen years since White's death dried up his seemingly inexhaustible supply of ways for the various beings and personalities on board the giant space hospital to interact with each other, to clash and come together to solve problems. Some of it is perhaps based on novelty (the number of decent medical SF novels can probably be counted on one three-fingered alien hand) or maybe the accessible format or interesting problems.
But the main reason is that it's hard not to respond to White's inherent decency and his belief that everyone should be treated decently. It comes through in nearly every story, as varied alien species come together, sometimes carrying extra alien species in their heads, to save the lives of patients from worlds they've never even encountered, sometimes for the sake of curious science but more often because it is a Thing That Needs To Be Done. There's a purity to that not often seen in the world of SF without getting too obvious or cloying, as too many times such sentiments devolved into Us Versus Them scenarios. In the world of Sector General there may be a Them but before too long they become part of the Us. That's refreshing and more in line with a vein of SF you don't see as commonly these days, when optimism was a big portion of the attitude of SF. In the years since as we've experienced various dystopias and post-apocalyptic scenarios it becomes hard to remember that a lot of writers believed with all sincerity that things would be better in the future. And they could convey that sentiment without getting all gooey, not turning a blind eye to the problems at hand of the day that would have to be solved, or the problems of the future that would need to be overcome. Sector General takes place in a world where bad things still exist but it can be solved with a little bit of ingenuity and a sense of teamwork.
Over the course of thirty or forty years, it's easy to build up that kind of comforting familiarity, creating this warm and fuzzy place in the minds of readers that they were eager to revisit again and again. But that familiarity can also be a hamstring and never more when you're trying to read many of these stories in a row. In the early stories White definitely felt he had hit open a formula and while none of the stories ever come across as crass or taking the audience for fools, a sense of repetition starts to set in. Read months or years apart, it's like the gentle easing in to visit an old friend. When you bundle three collections together in one six hundred page omnibus and then try to read them all over the course of a weak, White's flaws as a writer tend to come more to the fore.
To his credit, he does attempt to break out of his own formula but in the meantime exchanges it for a new formula. Stalwart Doctor Conway, the prime character in the early stories, gets assigned to an ambulance ship that takes he and his crew out of Sector General to respond to crashes and wrecks that are floating in space, to find if there are any survivors and then figure out some way to treat the survivors. The initial jolt of the change is bracing, but it's not too long before the familiarity begins to set in. Even the first two stories in the first collection have the same basic problem (the lone survivor of a wreck makes everyone mysteriously sick, even if the ultimate causes are different) and while the resolutions are inventive, they often come down to Conway once again going out on a limb and trying a solution that no one thinks will work (especially O'Mara, who barely seems to tolerate him sometimes).
What becomes grating at times is White's tendency to repeat known facts from earlier stories almost verbatim in his explanations, whether it's the description of the classification system, O'Mara telling us once again that he's there to shrink heads, not swell them, the various rules surrounding fragile friend-to-all empath Prilicla, how Diagnosticians work, Murchinson's inherent hotness, when we're told the same things in the same way in story after story, it starts to feel like the beginning of Mr Roger's Neighborhood, where the same routines were established and repeated to make us feel welcome. It winds up detracting from the stories themselves, and calls attention to how there's very little forward motion at times, sometimes frustratingly so. There are many times when you want White to delve further into just how Prilicla has everyone eating out of its empathic multi-jointed mouth or some demonstration that O'Mara really is a brilliant psychologist instead of someone who insults everyone all the time.
