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Sector General #11
Mind Changer
It's where human and alien medicine a massive hospital space station on the Galactic Rim, with 384 levels and a multispecies staff of thousands.
In the course of practicing deep-space medicine, that staff has seen more than its share of challenges--from plagues caused by cafeteria food, to cafeteria food that resembles alien species. But now they are facing a disquieting new the terrifying Chief Psychologist, Dr. O'Mara, has been promoted to head of the hospital.
Worse, he's been given the job on a temporary basis, for just as long as it takes to train his own replacement. After that, he is up for mandatory retirement. Nobody at Sector General can begin to imagine what they'll do without him--assuming they last long enough to find out.
In the course of practicing deep-space medicine, that staff has seen more than its share of challenges--from plagues caused by cafeteria food, to cafeteria food that resembles alien species. But now they are facing a disquieting new the terrifying Chief Psychologist, Dr. O'Mara, has been promoted to head of the hospital.
Worse, he's been given the job on a temporary basis, for just as long as it takes to train his own replacement. After that, he is up for mandatory retirement. Nobody at Sector General can begin to imagine what they'll do without him--assuming they last long enough to find out.
304 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
17 people are currently reading
253 people want to read
About the author
James White
94 books135 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 - 25 of 25 reviews
January 4, 2021
Chief Psychologist Major O'Mara has been applying his unorthodox problem-solving methods to Sector General since before the hospital opened for business. Suddenly the powers that be take notice of his past-retirement age, and force a resolution. It has been several decades since we were inside O'Mara's head, and there is much to get to know. The narrative moves around in time, putting everything in place for a wonderful ending.
Read 3 times. My favorite read of 2011.
Read 3 times. My favorite read of 2011.
Read
December 5, 2013Another one I'm going to have to keep posted a while, because it skips around in time. The soon-to-retire o'Mara reminisces about his own training for guidance as to how to choose and train his successor.
I should point out, by the way, that people tend to describe White as 'naive', and to imply that his pacifism has been outrun by subsequent events. This book was copyrighted in 1998, shortly before White's death, and is the penultimate book in a series that started in 1962. White was born in Northern Ireland, and though he lived other places, he lived in Northern Ireland during a substantial proportion of 'the Troubles'.
Far from being naive, he was deliberately creating an alternate narrative. He was a romantic optimist: he truly believed that the majority of people were kindly and sharing, if they could figure out how. Not saintly: White's heroes sweat and bleed (sometimes in odd ways, by human standards). Not saccharine. Nice people in a Muppety sort of way; sometimes sarcastic, often confused, and too often acting without thinking things through. The chatty, domestic Federation is a far cry from the 'gritty realism' of too many stories that ignore the beach for the granular.
And one of the reasons White created Sector General was to model another, more humane (? What would be the equivalent for this term in a multispecies society?), (MUCH) less militaristic solution for what ails us. As the short story "Accident" makes clear, Sector General is not on the sidelines of the Galactic Federation, despite its remote location. It's CRUCIAL to the stability of the Federation. So much so that the citizens, governments, and councils of the Federation devote a great deal of the resources of their planets and systems to often hideously expensive programs to help maintain the hospital and assist in their attempts to resolve medical mysteries.
That's general. Specifically, at the moment, I have the problem of picking out the older stories from their matrix. One major problem is that in this later format, the individual stories don't have titles, but only chapter numbers: and sometimes a story runs through several chapters. So I'm going to catalog the chapters in order of internal chronology. This time out, I've been reading it in that order, though it causes some continuity problems: So here's the printout:
I Chapter 4--starting very shortly after "Medic" from Hospital Station; Major Craythorne begins training o'Mara in his work as a (non-medical) psychologist, including attempts to sand down o'Mara's rough edges. Meantime, o'Mara tries to roughen a few of Craythorne's smooth ones. Sector General has, by this point, reached the point of interior furnishing; there are still workers painting, assembling, etc, but the library computer is up, and the elevators (intermittently) are working.
II Chapter 5--More of the previous chapter. It's a little odd that the widely-traveled o'Mara had never encountered Kelgians before. But he's always been a quick study: and his carefully cultivated acerbity makes him better able to be gallant toward Kelgian nurse trainees than to negotiate nonviolently with his former peers. The question is: can he get the nurses to their quarters without drawing blood? I like the question the nurses ask about what response is expected to a wolf-whistle. Not sure how it'd be answered, however.
III Chapter 8--o'Mara, informed that he has to join the Monitor Corps to stay on (since the staff will be all Monitors and medical civilians, and he's neither), argues that if he's forced to take orders from a moronic nominal superior, heads (and ranks) will be broken. Major Craythorne insists, but waives some of the indoctrination requirements. I like the fact that the tailor is a Melfan, who does tailoring as a hobby.
IV Chapter 9--The Educator Tape system is tried out at Sector General, after it's made clear that ets can't even do a slightly complex appendectomy on an Earth-human--and that Earth-humans can't manage to learn et anatomy well enough to operate, either. White had put the Educator tapes in in the first place, probably, to introduce psychological complications to the stories, and to help break down the barriers between members of different species (see, for example, 'Countercharm', which comes up later in the sequence). In this story, a new rationale is added, which probably developed during the development of the series. The problems with anatomical knowledge would leave Sector General only a set of isolated same-species hospitals in one large complex, and require complete surgical staffs for each species: which would result in an overstaffed hospital with a lot of bored doctors. Granting that 'Sector General is big, but not THAT big', I have to say that the hospital becomes chronically understaffed: but having to reserve surgery to same-species teams would result in too much staff, since some of the rarer species would come to the hospital only once or twice a year: so what should they do, make patients come with their own surgeons? Why come to Sector General at all, in that case?
In this section, o'Mara becomes the first test case for the Educator program. He comes through it all right, but he and Craythorne are forbidden to continue experimenting with the tapes on themselves, because they can't be objective advisers in such cases. But part of the point is that objectivity is overrated. And as we'll see, o'Mara breaks the taboo in a BIG way shortly thereafter.
