Review: Star Surgeon, Alan E. Nourse
May. 8th, 2011 01:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jeriendhalSummary: After eight years of training on Hospital Earth, alien med student Dal Timgar is finally ready to go out into space as a Red Surgeon, a medical knight errant travelling between the stars to heal the sick.
Assuming, that is, he can overcome the prejudices of Earth's elite Black Doctors, who don't care for the idea of Humanity's lock on advanced medical services being broken.
Review: Alan E. Nourse was more accurately Doctor Nourse, so when he casually pops off details of medical procedures in this book you can at least be assured there's a fair basis in fact (as known in 1959) behind them. Unfortunately he was never as prolific as James White, who's Sector General series is much better known. Which is a pity, because take in context, this book is a sort of sidewise commentary on the state of race relations and the medical profession around 1959 when it was published.
Dal, our polite, mild mannered and very much put upon alien doctor, is very much a stand in for any number of black medical professionals during the period of racial integration in the US during the 50's and 60's. In the book's universe, Earth is now called Hospital Earth, with entire cities devoted to supporting a massive medical infrastructure to treat hundreds of alien species throughout the Confederation. The conceit being that when humanity made First Contact, there were many alien races who were more advanced in the physical sciences, but no one could match the human understanding of biology and medical science.
This is a bit hard to swallow, but given the Planet of Hats nature of the setup, it's only fair that for once the humans get a hat to wear, which in this case is medicine. By contrast, Dal's people are well known as traders (which becomes a plot point later on in the book). This does mean however, that you've essentially got a medical board deciding major interstellar diplomatic policy.
Anyway, Dal gets his ship post, along with One True Friend, Tiger and requisite antagonist Jack, who's in the pocket of the main Black Doctor who opposed Dal's inclusion. The adventures they have include a unique little puzzle that wouldn't look out of place on Star Trek, with Dale stumbling for the answers as he gradually gains Jack's respect, and realizes that perhaps Tiger's friendship isn't the best for him.
It's a short book, so there isn't much room for deep characterization, but Dal's setup pushes the limits of believability. In the eight years he was on Earth apparently he made a total of two friends, and his race has a reputation for diplomacy (though it helps that for in-story reasons he isn't permitting himself to use the crutch his people depend on.)
Then again, a black (not Black) doctor in the fifties had to jump over some pretty unbelievable hurdles to gain acceptance too.
Recommended. Available for legal, free download at Project Gutenberg.
Update: One further note. I'm sure![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
chaypeta and my mother would be amused by the fact that these godlike doctors apparently manage to do all their work without any nurses. Medical technicians are mentioned however, who apparently serve the same function, and who are all apparently male, which saves us from seeing a single female character in the entire book.
Assuming, that is, he can overcome the prejudices of Earth's elite Black Doctors, who don't care for the idea of Humanity's lock on advanced medical services being broken.
Review: Alan E. Nourse was more accurately Doctor Nourse, so when he casually pops off details of medical procedures in this book you can at least be assured there's a fair basis in fact (as known in 1959) behind them. Unfortunately he was never as prolific as James White, who's Sector General series is much better known. Which is a pity, because take in context, this book is a sort of sidewise commentary on the state of race relations and the medical profession around 1959 when it was published.
Dal, our polite, mild mannered and very much put upon alien doctor, is very much a stand in for any number of black medical professionals during the period of racial integration in the US during the 50's and 60's. In the book's universe, Earth is now called Hospital Earth, with entire cities devoted to supporting a massive medical infrastructure to treat hundreds of alien species throughout the Confederation. The conceit being that when humanity made First Contact, there were many alien races who were more advanced in the physical sciences, but no one could match the human understanding of biology and medical science.
This is a bit hard to swallow, but given the Planet of Hats nature of the setup, it's only fair that for once the humans get a hat to wear, which in this case is medicine. By contrast, Dal's people are well known as traders (which becomes a plot point later on in the book). This does mean however, that you've essentially got a medical board deciding major interstellar diplomatic policy.
Anyway, Dal gets his ship post, along with One True Friend, Tiger and requisite antagonist Jack, who's in the pocket of the main Black Doctor who opposed Dal's inclusion. The adventures they have include a unique little puzzle that wouldn't look out of place on Star Trek, with Dale stumbling for the answers as he gradually gains Jack's respect, and realizes that perhaps Tiger's friendship isn't the best for him.
It's a short book, so there isn't much room for deep characterization, but Dal's setup pushes the limits of believability. In the eight years he was on Earth apparently he made a total of two friends, and his race has a reputation for diplomacy (though it helps that for in-story reasons he isn't permitting himself to use the crutch his people depend on.)
Then again, a black (not Black) doctor in the fifties had to jump over some pretty unbelievable hurdles to gain acceptance too.
Recommended. Available for legal, free download at Project Gutenberg.
Update: One further note. I'm sure
chaypeta and my mother would be amused by the fact that these godlike doctors apparently manage to do all their work without any nurses. Medical technicians are mentioned however, who apparently serve the same function, and who are all apparently male, which saves us from seeing a single female character in the entire book.
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Date: 2011-05-08 05:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-08 06:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-12 11:39 am (UTC)Mainly because I recorded and produced an audiobook version...!
http://www.podiobooks.com/title/star-surgeon
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Date: 2011-05-13 09:16 pm (UTC)