It's not until the last novel in the sequence, "Star Healer" that we get that forward motion, putting Conway on the path to reaching the highest level of the hospital staff (almost arbitrarily it seems, like O'Mara shows up and says "Hey, I don't really believe you're qualified but ready to go crazy with more aliens in your head?") along with some interesting problems that lurk just on the right side of not being contrived. White also gets better moments of lyrical beauty, like when Conway goes down to the cryogenic section of the hospital amongst the chlorine breathers. It doesn't entirely displace the problem of the novel being a series of problems that Conway has to solve until it's over (something the series rarely seems to shake) but by the time we reach the end we feel we've come to the natural end of him as a main character and are ready for him to be relegated to supporting status. Which in a way winds up being a gift . . . having given us the basic format and structure of the hospital, White can play with his canvas in more inventive ways. It's no real spoiler to reveal that the next two novels in the series are far more interesting, giving us more spine and bristle. Conway was nice, but he was there as a means to solve problems, not be a character. With him out of the way, character and problem can take equal billing, and the series becomes the better for it. But to get there you have to go through here first. Much like "Cheers", the hospital can't be the warm inviting place where everyone knows your four letter physiological classification until you've spent enough time there to become a regular.
But the main reason is that it's hard not to respond to White's inherent decency and his belief that everyone should be treated decently. It comes through in nearly every story, as varied alien species come together, sometimes carrying extra alien species in their heads, to save the lives of patients from worlds they've never even encountered, sometimes for the sake of curious science but more often because it is a Thing That Needs To Be Done. There's a purity to that not often seen in the world of SF without getting too obvious or cloying, as too many times such sentiments devolved into Us Versus Them scenarios. In the world of Sector General there may be a Them but before too long they become part of the Us. That's refreshing and more in line with a vein of SF you don't see as commonly these days, when optimism was a big portion of the attitude of SF. In the years since as we've experienced various dystopias and post-apocalyptic scenarios it becomes hard to remember that a lot of writers believed with all sincerity that things would be better in the future. And they could convey that sentiment without getting all gooey, not turning a blind eye to the problems at hand of the day that would have to be solved, or the problems of the future that would need to be overcome. Sector General takes place in a world where bad things still exist but it can be solved with a little bit of ingenuity and a sense of teamwork.
Over the course of thirty or forty years, it's easy to build up that kind of comforting familiarity, creating this warm and fuzzy place in the minds of readers that they were eager to revisit again and again. But that familiarity can also be a hamstring and never more when you're trying to read many of these stories in a row. In the early stories White definitely felt he had hit open a formula and while none of the stories ever come across as crass or taking the audience for fools, a sense of repetition starts to set in. Read months or years apart, it's like the gentle easing in to visit an old friend. When you bundle three collections together in one six hundred page omnibus and then try to read them all over the course of a weak, White's flaws as a writer tend to come more to the fore.
To his credit, he does attempt to break out of his own formula but in the meantime exchanges it for a new formula. Stalwart Doctor Conway, the prime character in the early stories, gets assigned to an ambulance ship that takes he and his crew out of Sector General to respond to crashes and wrecks that are floating in space, to find if there are any survivors and then figure out some way to treat the survivors. The initial jolt of the change is bracing, but it's not too long before the familiarity begins to set in. Even the first two stories in the first collection have the same basic problem (the lone survivor of a wreck makes everyone mysteriously sick, even if the ultimate causes are different) and while the resolutions are inventive, they often come down to Conway once again going out on a limb and trying a solution that no one thinks will work (especially O'Mara, who barely seems to tolerate him sometimes).
What becomes grating at times is White's tendency to repeat known facts from earlier stories almost verbatim in his explanations, whether it's the description of the classification system, O'Mara telling us once again that he's there to shrink heads, not swell them, the various rules surrounding fragile friend-to-all empath Prilicla, how Diagnosticians work, Murchinson's inherent hotness, when we're told the same things in the same way in story after story, it starts to feel like the beginning of Mr Roger's Neighborhood, where the same routines were established and repeated to make us feel welcome. It winds up detracting from the stories themselves, and calls attention to how there's very little forward motion at times, sometimes frustratingly so. There are many times when you want White to delve further into just how Prilicla has everyone eating out of its empathic multi-jointed mouth or some demonstration that O'Mara really is a brilliant psychologist instead of someone who insults everyone all the time.