V Chapter 11--One of the things that makes White's work so entertaining is the ability to see the potential of small things. Who else would have thought of the problem of snoring other-species colleagues as a major source of stress? I don't quite understand the 'hush fields' and how they differ from soundproofing, but it's true that people who work together have to be able to stand being in each others' neighborhood. o'Mara's solution is typically unorthodox--and explains a lot of features of Sector General that have puzzled people over the years. I should say at this point that Doctor Mannen is rarely mentioned in reviews, yet he remains a major figure right up as far as The Genocidal Healer, in which he's about two breaths from death. It was Mannen, by the way, who introduced the saying that feet of clay may be the best foundation for a balanced professional.
VI Chapter 12--The denouement of the previous chapter.
VII Chapter 13--Thornnastor is introduced, in early middle age. It's in trying to treat Thornnastor's problems with one of the Educator Tapes that o'Mara breaks the taboo about using the tapes on himself--and lies like a Kelgian about the consequences (ie he keeps quiet when he has something to say). In the process, he accidentally invents Diagnosticians, with Thornnastor as the test model.
IX Chapter 14--The surgery Thornnastor performed in his first stint as a Diagnostician reveals the potential advantage of multiple tapes, which compensates for the disadvantages at least enough for people with flexible, strong minds to be willing to keep up to ten of the tapes permanently installed.
X Chapter 15--o'Mara, as usual, is both censured and praised for his solutions: but doesn't tell anyone of his growing love for Marrasarah. In most cases this would be an impossible relationship, since most of the mind donors are fairly elderly when they make the tapes, and may very well be long dead. The fact that Marrasarah is still alive becomes an added complication. In this chapter, o'Mara, doing personnel mental health surveys, decides to investigate a pair of MSVK interns, whom he discovers have shacked up together, which helps explain why their work has become better, and worse, as they adjust their learning so they can stay together.
XI Chapter 16--o'Mara talks to the lovers, and is a little more honest than he meant to be. He receives advice in return, which he ponders. But in the meantime, he makes recommendations for changes in accommodations to allow for mating and children at the hospital. Which is interesting, because the earlier books made little or no mention of these aspects. Then he's ordered to take the first leave he's had since he came to Sector General.
XII Chapter 17--o'Mara sets out on a space cruise. Most of the rest of the passengers are a convention of madcap sword-and-sorcery fans.
XIII Chapter 18--o'Mara gets to know his fellow passengers, and learns to swim. I find the Kelgian objection that Arthurian lore is not compatible with Kelgian ways because Arthur would have been able to see the attraction between Lancelot and Guinevere less convincing than the perplexing question of how people who couldn't plausibly wield a sword could become sword-and-sorcery fans.
XIV Chapter 19--Continuing the tourist bit on Traltha.
XV Chapter 20--Outbound from Traltha, an accident occurs, which forces o'Mara and the recently graduated vet Joan to act to rescue people on the recreation deck, including some Tralthan honeymooners, who nearly drown. In the process, their Kelgian friend Kledenth is injured. (NB--when riding in a Melfan vessel, remember that the panic button is YELLOW).
XVI Chapter 21--After the stand-down from the emergency, o'Mara refuses to be reassured that Kledenth is all right. Using Marrasarah's knowledge, he's sure that Kledenth has been injured in a way that might render its fur less mobile--social death for a Kelgian.
XVII Chapter 22--o'Mara tries to keep from panicking Kledenth--but he can't conceal his worries. The crew (particularly the ship's doctor) don't take the problem seriously...but Kledenth (and, increasingly, Joan) are becoming more and more worried.
XVIII Chapter 23--o'Mara convinces Kledenth to allow Joan to perform surgery on its damaged circulatory system. It has to be Joan, with o'Mara directing, because o'Mara doesn't have the dexterity for surgery. But this fact is concealed, to protect the innocent, and the guilty, and the problematically involved bystanders. Joan is left out of the official story entirely.
XIX Chapter 24--o'Mara is subject to house arrest (cabin arrest?) awaiting a hearing about what he's done, after Kledenth is returned to Kelgia for follow-up treatment. During this period, his flirting relationship with Joan is consummated. Then they part, as o'Mara is invited to spend the rest of his vacation on Kelgia. Returning, he summarizes his trip: "I traveled a lot,...did some sightseeing, visited with a friend, had a whirlwind shipboard romance. You know, the usual kind of thing."
XX Chapter 25--this chapter is inching up on the 'present' first developed, in the early 1960s--the gap between the first chapter in Hospital Station and the second chapter is almost completely filled in in this chapter--though a lot is still left out.
XXI Chapter 26--Only the first half of this is still in reminiscent mode, and it creeps past the 'Hospital Station present', discussing things that happened to Conway and Murchison in their student days.
XXII Chapters 1-3--If you're reading the series in order, you get to the beginning of this book right after Final Diagnosis. Colonel Skempton is going into semi-retirement (he'll be advanced in rank, and work on Nidia, where he can play golf--though I'd think the Nidian golf courses would be a little inadequate, given how small Nidians are--and escape his crippling claustrophobia). The Federation Council, without consulting the parties involved, decides on a change in policy. The positions of chief psychologist will be merged with that of chief administrator, who will be a civilian, and medically trained. The first such administrator will be o'Mara, who is neither. But this is an extemporaneous appointment, since it will last only until o'Mara has selected and trained his successor. Then o'Mara will be forced into retirement.
One point that's worrisome in this volume is that it's revealed that the taboo against sexual harassment is not adequately enforced at Sector General. In this case, the Senior Tutor argues that IT is the victim of sexual harassment by a student. But this isn't a situation that should arrive, since there should be an absolute taboo against sexual relationships between teachers and students. I don't think, by the way, that the situation would be less serious if the parties are of the same species. I think it's the same degree of seriousness--and that it's more serious than it's treated as being.
XXXIII Chapters 6 and 7--coming out of reminiscence to the 'present day'--treating the 'present day' narrative as a framing narrative means that there's essentially a short story interspersed in and around earlier stories. White never did write true novels, really--ALL his work is episodic, but especially the Sector General stories. This episode deals with the arrival of the only stranger to qualify, and with the identification and first interviews of inhouse candidates. Doctor Cerdal is not familiar to readers, so the first interview helps flesh out the character.
