s.l. viehl | The Obsessive Bookseller

Beyond Varallan by S.L. Viehl

Title: Beyond Varallan

Author: S.L. Viehl

Series: Stardoc #2

Genre: Science Fiction

Rating: 2/5 stars

The Overview: Dr. Cherijo is living the perfect life–if you think that finding out you’re a clone, then being declared “non-sentient” by your father/creator is your idea of perfect.Things could be worse. But when the Human League comes after her, with bounty hunters of every race trying to bring her in, Cherijo figures it can’t get any worse… Until someone begins stalking her dreams. -Goodreads

The Review:

This series took a weird direction.

And considering the basic premise is a genetically manipulated xenobiological medical doctor proficient in operating on aliens, that’s really saying something. This second installment had a lot of issues. I didn’t hate it, but it stole some of my confidence that the author would be able to sustain me for an entire series.

The first issue was extremely erratic decision making by the main character. She was almost idiotically irrational at times throughout the book and I could argue that most of the senseless conflicts derived solely from her weird behavior. It just didn’t make sense. And that’s one thing that always drives me crazy in books. Now, as it turns out, there was an explanation for some of her actions, which alleviates my annoyance a little, but it was probably too little too late. It seemed a tad early in the series to be messing with the character profile so much because to a degree you’re still trying to establish character and endear them to your audience. The person I read about in this book was vastly different than the one in the first book and I most decidedly did NOT enjoy her new POV. The author took a risk and unfortunately I don’t think it paid off.

The plot was equally all over the place. I quite enjoyed the mystery – it’s the consistent through-line that kept me reading when I was unsure about a lot of other things. But all of the other storyline components were just friggin weird. A lot of the traditions and laws of the alien species hosting the MC seemed like mere constructs contrived solely to prolong the conflicts of the story (because they didn’t make any sense). There continued to be a theme of personal violations and “almost” rape scenes. And the back and forth between the main character and one of the aliens was so unnecessary and ridiculous that I kept wondering why she was being so stupid by not removing herself from the situation. It was hard to read.

So why didn’t I DNF with all of those objections? Setting aside the fact that I already own the entire series and DNFing means I’ve been hauling them around for 20 years for nothing, I truly love reading about all of the medical procedures performed on aliens. It was so cool! And quite realistic and thorough. The author has a surgical background and it definitely shows. It’s the main selling point of the story for me and one of the main reasons I might actually still continue with the series (for at least one more book – the first book was great, so I’m hoping this one was a fluke). The author managed to pull me back in just enough at the end to give the benefit of the doubt going forward.

Recommendations: this book was a flop compared to the first one, but had just enough good moments to keep me reading til the end. I recommend at least the first one for readers who love scifi with excellent alien creations and world building. The jury is still out on the series as a whole. Stay tuned…

Other books you might like:

: Survival by Julie E. Czerneda

: Grimspace by Ann Aguirre

: All Systems Red by Martha Wells

: Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

: City of Light by Keri Arthur

by Niki Hawkes

Stardoc by S.L. Viehl

Title: Stardoc

Author: S.L. Viehl

Series: Stardoc #1

Genre: Science Fiction

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

The Overview: Dr. Cherijo Grey Veil leaves Earth and accepts a position as a physician at Kevarzanga-2’s FreeClinic. Her surgical skills are desperately needed on a hostile frontier world with over 200 sentient species–and her understanding of alien physiology is nothing short of miraculous. But the truth behind her expertise is a secret which, if discovered, could have disastrous consequences between human and alien relations… -Goodreads

The Review:

I freaking loved this book. And it is somewhat tragic that it sat on my shelves collecting dust for 16 years before I finally picked it up (16 years!!!! I can’t even wrap my head around that fully). The story may not have been the most original, creative, or exciting, but I tell you what – it was EXACTLY what I’ve been craving and I enjoyed it to pieces.

I love sci-fi books of all kinds – from the heavy militaristic battle novels filled with endless technical jargon to the fluffy feel-good space operas, but the ones that always seem to make me phone home are the ones with the most creative alien creations. I guess you could say I prefer the xenobiology sci-fis, and the more convincing the genetic makeups, the better. Not only did Stardoc include a vast array of aliens, but Viehl (who happens to be a retired surgeon for the army) upped the game even further by including medical treatment of these aliens (which means she really had to dig in to the specifics of their biological workings and how the environment affected them), and I ate up every single detail. Not only was it an amazing creative undertaking, but it also added an exciting medical drama angle that kept me turning pages late into the night. Superb.

If all that wasn’t enough, the story often sat on the verge of being a bonafide space opera (my favorite two words in spec-fic). The characters were well developed and their interpersonal drama balanced perfectly with the rest of the story and provided an excellent way to get emotionally invested. A vast majority of the story takes place on one planet, but there are so many dynamics that it didn’t ever feel stagnant (although I’m totally looking forward to more space travel and new aliens in future books).

There’s only one story component that kept me from giving Stardoc a full 5-star rating, and that was the inclusion of a very odd rape scene. Like, really odd. Mostly because of how it was handled – the author sort of showed her cards a bit for me on what’s to come, and I can sorta see what she was trying to do, but 100% the content wouldn’t fly in today’s market had it been written more recently. I don’t really want to spark a debate on rape scenes in books, so I’m going to leave it at that and suggest you just venture in aware it’s a component. It’s literally the only thing that kept Stardoc from hitting perfection for me on all accounts.

Series status: Enjoying this series has now become my #1 reading priority. I’ve already cracked the spine on the next book (and it’s awesome!).

Recommendations: I can’t endorse this book as the best sci-fi I’ve ever read, but it hit all the right notes for me and has become one of my new favorites. It includes and excellent mix of medical drama, aliens, relatable characters, and just a hint of mystery.

Other books you might like: