S. L. Viehl - Crystal Healer

Table of Contents

Praise for the Novels of S. L. Viehl StarDoc

I dont read much science fiction, but I got ahold of a manuscript copy of StarDoc and just loved it. Dont miss this one.Catherine Coulter

Continuously surprising and deviously written and splendidly full of new characters.Anne McCaffrey

Space opera somewhat reminiscent of C. J. Cherryhs early work. Chronicle

An entertaining, almost old-fashioned adventure.... The adventure and quirky mix of aliens and cultures make a fun combination. Locus

An excellent protagonist.... [Viehl has] set the stage for an interesting series of interspecies medical adventures.

Space.com

Space opera and medical melodrama mix with a dash of romance in this engaging novel... a rousing good yarn, with plenty of plot twists, inventive scene setting, and quirky characters to keep readers thoroughly entertained.... StarDoc is a fun adventure story with an appealing heroine, a lot of action, a sly sense of humor, and wonders aplenty.SF Site

A fascinating reading experience... a wonderful heroine. Midwest Book Review

Beyond Varallan

[Cherijo is] an engaging lead character.... Viehl skillfully weaves in the clues to build a murder mystery with several surprising ramifications.Space.com

Endurance

An exciting science fiction tale... fast-paced and exciting.... SF fans will fully enjoy S. L. Viehls entertaining entry in one of the better ongoing series today.

Midwest Book Review

[ Endurance ] gets into more eclectic and darker territory than most space opera, but its a pretty engrossing trip. Recommended. Hypatias Hoard

A rousing medical space opera.... Viehl employs misdirection and humor, while not defusing the intense plot development that builds toward an explosive conclusion.

Romantic Times

Shockball

Genetically enhanced fun.... Cherijo herself has been justly praised as a breath of fresh airsmart [and] saucy.... The reader seems to be invited along as an amicable companion, and such is the force of Cherijos personality that it sounds like fun.Science Fiction Weekly

Fast-paced... an entertaining installment in the continuing adventures of the StarDoc . Locus

An exhilarating science fiction space adventure. The zestful story line stays at warp speed.... Cherijo is as fresh as ever.... Fans of futuristic outer space novels will want to take off with this tale and the three previous StarDoc books, as all four stories take the audience where they rarely have been before. Midwest Book Review

Eternity Row

Space opera at its very best.... Viehl has created a character and a futuristic setting that is second to none in its readability, quality, and social mores.

Midwest Book Review

S. L. Viehl serves readers her usual highly entertaining mix of humor and space opera. This episode is enlivened by the antics of [Cherijos] daughter, Marel, and by an exploration of aging and immortality. As usual, I look forward to the next in an exciting series.BookLoons

Rebel Ice

Well-drawn cultures and fascinating aliens.

Publishers Weekly

Its fast, fun, character-driven, and left me wanting more... one of my all-time favorite sci-fi series.

Fresh Fiction

Both gritty and realistic. Romantic Times

A thrilling addition to the series. Booklist

A wonderful piece of space opera.SFRevu

Seems very realisticalmost as if the author visited that world and decided to write about it. Rebel Ice is a terrific outer space science fiction novel.Bookwatch

Plague of Memory

Another exciting adventure in this well-regarded series.

Monsters and Critics

Blade Dancer

Fast-moving, thought-provoking, and just plain damn fun. S. L. Viehl has once again nailed it.Linda Howard

A heartrending, passionate, breathtaking adventure of a novel that rips your feet out from under you on page one and never lets you regain them until the amazing finale. Stunning.Holly Lisle

ALSO BY S. L. VIEHL

StarDoc
Beyond Varallan
Endurance
Shockball
Eternity Row
Rebel Ice
Plague of Memory
Omega Games

Blade Dancer

Bio Rescue
Afterburn

ROC
Published by New American Library, a division of
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street,
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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices:
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

First published by Roc, an imprint of New American Library, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

First Printing, August

Copyright S. L. Viehl, 2009

eISBN : 978-1-101-10820-8

All rights reserved

REGISTERED TRADEMARKMARCA REGISTRADA

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

PUBLISHERS NOTE

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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To live as a doctor is to live so that ones life is
bound up in others and in science and in the messy,
complicated connection between the two.

Dr. Atul Gawande

One

The Iisleg, the people of my homeworld of Akkabarr, never believed in peace. The word itself has no meaning in their language. They name the time between conflicts as either malatkinin , an opportunity to recover from the last battle, or kininharkal , the chance to prepare for the next.

Until this moment, I thought I had left that sort of idiocy behind on my homeworld.