XXXIV Last half of Chapter 26 through end of book--No Sector General story is complete without some sort of crisis. In this case, the story is reminiscent of the story "Survivor", from Sector General. But in this case, the evidence is that the survivor of a minor accident on the planet Kerm (a lightning strike which caused moderately toxic fumes, inflicting what seems to be telepathic deafness and muteness--note that White, who wasn't always up on current technical terminology, uses the term 'dumb', which has been abandoned because of implications of a lack of intelligence) is not actually telepathically mute--and that it's transmitting its xenophobic fears to others.
It wouldn't seem that the solution would be surgical--but this is Sector General, after all...
The secondary victims of the transmissions are (it says here) made less civilized. This is absurd. There's no evidence whatever that 'uncivilized' people have ever been less subtle, complex, or more xenophobic than 'civilized' people. Sometimes White recognizes this basic fact, but there's always a covert or overt 'despite'. The fact is that people's lives were made much worse starting with the beginning of 'civilization'. Not everywhere, but mostly, people were in worse physical and psychological shape than they had been in prehistoric times.
By the time of the Galactic Federation, it's argued that the problems brought into play by 'civilizations' have been largely resolved. But the underlying assumption that this had been a continuing progress is a false one. The majority of people's lives got a LOT worse for generations.
So why did people adopt civilization in the first place? In some cases it was an organic development. But despite White's argument, it wasn't always, or even often so. In too many places, urbanization was an act of desperation, started when ecosystems started being overburdened by climate changes, increased populations, breakdowns of water supplies, etc.
There could be, and have been, improvements in people's lives in the millennia since the advent of urbanization. There's potential for a lot more. But the notion that people who revert to earlier states become, inherently, coarser, and tend to become more violent and irrational, is not a viable argument. If the contagious xenophobia (transmitted by a being, Patient Tunneckis, who is not generally xenophobic either--but who has a (probably ignorant) fear of anybody who's not telepathic) does increase irrationality, it's not a reversion to a former state--it's a form of deafening of traits that remain, in abeyance. Which makes a cure more likely, once they stop being deafened.
The last chapter is the happy ending, in which White and a lot of his readers differ as to which is more perverse--a sharing of minds between people with no plans for sex, or sex between members of alien species. I personally don't have a problem with nonsexual relationships, even romantic ones. But mindsharing without sex could get a little complex, seems to me. Still, it'd probably be complex either way.
A cautionary note: If you see a James White book on sale, check to make sure that the last line is complete. It often seems to me that White came up with the last line first, and then wrote the books to find out how to get to that last line.
I should point out, by the way, that people tend to describe White as 'naive', and to imply that his pacifism has been outrun by subsequent events. This book was copyrighted in 1998, shortly before White's death, and is the penultimate book in a series that started in 1962. White was born in Northern Ireland, and though he lived other places, he lived in Northern Ireland during a substantial proportion of 'the Troubles'.
Far from being naive, he was deliberately creating an alternate narrative. He was a romantic optimist: he truly believed that the majority of people were kindly and sharing, if they could figure out how. Not saintly: White's heroes sweat and bleed (sometimes in odd ways, by human standards). Not saccharine. Nice people in a Muppety sort of way; sometimes sarcastic, often confused, and too often acting without thinking things through. The chatty, domestic Federation is a far cry from the 'gritty realism' of too many stories that ignore the beach for the granular.
And one of the reasons White created Sector General was to model another, more humane (? What would be the equivalent for this term in a multispecies society?), (MUCH) less militaristic solution for what ails us. As the short story "Accident" makes clear, Sector General is not on the sidelines of the Galactic Federation, despite its remote location. It's CRUCIAL to the stability of the Federation. So much so that the citizens, governments, and councils of the Federation devote a great deal of the resources of their planets and systems to often hideously expensive programs to help maintain the hospital and assist in their attempts to resolve medical mysteries.
That's general. Specifically, at the moment, I have the problem of picking out the older stories from their matrix. One major problem is that in this later format, the individual stories don't have titles, but only chapter numbers: and sometimes a story runs through several chapters. So I'm going to catalog the chapters in order of internal chronology. This time out, I've been reading it in that order, though it causes some continuity problems: So here's the printout:
I Chapter 4--starting very shortly after "Medic" from Hospital Station; Major Craythorne begins training o'Mara in his work as a (non-medical) psychologist, including attempts to sand down o'Mara's rough edges. Meantime, o'Mara tries to roughen a few of Craythorne's smooth ones. Sector General has, by this point, reached the point of interior furnishing; there are still workers painting, assembling, etc, but the library computer is up, and the elevators (intermittently) are working.
II Chapter 5--More of the previous chapter. It's a little odd that the widely-traveled o'Mara had never encountered Kelgians before. But he's always been a quick study: and his carefully cultivated acerbity makes him better able to be gallant toward Kelgian nurse trainees than to negotiate nonviolently with his former peers. The question is: can he get the nurses to their quarters without drawing blood? I like the question the nurses ask about what response is expected to a wolf-whistle. Not sure how it'd be answered, however.
III Chapter 8--o'Mara, informed that he has to join the Monitor Corps to stay on (since the staff will be all Monitors and medical civilians, and he's neither), argues that if he's forced to take orders from a moronic nominal superior, heads (and ranks) will be broken. Major Craythorne insists, but waives some of the indoctrination requirements. I like the fact that the tailor is a Melfan, who does tailoring as a hobby.
IV Chapter 9--The Educator Tape system is tried out at Sector General, after it's made clear that ets can't even do a slightly complex appendectomy on an Earth-human--and that Earth-humans can't manage to learn et anatomy well enough to operate, either. White had put the Educator tapes in in the first place, probably, to introduce psychological complications to the stories, and to help break down the barriers between members of different species (see, for example, 'Countercharm', which comes up later in the sequence). In this story, a new rationale is added, which probably developed during the development of the series. The problems with anatomical knowledge would leave Sector General only a set of isolated same-species hospitals in one large complex, and require complete surgical staffs for each species: which would result in an overstaffed hospital with a lot of bored doctors. Granting that 'Sector General is big, but not THAT big', I have to say that the hospital becomes chronically understaffed: but having to reserve surgery to same-species teams would result in too much staff, since some of the rarer species would come to the hospital only once or twice a year: so what should they do, make patients come with their own surgeons? Why come to Sector General at all, in that case?