It's not until the last novel in the sequence, "Star Healer" that we get that forward motion, putting Conway on the path to reaching the highest level of the hospital staff (almost arbitrarily it seems, like O'Mara shows up and says "Hey, I don't really believe you're qualified but ready to go crazy with more aliens in your head?") along with some interesting problems that lurk just on the right side of not being contrived. White also gets better moments of lyrical beauty, like when Conway goes down to the cryogenic section of the hospital amongst the chlorine breathers. It doesn't entirely displace the problem of the novel being a series of problems that Conway has to solve until it's over (something the series rarely seems to shake) but by the time we reach the end we feel we've come to the natural end of him as a main character and are ready for him to be relegated to supporting status. Which in a way winds up being a gift . . . having given us the basic format and structure of the hospital, White can play with his canvas in more inventive ways. It's no real spoiler to reveal that the next two novels in the series are far more interesting, giving us more spine and bristle. Conway was nice, but he was there as a means to solve problems, not be a character. With him out of the way, character and problem can take equal billing, and the series becomes the better for it. But to get there you have to go through here first. Much like "Cheers", the hospital can't be the warm inviting place where everyone knows your four letter physiological classification until you've spent enough time there to become a regular.
May 14, 2018
Book #: 20
Title: Alien Emergencies
Author: James White
Category: Popsugar Basic: The next book in a series you've started II
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
First, technically I'm still reading it, but I'm into the final story, so ... close enough. Second, I've already covered this category, but this is the only category it fits in. James White wrote a series of stories about Sector General, a multi-species hospital in space. The stories were collected into books, and the books were collected into omnibuses. The first omnibus, Beginning Operations, contained Hospital Station, Star Surgeon and Major Operation. Alien Emergencies is the second omnibus and contains Ambulance Ship, Sector General and Star Healer. As before, I found the stories entertaining and well written. And since they're actually short stories there's a lot of decent pause points. :) I will be tracking down the other omnibuses in this series.
Title: Alien Emergencies
Author: James White
Category: Popsugar Basic: The next book in a series you've started II
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
First, technically I'm still reading it, but I'm into the final story, so ... close enough. Second, I've already covered this category, but this is the only category it fits in. James White wrote a series of stories about Sector General, a multi-species hospital in space. The stories were collected into books, and the books were collected into omnibuses. The first omnibus, Beginning Operations, contained Hospital Station, Star Surgeon and Major Operation. Alien Emergencies is the second omnibus and contains Ambulance Ship, Sector General and Star Healer. As before, I found the stories entertaining and well written. And since they're actually short stories there's a lot of decent pause points. :) I will be tracking down the other omnibuses in this series.
August 1, 2026
This is an omnibus of the 4th, 5th & 6th books in the series, and I really liked the first 2 books here, Ambulance Ship & Sector General, but wasn't quite as fond of the third one. Conway is adjusting to his advancement to Diagnostician and in the first half or so of the book, he is making headway in reaching a newly discovered life form that avoids physical closeness with other beings, while the second half or so of the book is back at Sector General dealing with a different patient. I'll admit to skimming the final bit because I just wasn't interest in the details.
Overall, I liked it so I'll give it 3 stars, but I'll take a break from Sector General before I dive into the 3rd omnibus edition
Overall, I liked it so I'll give it 3 stars, but I'll take a break from Sector General before I dive into the 3rd omnibus edition
September 15, 2017
The first volume of this set, Beginning Operations, is OK but largely consists of a bunch of short stories crudely shoehorned into a couple of novels. And that shows. Here, White has got into his groove, puts together much better stories, and develops Murchison from a sentient pair of breasts into an actual character (although you'll still hear plenty about her shape, and she definitely can't be promoted to diagnostician because women's brains, amiright?) If you liked the first volume, but found it flawed, I think you're going to really enjoy this second volume.
September 13, 2024
Wonderful stories
I read some of these many years ago and loved them then. It's fun to find them again.
Picture a massive hospital in space where 60 or more et species are receiving medical help. Now add in a space ambulance which sometimes rescues an unknown species from a wreak. How do you treat the patient?
I read some of these many years ago and loved them then. It's fun to find them again.
Picture a massive hospital in space where 60 or more et species are receiving medical help. Now add in a space ambulance which sometimes rescues an unknown species from a wreak. How do you treat the patient?
May 31, 2021
I'm really enjoying these Sector General books. There's some stupid sexism, though it's mild in comparison to other SF of the time. However the combination of fascinating alien biologies with the theme of kindness and empathy conquering all is just so sweet.
October 9, 2026
My first review where I could use parts of stars! In this case, the first two books of the omnibus I rate at three stars and the third one at four stars. I really enjoyed seeing the main character's professional development.
October 29, 2018
Even better than the last one. We finally get a glimpse into who Conway is as a person, and Murchison finally is a person.
May 2, 2020
Awesome scifi
This book puts you into the future with all its hopes dreams. Makes me want to be there now. Great stories
This book puts you into the future with all its hopes dreams. Makes me want to be there now. Great stories
January 25, 2021
Not as exciting as the first lot, some good progression here but also, naturally because of the medium, a fair amount of repetition. Enjoyed, but not overwhelmingly so.
July 25, 2021
These are excellent stories. The non-earth species are wonderfully described and are entities I would like to meet! I am looking forward to reading more in the series.
September 11, 2024
I love sector general books
Yes, some of it, okay, a lot of it is definitely dated. But lot of fun. I Highly recommend it.
Yes, some of it, okay, a lot of it is definitely dated. But lot of fun. I Highly recommend it.
December 30, 2011
Sector Twelve General Hospital is the galaxy's largest multi-species hospital, built to be able to treat any of the many and varied species of the galactic Federation, not to mention any other intelligent life forms they encounter. It is, to quote a line about another space station, a shining beacon in space, all alone in the night.
There are three volumes bound together in this omnibus: Ambulance Ship, Sector General and Star Healer. The first deals with the establishment of Sector General's first purpose-built ambulance ship, the Rhabwar, headed up by regular series protagonist Doctor Conway. The special purpose of this ship is to respond to distress beacons sent out by unrecognised species and establish peaceful first contact and show that they mean no harm by helping heal travellers in distress. Sector General continues this theme, showing more of the bizarre situations that the crew of the Rhabwar find themselves involved with. Star Healer sees Conway (provisionally) promoted to the hospital's most senior rank, that of Diagnostician and shows us the different class of problem that these most senior doctors must face.
I must confess to having had a soft spot for the Sector General novels for many years, ever since I first found Star Surgeon in the local library. The stories are often a medical whodunnit, which I enjoy and I love the unusual fact that there is almost no violence in the whole series. The idea of putting medics at the front line of your space opera may not be new, but White's passion for non-violence (the author himself living in the decidedly non-non-violent environment of Belfast during the Troubles) shines through here.
Another aspect of the Sector General books that I have always liked is White's attempt to not make it Human-centric. It's made very clear that Humans are just one member (albeit one of the larger species) of the Galactic Federation. The protagonist of the stories is Human but most of his co-workers aren't, and they aren't just Humans with lumpy foreheads either. White imagines aliens that range from fuzzy teddy bears to crystalline entities that exist by the conversion of hard radiation. He makes an attempt to make the aliens really alien and mostly succeeds, although the idea of the six-limbed elephantine most senior Diagnostician in the hospital also being its chief gossip does tickle my funny bone.
White certainly believes in saving his imagination for the alien races and encounters, rather than on description. Once he finds a description that works, it gets reused, at least once a book, often more frequently. The same description of Sector General as a "cylindrical Christmas tree" or chief psychologist O'Mara having "eyes that opened on a mind so deeply analytical they gave him what amounted to a telepathic facility" or the description of the hospital's four-letter physiological classification system abound. This doesn't annoy me, but often the reverse, like seeing an old friend popping up regularly.
