Bio Rescue - Hardcover

Viehl, S. L.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0451459784 ISBN 13: 9780451459787

Publisher: Roc Hardcover, 2004

Synopsis

The leader of a squadron of SEAL (surgically enhanced/altered lifeform) pilots responsible for security for the local quadrant, Lieutenant Dair mu T'resa is delighted by her new role as an interstellar paramedic with the first Bio Rescue team, unaware that she is about to face the opposition of a lupine species with a hatred of natives from her planet.

About this title

About the Author

S.L. Viehl was raised and educated in South Florida. A U.S.A.F. veteran, she has medical experience from both military and civilian trauma centers.

Reviews

Peace may not rule the planets, but love does steer the stars, or at least the characters, in this earnest tale of space medical rescue. Viehl (Eternity Row, etc.) presents another strong female lead, Jadaira mu T'resa, a patrol commander who switches from combat to medevac work to save refugees fleeing an interstellar war, set in the author's StarDoc universe. Working to save lives, Jadaira still finds conflicts, as her people, the aquatic 'Zangians, are culturally accustomed to abandoning their wounded rather than staying nearby where predators will gather. To honor her terran heritage, the modified, half-human Jadaira takes on the task of ferrying doctors in and patients out of dangerous situations, all while struggling with bureaucratic plots, leftover space minefields and the amorous and envious interests of both her orphaned second-in-command, Onkar, and a refugee religious leader, Rushan Amariah, of the lupine Skartesh. Love, like war, crosses species boundaries, although the most explicit scenes do stay within kind. The focus remains on the interpersonal much more than the interstellar, and the book exudes an enthusiastic naïveté that forgives the occasional overly convenient asteroid belt. The strong romance elements, along with the general youth of the characters (Jadaira loses her virginity), will appeal to young adult SF fans.
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A military crew running planetary patrols rescues a ship of refugee lupine land-dwellers called the Skartesh. The refugees seem more than that, though, for there is evidence that their ship carried an explosive rigged to blow up if they landed. The rescue scotched that. The commander of the rescuers, Dair Mu T'resa, belongs to a basically aquatic race that disdains rescues, but she is basically altruistic. Dair tries to be friendly with the Skartesh, going so far as to teach one, Shan, to swim, which causes a number of problems, for Shan is supposedly a prophet whose destiny is to return the Skartesh to their desert world and restore its water through an ultimate sacrifice. Also, the Skartesh have a taboo against so much as talking to non-Skartesh. The book's strength lies in the aquatic nature of the main species in it (though they are slowly evolving toward amphibiousness) and the issues of interspecies interaction that it raises. Regina Schroeder
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Roc Hardcover
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0451459784
• ISBN 13: 9780451459787
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320