In this section, o'Mara becomes the first test case for the Educator program. He comes through it all right, but he and Craythorne are forbidden to continue experimenting with the tapes on themselves, because they can't be objective advisers in such cases. But part of the point is that objectivity is overrated. And as we'll see, o'Mara breaks the taboo in a BIG way shortly thereafter.
V Chapter 11--One of the things that makes White's work so entertaining is the ability to see the potential of small things. Who else would have thought of the problem of snoring other-species colleagues as a major source of stress? I don't quite understand the 'hush fields' and how they differ from soundproofing, but it's true that people who work together have to be able to stand being in each others' neighborhood. o'Mara's solution is typically unorthodox--and explains a lot of features of Sector General that have puzzled people over the years. I should say at this point that Doctor Mannen is rarely mentioned in reviews, yet he remains a major figure right up as far as The Genocidal Healer, in which he's about two breaths from death. It was Mannen, by the way, who introduced the saying that feet of clay may be the best foundation for a balanced professional.
VI Chapter 12--The denouement of the previous chapter.
VII Chapter 13--Thornnastor is introduced, in early middle age. It's in trying to treat Thornnastor's problems with one of the Educator Tapes that o'Mara breaks the taboo about using the tapes on himself--and lies like a Kelgian about the consequences (ie he keeps quiet when he has something to say). In the process, he accidentally invents Diagnosticians, with Thornnastor as the test model.
IX Chapter 14--The surgery Thornnastor performed in his first stint as a Diagnostician reveals the potential advantage of multiple tapes, which compensates for the disadvantages at least enough for people with flexible, strong minds to be willing to keep up to ten of the tapes permanently installed.
X Chapter 15--o'Mara, as usual, is both censured and praised for his solutions: but doesn't tell anyone of his growing love for Marrasarah. In most cases this would be an impossible relationship, since most of the mind donors are fairly elderly when they make the tapes, and may very well be long dead. The fact that Marrasarah is still alive becomes an added complication. In this chapter, o'Mara, doing personnel mental health surveys, decides to investigate a pair of MSVK interns, whom he discovers have shacked up together, which helps explain why their work has become better, and worse, as they adjust their learning so they can stay together.
XI Chapter 16--o'Mara talks to the lovers, and is a little more honest than he meant to be. He receives advice in return, which he ponders. But in the meantime, he makes recommendations for changes in accommodations to allow for mating and children at the hospital. Which is interesting, because the earlier books made little or no mention of these aspects. Then he's ordered to take the first leave he's had since he came to Sector General.
XII Chapter 17--o'Mara sets out on a space cruise. Most of the rest of the passengers are a convention of madcap sword-and-sorcery fans.
XIII Chapter 18--o'Mara gets to know his fellow passengers, and learns to swim. I find the Kelgian objection that Arthurian lore is not compatible with Kelgian ways because Arthur would have been able to see the attraction between Lancelot and Guinevere less convincing than the perplexing question of how people who couldn't plausibly wield a sword could become sword-and-sorcery fans.
XIV Chapter 19--Continuing the tourist bit on Traltha.
XV Chapter 20--Outbound from Traltha, an accident occurs, which forces o'Mara and the recently graduated vet Joan to act to rescue people on the recreation deck, including some Tralthan honeymooners, who nearly drown. In the process, their Kelgian friend Kledenth is injured. (NB--when riding in a Melfan vessel, remember that the panic button is YELLOW).
XVI Chapter 21--After the stand-down from the emergency, o'Mara refuses to be reassured that Kledenth is all right. Using Marrasarah's knowledge, he's sure that Kledenth has been injured in a way that might render its fur less mobile--social death for a Kelgian.
XVII Chapter 22--o'Mara tries to keep from panicking Kledenth--but he can't conceal his worries. The crew (particularly the ship's doctor) don't take the problem seriously...but Kledenth (and, increasingly, Joan) are becoming more and more worried.
XVIII Chapter 23--o'Mara convinces Kledenth to allow Joan to perform surgery on its damaged circulatory system. It has to be Joan, with o'Mara directing, because o'Mara doesn't have the dexterity for surgery. But this fact is concealed, to protect the innocent, and the guilty, and the problematically involved bystanders. Joan is left out of the official story entirely.
XIX Chapter 24--o'Mara is subject to house arrest (cabin arrest?) awaiting a hearing about what he's done, after Kledenth is returned to Kelgia for follow-up treatment. During this period, his flirting relationship with Joan is consummated. Then they part, as o'Mara is invited to spend the rest of his vacation on Kelgia. Returning, he summarizes his trip: "I traveled a lot,...did some sightseeing, visited with a friend, had a whirlwind shipboard romance. You know, the usual kind of thing."
XX Chapter 25--this chapter is inching up on the 'present' first developed, in the early 1960s--the gap between the first chapter in Hospital Station and the second chapter is almost completely filled in in this chapter--though a lot is still left out.
XXI Chapter 26--Only the first half of this is still in reminiscent mode, and it creeps past the 'Hospital Station present', discussing things that happened to Conway and Murchison in their student days.
XXII Chapters 1-3--If you're reading the series in order, you get to the beginning of this book right after Final Diagnosis. Colonel Skempton is going into semi-retirement (he'll be advanced in rank, and work on Nidia, where he can play golf--though I'd think the Nidian golf courses would be a little inadequate, given how small Nidians are--and escape his crippling claustrophobia). The Federation Council, without consulting the parties involved, decides on a change in policy. The positions of chief psychologist will be merged with that of chief administrator, who will be a civilian, and medically trained. The first such administrator will be o'Mara, who is neither. But this is an extemporaneous appointment, since it will last only until o'Mara has selected and trained his successor. Then o'Mara will be forced into retirement.