While some of the stories could certainly be described as "corny", the Sector General books and the volumes in this omnibus are very entertaining to a fan of space opera, and inspiring to a fellow Ulsterman who shares White's passion for non-violence.
There are three volumes bound together in this omnibus: Ambulance Ship, Sector General and Star Healer. The first deals with the establishment of Sector General's first purpose-built ambulance ship, the Rhabwar, headed up by regular series protagonist Doctor Conway. The special purpose of this ship is to respond to distress beacons sent out by unrecognised species and establish peaceful first contact and show that they mean no harm by helping heal travellers in distress. Sector General continues this theme, showing more of the bizarre situations that the crew of the Rhabwar find themselves involved with. Star Healer sees Conway (provisionally) promoted to the hospital's most senior rank, that of Diagnostician and shows us the different class of problem that these most senior doctors must face.
I must confess to having had a soft spot for the Sector General novels for many years, ever since I first found Star Surgeon in the local library. The stories are often a medical whodunnit, which I enjoy and I love the unusual fact that there is almost no violence in the whole series. The idea of putting medics at the front line of your space opera may not be new, but White's passion for non-violence (the author himself living in the decidedly non-non-violent environment of Belfast during the Troubles) shines through here.
Another aspect of the Sector General books that I have always liked is White's attempt to not make it Human-centric. It's made very clear that Humans are just one member (albeit one of the larger species) of the Galactic Federation. The protagonist of the stories is Human but most of his co-workers aren't, and they aren't just Humans with lumpy foreheads either. White imagines aliens that range from fuzzy teddy bears to crystalline entities that exist by the conversion of hard radiation. He makes an attempt to make the aliens really alien and mostly succeeds, although the idea of the six-limbed elephantine most senior Diagnostician in the hospital also being its chief gossip does tickle my funny bone.
White certainly believes in saving his imagination for the alien races and encounters, rather than on description. Once he finds a description that works, it gets reused, at least once a book, often more frequently. The same description of Sector General as a "cylindrical Christmas tree" or chief psychologist O'Mara having "eyes that opened on a mind so deeply analytical they gave him what amounted to a telepathic facility" or the description of the hospital's four-letter physiological classification system abound. This doesn't annoy me, but often the reverse, like seeing an old friend popping up regularly.
While some of the stories could certainly be described as "corny", the Sector General books and the volumes in this omnibus are very entertaining to a fan of space opera, and inspiring to a fellow Ulsterman who shares White's passion for non-violence.
February 9, 2017
With the exception of the opening short story, "Spacebird" (which was clearly cut from earlier editions for a reason), the second omnibus is every bit as good as, and in some parts better than, the first. One story scared the pants off me, several moved me, and the whole added up to compelling medical mysteries and a good closing note for the careers of Conway, Murchison, and Prilicla. The first two books, Ambulance Ship and Sector General, mainly involve the trio (plus some new faces) leaving the comfort of Sector General to answer distress calls in hopes of making first contact with new species.
The third, Star Healer, involves Conway attempting to qualify as a Diagnostician, wondering what sharing his brain with multiple personalities will do to his sanity (not to mention his marriage). It also sparked a fan theory for me, a way of getting around the paternalist sexism of White's repeated claim that women can't handle sharing their brains with the taped personalities of other species. It's been said throughout this series that the people chosen for these tapes were geniuses, and that geniuses are often real jerks. As Conway tries out a number of tapes, and talks with other Diagnosticians living with tapes in their brains, it also becomes clear that a lot of them are misogynists. The effect on a raging misogynist of finding themselves trapped in a female body would be pretty shattering. My guess is the problem isn't women's inherent capacity to deal with sharing their minds and bodies, the problem is with the available tapes. Which lets me go on loving a series that, on every other level, delights me.