One point that's worrisome in this volume is that it's revealed that the taboo against sexual harassment is not adequately enforced at Sector General. In this case, the Senior Tutor argues that IT is the victim of sexual harassment by a student. But this isn't a situation that should arrive, since there should be an absolute taboo against sexual relationships between teachers and students. I don't think, by the way, that the situation would be less serious if the parties are of the same species. I think it's the same degree of seriousness--and that it's more serious than it's treated as being.
XXXIII Chapters 6 and 7--coming out of reminiscence to the 'present day'--treating the 'present day' narrative as a framing narrative means that there's essentially a short story interspersed in and around earlier stories. White never did write true novels, really--ALL his work is episodic, but especially the Sector General stories. This episode deals with the arrival of the only stranger to qualify, and with the identification and first interviews of inhouse candidates. Doctor Cerdal is not familiar to readers, so the first interview helps flesh out the character.
XXXIV Last half of Chapter 26 through end of book--No Sector General story is complete without some sort of crisis. In this case, the story is reminiscent of the story "Survivor", from Sector General. But in this case, the evidence is that the survivor of a minor accident on the planet Kerm (a lightning strike which caused moderately toxic fumes, inflicting what seems to be telepathic deafness and muteness--note that White, who wasn't always up on current technical terminology, uses the term 'dumb', which has been abandoned because of implications of a lack of intelligence) is not actually telepathically mute--and that it's transmitting its xenophobic fears to others.
It wouldn't seem that the solution would be surgical--but this is Sector General, after all...
The secondary victims of the transmissions are (it says here) made less civilized. This is absurd. There's no evidence whatever that 'uncivilized' people have ever been less subtle, complex, or more xenophobic than 'civilized' people. Sometimes White recognizes this basic fact, but there's always a covert or overt 'despite'. The fact is that people's lives were made much worse starting with the beginning of 'civilization'. Not everywhere, but mostly, people were in worse physical and psychological shape than they had been in prehistoric times.
By the time of the Galactic Federation, it's argued that the problems brought into play by 'civilizations' have been largely resolved. But the underlying assumption that this had been a continuing progress is a false one. The majority of people's lives got a LOT worse for generations.
So why did people adopt civilization in the first place? In some cases it was an organic development. But despite White's argument, it wasn't always, or even often so. In too many places, urbanization was an act of desperation, started when ecosystems started being overburdened by climate changes, increased populations, breakdowns of water supplies, etc.
There could be, and have been, improvements in people's lives in the millennia since the advent of urbanization. There's potential for a lot more. But the notion that people who revert to earlier states become, inherently, coarser, and tend to become more violent and irrational, is not a viable argument. If the contagious xenophobia (transmitted by a being, Patient Tunneckis, who is not generally xenophobic either--but who has a (probably ignorant) fear of anybody who's not telepathic) does increase irrationality, it's not a reversion to a former state--it's a form of deafening of traits that remain, in abeyance. Which makes a cure more likely, once they stop being deafened.
The last chapter is the happy ending, in which White and a lot of his readers differ as to which is more perverse--a sharing of minds between people with no plans for sex, or sex between members of alien species. I personally don't have a problem with nonsexual relationships, even romantic ones. But mindsharing without sex could get a little complex, seems to me. Still, it'd probably be complex either way.
A cautionary note: If you see a James White book on sale, check to make sure that the last line is complete. It often seems to me that White came up with the last line first, and then wrote the books to find out how to get to that last line.
January 12, 2022
After reading all of this series and really enjoying it, this second to last book was kind of disappointing. It is a huge background tale of central character O'Mara, and how he became the person he was. I think I missed the action of the previous stories, although there was some, just not...
April 14, 2018
I loved this novel! What an original approach to sci fi -- setting a story in a multi-species hospital ship, the largest and the best in the galaxy, and then following the characters that provide the medical, psychological, and administrative services there. I was saddened to learn, when I looked up James White, that he passed in 1999, just a year after publishing Mind Changer. But he has a large body of work, including 10 other novels in the Sector General series.
Sector General is the name of the gigantic multi-species hospital located at the edge of the galaxy. Chief Psychologist O'Mara has served for the last 3 decades aboard, treating all in need and leading the Psychology Department. At the beginning of this novel, O'Mara learns that he is to take over the Hospital Administrator position while remaining Chief Psychologist but only as long as it takes him to search for and hire his successor. This change in his status prompts O'Mara to remember his first experiences as a psychologist "without medical training," a natural healer of the mind who began as a construction worker helping to build the hospital. The reader follows his experiences which show how he developed his "devious" but effective ways of treating psychological and emotional disturbance of any species, and the development of his "nasty" personality. He's definitely one who does not suffer fools gladly, but an original thinker unafraid of putting his own mind and life at risk to solve the most intractable problems he finds. There is an unexpectedly moving subplot about an educator tape that he impresses into his mind secretly and where that one action leads him in his life. The ending of this book took my breath away for its complete surprise.
White does an excellent job of world building here -- I realize that he'd been working on this world in 10 previous stories -- and creating unusual and interesting non-human species, not all of whom dwell on M class planets or breathe oxygen. He treats each with respect and compassion, giving them real lives and real issues consistent with their forms. O'Mara's biggest challenge is figuring out the lives of these other species and what affects their psyches so he can treat them. As a character, White accomplishes the tricky tightrope walk of making him both likeable and unlikeable. O'Mara has his own issues and flaws, and is not a shining hero by any means -- he leaves that role to his capable, handsome, and exceedingly nice and diplomatic Lieutenant. But he shows what can be accomplished by using the imagination when faced with something strange and seemingly impossible.
The structure of this novel was a bit different because White moves the narrative back and forth in time. What does O'Mara want? He wants to accomplish the goal given him by the out-going Administrator -- at least that's what he wants to do in order to achieve what he really wants, a goal that is not named until close to the end, but White plays fair with the reader by giving both large and small clues to it throughout. It left me with an interesting question: Is mental or psychological intimacy deeper than physical? And is love and affection more a psychological experience than an emotional one? So much emphasis nowadays on physical intimacy without much depth made me appreciate White's story here and the questions it raises in a thinking mind. When physical love between species is impossible, is love still possible to the same or greater depth by the intertwining of minds? White introduces the reader to some interesting and unique individuals that happen to be members of non-human species, and he does a good job of giving them unique personalities and a realness that gives his questions resonance.
This was my first experience with James White's work, and I look forward to enjoying more Sector General stories in the future. I'd highly recommend this novel to sci fi readers, readers interested in medicine and psychology. If I can hook at least one other reader on this author, I'll be very happy!
Sector General is the name of the gigantic multi-species hospital located at the edge of the galaxy. Chief Psychologist O'Mara has served for the last 3 decades aboard, treating all in need and leading the Psychology Department. At the beginning of this novel, O'Mara learns that he is to take over the Hospital Administrator position while remaining Chief Psychologist but only as long as it takes him to search for and hire his successor. This change in his status prompts O'Mara to remember his first experiences as a psychologist "without medical training," a natural healer of the mind who began as a construction worker helping to build the hospital. The reader follows his experiences which show how he developed his "devious" but effective ways of treating psychological and emotional disturbance of any species, and the development of his "nasty" personality. He's definitely one who does not suffer fools gladly, but an original thinker unafraid of putting his own mind and life at risk to solve the most intractable problems he finds. There is an unexpectedly moving subplot about an educator tape that he impresses into his mind secretly and where that one action leads him in his life. The ending of this book took my breath away for its complete surprise.
White does an excellent job of world building here -- I realize that he'd been working on this world in 10 previous stories -- and creating unusual and interesting non-human species, not all of whom dwell on M class planets or breathe oxygen. He treats each with respect and compassion, giving them real lives and real issues consistent with their forms. O'Mara's biggest challenge is figuring out the lives of these other species and what affects their psyches so he can treat them. As a character, White accomplishes the tricky tightrope walk of making him both likeable and unlikeable. O'Mara has his own issues and flaws, and is not a shining hero by any means -- he leaves that role to his capable, handsome, and exceedingly nice and diplomatic Lieutenant. But he shows what can be accomplished by using the imagination when faced with something strange and seemingly impossible.
The structure of this novel was a bit different because White moves the narrative back and forth in time. What does O'Mara want? He wants to accomplish the goal given him by the out-going Administrator -- at least that's what he wants to do in order to achieve what he really wants, a goal that is not named until close to the end, but White plays fair with the reader by giving both large and small clues to it throughout. It left me with an interesting question: Is mental or psychological intimacy deeper than physical? And is love and affection more a psychological experience than an emotional one? So much emphasis nowadays on physical intimacy without much depth made me appreciate White's story here and the questions it raises in a thinking mind. When physical love between species is impossible, is love still possible to the same or greater depth by the intertwining of minds? White introduces the reader to some interesting and unique individuals that happen to be members of non-human species, and he does a good job of giving them unique personalities and a realness that gives his questions resonance.
This was my first experience with James White's work, and I look forward to enjoying more Sector General stories in the future. I'd highly recommend this novel to sci fi readers, readers interested in medicine and psychology. If I can hook at least one other reader on this author, I'll be very happy!
June 17, 2020
3.5*
This penultimate book in the Sector General series focuses on O'Mara, who was the main character in the first book of the series. I was glad to learn more about him though The story is told in alternating sections of present day and flashbacks to the early days of the hospital.
This penultimate book in the Sector General series focuses on O'Mara, who was the main character in the first book of the series. I was glad to learn more about him though The story is told in alternating sections of present day and flashbacks to the early days of the hospital.
January 6, 2026
I put a hold on the library’s one solitary last old copy (*sob*) without reading the description and so was delighted to find O’Mara the focus again. Much older now, and with flashbacks that explain some things, let me tell you.
That these stories are of their time bothers me almost not at all. Are the psychologists practicing according to current professional standards? Absofuckinglutely not. Especially in this installment. Even the general dearth of human women—and mentions of their wobbly chest bits—doesn’t bother me: Almost always, those mentions are about how grotesque an alien finds them, or imbalanced, or how the alien realizes that it (the human female) very likely embodies what nightmarish human males find attractive. As happens in this installment.
In other words, it’s often funny and to my reading never comes across as dismissive or objectifying from the authorial perspective. Murchison—whose pulchritude comes up in the Conway-focused books—is an authority in her own right, advancing to a high level over the series though never the focus. And here the Joan entity has her own professional triumph.
White strikes me as the kind of dude writing in the 60s who would, had he been transported into our time, readily grasped that he could write more women characters. I still think he’d have included plenty of the physical jokes, because aliens talking about the disgustingness of their friends’ and colleagues’ mating habits *is* funny. And when a diagnostician takes a, say, insectile educator tape that makes him see his human fiancé as grossly squishy and alarmingly top-heavy, that too amuses me. Especially as he tries to hide his disgust.
That’s not this story, however. Here, White disentangles lust from falling in love, and how that might affect someone working in a multi-species environment. Unexpectedly interesting.
The only aliens+commentary on human form moment that *does* bother me is one where an alien refers to O’Mara’s lack of midsection adipose tissue. It’s fatphobic and sad and also not one whit worse than what crops up today. Sadly.
In any case, O’Mara’s physicality is a topic for other, more interesting reasons. We hear more about how his large frame and musculature has caused mentors, peers, and bystanders alike to assume he is stupid and possibly violent. Certainly unsuited to medicine in general, much less psychology. And how that has affected him over the decades.
The present-day medical crisis is one that allows White to show the harm of xenophobic fear, not just institutionally and for social groups and for those targeted but also for those harboring the xenophobia. The case sees Conway and Thornnastor declaring rare failure and Braithwaite stepping up and everybody agreeing that individual patients will not be used as tools for the greater good. I love it.
And then. That ending. It’s wild. Bittersweet. Kind of crazy. Weirdly apt. One more installment and then I get to re-read. This time in order, from the beginning.
That these stories are of their time bothers me almost not at all. Are the psychologists practicing according to current professional standards? Absofuckinglutely not. Especially in this installment. Even the general dearth of human women—and mentions of their wobbly chest bits—doesn’t bother me: Almost always, those mentions are about how grotesque an alien finds them, or imbalanced, or how the alien realizes that it (the human female) very likely embodies what nightmarish human males find attractive. As happens in this installment.