The third, Star Healer, involves Conway attempting to qualify as a Diagnostician, wondering what sharing his brain with multiple personalities will do to his sanity (not to mention his marriage). It also sparked a fan theory for me, a way of getting around the paternalist sexism of White's repeated claim that women can't handle sharing their brains with the taped personalities of other species. It's been said throughout this series that the people chosen for these tapes were geniuses, and that geniuses are often real jerks. As Conway tries out a number of tapes, and talks with other Diagnosticians living with tapes in their brains, it also becomes clear that a lot of them are misogynists. The effect on a raging misogynist of finding themselves trapped in a female body would be pretty shattering. My guess is the problem isn't women's inherent capacity to deal with sharing their minds and bodies, the problem is with the available tapes. Which lets me go on loving a series that, on every other level, delights me.
July 1, 2023
One of several excellent compilations of White's Sector General stories
Worth reading multiple times; I started in the 1970s. White's universe consists of many, highly diverse sentient life forms, who all come together to interact in repairing one another's injuries and diseases in one monster medical space station; there is also a subseries of a roving hospital ship. Imagination galore, and medical idealism galore. Many creatively described weird entities, many creative settings on station, in spaceships, on hostile planets; a large cast of recurring characters with focus centered on two humans, the station head, sarcastic psychologist O'Mara, and an up and coming surgeon Conway who experiences a series of seemingly impossible puzzles to solve as part of his training. The recurring highlight is the interaction between extremely differing entities including via mental recordings that are placed into doctors' minds several at a time, and sometimes telepathy and empathic sensing. This volume is at the end of Conway's training. The compilations can be read in any order.
This writing was aimed at the mostly male sci-fi readership of its era. Female characters are scarce and underdeveloped, and there are two recurring, brief bits of gratuitous sexism by recent standards.
Worth reading multiple times; I started in the 1970s. White's universe consists of many, highly diverse sentient life forms, who all come together to interact in repairing one another's injuries and diseases in one monster medical space station; there is also a subseries of a roving hospital ship. Imagination galore, and medical idealism galore. Many creatively described weird entities, many creative settings on station, in spaceships, on hostile planets; a large cast of recurring characters with focus centered on two humans, the station head, sarcastic psychologist O'Mara, and an up and coming surgeon Conway who experiences a series of seemingly impossible puzzles to solve as part of his training. The recurring highlight is the interaction between extremely differing entities including via mental recordings that are placed into doctors' minds several at a time, and sometimes telepathy and empathic sensing. This volume is at the end of Conway's training. The compilations can be read in any order.
This writing was aimed at the mostly male sci-fi readership of its era. Female characters are scarce and underdeveloped, and there are two recurring, brief bits of gratuitous sexism by recent standards.
May 16, 2015
Although the prose tends to be repetitive at times, and the author indulges in (relatively mild, all things considered) gender stereotypes, this collection of three short novels takes the premise begun in the first three Sector General novels and runs with it at full speed. Alien physiology and psychology are well imagined, and I cannot help but admire and aspire to the sort of quick thinking and problem-solving displayed by Senior Physician, and then Diagnostician-in-training Conway (though I suspect my teenage daughter would consider him a "Mary Sue" for the same reasons). Fun and thought-provoking in equal measure.
January 1, 2013
Interesting book. An enjoyable read. Interesting premise. Aliens are friendly adn they can't transmit diseases between the species. Extraterrestrial relations are advanced via cross species medical treatment. These stories were written between 1962 and 2001. Sector General's lack of violence is maybe White's reaction to "The Troubles" in Ireland. The stories remind me of a science fiction version of James Herriot and Maeve Binchy.
June 15, 2009
I know it's quite aged and looks cheesy from the cover/title/subject but I was really impressed and highly entertained. It was one of those where I was sad the stories were over and there were no more to read.
December 14, 2011
This is the second omnibus of Sector General novels, comprised of three such. It is very plain Space Opera stuff about a huge hospital serving lots of alien races. The premise is full of potential but the stories are both corny and dull. Yawn…
http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=1505
http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=1505
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