In other words, it’s often funny and to my reading never comes across as dismissive or objectifying from the authorial perspective. Murchison—whose pulchritude comes up in the Conway-focused books—is an authority in her own right, advancing to a high level over the series though never the focus. And here the Joan entity has her own professional triumph.
White strikes me as the kind of dude writing in the 60s who would, had he been transported into our time, readily grasped that he could write more women characters. I still think he’d have included plenty of the physical jokes, because aliens talking about the disgustingness of their friends’ and colleagues’ mating habits *is* funny. And when a diagnostician takes a, say, insectile educator tape that makes him see his human fiancé as grossly squishy and alarmingly top-heavy, that too amuses me. Especially as he tries to hide his disgust.
That’s not this story, however. Here, White disentangles lust from falling in love, and how that might affect someone working in a multi-species environment. Unexpectedly interesting.
The only aliens+commentary on human form moment that *does* bother me is one where an alien refers to O’Mara’s lack of midsection adipose tissue. It’s fatphobic and sad and also not one whit worse than what crops up today. Sadly.
In any case, O’Mara’s physicality is a topic for other, more interesting reasons. We hear more about how his large frame and musculature has caused mentors, peers, and bystanders alike to assume he is stupid and possibly violent. Certainly unsuited to medicine in general, much less psychology. And how that has affected him over the decades.
The present-day medical crisis is one that allows White to show the harm of xenophobic fear, not just institutionally and for social groups and for those targeted but also for those harboring the xenophobia. The case sees Conway and Thornnastor declaring rare failure and Braithwaite stepping up and everybody agreeing that individual patients will not be used as tools for the greater good. I love it.
And then. That ending. It’s wild. Bittersweet. Kind of crazy. Weirdly apt. One more installment and then I get to re-read. This time in order, from the beginning.
February 12, 2022
Ein wenig Bammel hatte ich schon nach so langer Zeit wieder Orbit Hospital bzw. Sector General, wie es auf englisch heißt, zu lesen. Würde es mir denn noch gefallen, oder käme ich zu einem "DAS hat mir mal gefallen?!" Um es gleich zu beantworten: noch gut? Ein grosses "Ja!", obwohl es am Anfang tatsächlich nach einem "Nein" ausgeschaut hat.
Ich weiss nicht mehr genau wann ich auf die Orbit Hospital Bücher aufmerksam geworden bin. Ich schätze mal es war zu meiner großen Bücher-Wühltisch-Phase, als Bücher-Wühltische neu und aufregend waren. Ich kann mal in meine alten Heyne-Ausgaben nach dem deutschen Veröffentlichungsdatum schauen, weil ich meine auf die letzteren Bände gewartet zu haben, sprich ich hatte sie dann und nicht später, aber ganz sicher bin ich mir nicht. Auf jeden Fall kenn ich Orbit Hospital schon sehr lange und als Fan von Science Fiction sowie von Arztserien ist Orbit Hospital natürlich genau meins gewesen damals. Alle Bücher spielen eben auf einer riesigen Krankenhaus-Raumstation auf der die unterschiedlichsten Wesen behandelt werden und auf der immer wieder erkundet werden muss wie absolut NICHT humanoide Lebewesen notbehandelt werden können. Das hat mir damals sehr grossen Spaß gemacht. Ich habe alle auf deutsch erschienenen Bücher gelesen und erst Jahre später erfahren, dass es die zwei letzten Bände nie nach Deutschland geschafft hatten. Und wieder Jahre später, jetzt im Jahr 2019 habe ich sie nun tatsächlich nachgekauft.
Viel Zeit also dazwischen um zu vergessen und nur noch die Grundstruktur im Gedächtnis zu haben.
Da ist es nicht von Vorteil, dass dieser Band nicht wirklich von einem neuen spannenden Diagnosefall handelt, sonder um die Vor- und gewissermaßen Nachgeschichte (er geht in Rente) des ruppigen Chef-Psychologen Major O’Mara. Meine Erinnerung an ihn war mehr als vage und damit auch mein Interesse.
„Schön zu lernen, wie diese Person mal zum Orbit Hospital gekommen ist, aber können wir jetzt weitermachen?“
Nein, können wir nicht und das ist auch gut so, denn was James White hier letztlich für einen herrlich vielschichtigen Charakter zeichnet ist jede Aufmerksamkeit auf ihn Wert und hat mich nach anfänglichem Zweifel vollends überzeugt.
Ja, ganz nebenbei ist es am Ende sogar eine spezies-übergreifende Liebesgeschichte. White ist ganz deutlich der Meinung, dass sexuelle Anziehung zwischen völlig unterschiedlichen Spezies (und das sind alle im Orbit Hospital Universum) nicht existieren kann. (Hat er damit Recht? 100%ig ist nichts, aber tendenziell sicher.) Doch diese Liebe ist absolut glaubhaft, unprätentiös und unschmalzig geistiger Natur und offenbart sich erst wirklich ganz am Ende, aber da mit einem wunderschönen „wumps“.
Fazit: Ein Wiedersehn nach langer Zeit, das sich gelohnt hat. Ein weiteres wird es noch geben und ich freue mich darauf.
Ich weiss nicht mehr genau wann ich auf die Orbit Hospital Bücher aufmerksam geworden bin. Ich schätze mal es war zu meiner großen Bücher-Wühltisch-Phase, als Bücher-Wühltische neu und aufregend waren. Ich kann mal in meine alten Heyne-Ausgaben nach dem deutschen Veröffentlichungsdatum schauen, weil ich meine auf die letzteren Bände gewartet zu haben, sprich ich hatte sie dann und nicht später, aber ganz sicher bin ich mir nicht. Auf jeden Fall kenn ich Orbit Hospital schon sehr lange und als Fan von Science Fiction sowie von Arztserien ist Orbit Hospital natürlich genau meins gewesen damals. Alle Bücher spielen eben auf einer riesigen Krankenhaus-Raumstation auf der die unterschiedlichsten Wesen behandelt werden und auf der immer wieder erkundet werden muss wie absolut NICHT humanoide Lebewesen notbehandelt werden können. Das hat mir damals sehr grossen Spaß gemacht. Ich habe alle auf deutsch erschienenen Bücher gelesen und erst Jahre später erfahren, dass es die zwei letzten Bände nie nach Deutschland geschafft hatten. Und wieder Jahre später, jetzt im Jahr 2019 habe ich sie nun tatsächlich nachgekauft.
Viel Zeit also dazwischen um zu vergessen und nur noch die Grundstruktur im Gedächtnis zu haben.
Da ist es nicht von Vorteil, dass dieser Band nicht wirklich von einem neuen spannenden Diagnosefall handelt, sonder um die Vor- und gewissermaßen Nachgeschichte (er geht in Rente) des ruppigen Chef-Psychologen Major O’Mara. Meine Erinnerung an ihn war mehr als vage und damit auch mein Interesse.
„Schön zu lernen, wie diese Person mal zum Orbit Hospital gekommen ist, aber können wir jetzt weitermachen?“
Nein, können wir nicht und das ist auch gut so, denn was James White hier letztlich für einen herrlich vielschichtigen Charakter zeichnet ist jede Aufmerksamkeit auf ihn Wert und hat mich nach anfänglichem Zweifel vollends überzeugt.
Ja, ganz nebenbei ist es am Ende sogar eine spezies-übergreifende Liebesgeschichte. White ist ganz deutlich der Meinung, dass sexuelle Anziehung zwischen völlig unterschiedlichen Spezies (und das sind alle im Orbit Hospital Universum) nicht existieren kann. (Hat er damit Recht? 100%ig ist nichts, aber tendenziell sicher.) Doch diese Liebe ist absolut glaubhaft, unprätentiös und unschmalzig geistiger Natur und offenbart sich erst wirklich ganz am Ende, aber da mit einem wunderschönen „wumps“.
Fazit: Ein Wiedersehn nach langer Zeit, das sich gelohnt hat. Ein weiteres wird es noch geben und ich freue mich darauf.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 11, 2022
White, James. Mind Changer. Sector General No. 11. Tor, 1998.
James White’s Sector General novels are always entertaining, and Mind Changer is no exception. The multispecies medical center at the edge of the galaxy is thrown into crisis when chief psychologist O’Hara is promoted to temporary hospital head. Will his fear-based leadership style work, or will we get to see a kinder, gentler O’Hara? Meanwhile, the medical staff is having problems treating a telepathic patient who broadcasts infectious anxiety and xenophobia. If you can forgive White for his mid-twentieth attitudes toward gender and his assumption that most humans in the far-future are Irish, you will enjoy all the Sector General stories. 4 stars.
James White’s Sector General novels are always entertaining, and Mind Changer is no exception. The multispecies medical center at the edge of the galaxy is thrown into crisis when chief psychologist O’Hara is promoted to temporary hospital head. Will his fear-based leadership style work, or will we get to see a kinder, gentler O’Hara? Meanwhile, the medical staff is having problems treating a telepathic patient who broadcasts infectious anxiety and xenophobia. If you can forgive White for his mid-twentieth attitudes toward gender and his assumption that most humans in the far-future are Irish, you will enjoy all the Sector General stories. 4 stars.
November 30, 2023
I LOVE this book. Definitely my favorite of all the books. I'm a shameless backstory person, and as this whole book was mostly O'Mara backstory, I was :D the entire time. And what wonderful backstory it was!
love this book. love this entire series.
love this book. love this entire series.
February 8, 2025
Some good stuff (the beginnings of the hospital). Explanation of why O'Mara is such an obnoxious git--which amuses me: was White made aware that the character he thought was amusingly curmudgeonly hits as unamusingly unpleasant and shoved in a backstory to show that he's really Not That Awful? because there's a lot of tedious wankery around his abandoned attempts to Be A Nice Guy.
Actually, I started reading this two months ago and dropped it for several other reads; parts of it were okay, but it honestly didn't keep me that interested.
Actually, I started reading this two months ago and dropped it for several other reads; parts of it were okay, but it honestly didn't keep me that interested.
October 25, 2019
Not my favorite. It felt choppier than earlier stories. But perhaps it was my dislike of the psychologists as magicians-- pulling rabbits out of hats to solve problems. However, the ending redeemed my lingering annoyance. Recommended if you like Sector General but not as your introduction to the series/world.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 22, 2017
I liked the backstory format better than the usual loosely connected series of stories. And loved the ending.
April 6, 2022
One of the best in the series.
June 8, 2024
★★★★☆
May 1, 2011
I enjoy James White's Sector General stories for the feel-good world building in them; doctors save the day, many species work together for the betterment of the galaxy, the Monitor Corp (the military) is universally respected and competent. White's world-building is naive by today's standards, but is enchanting.
One of my favorite characters in the series is O'Mara, a harsh, hulking giant of a man who is brilliant and genuinely kind hearted even if he's rough around the edges. He's a multi-species psychologist and very good at his job; over the course of the series he's been both foil and aide. He's hard to like, but that just makes liking him more worthwhile. What he's rarely been is the main character.
This book is all about O'Mara's early career at Sector General, and then many years later his retirement from it. What this book REALLY is all about is a love story, and a shocking one at that. James White in his friendly, jovial writing style introduces a story line that would have many publishers today squeamish: O'Mara's life long beloved is a multi-armed caterpillar creature of questionable gender (although it is called a "she" for most of the book, there is no way to know for sure, as her sexuality is so far removed from human).
I'll be clear: there is no inter-species sex. And quite frankly, that makes this story all the more remarkable, as White was not going for the prurient, kinky side of the story. This is a genuine love story, spanning decades as O'Mara first falls for the strange alien doctor and then slowly builds a relationship with her. The meeting of their minds is beautiful as they overcome their own limitations, and the end of the story where O'Mara retires and can finally move to her world and be with his one true beloved had me in tears of joy.
Tentacle porn is practically a trope, it is so common. "Sex with aliens" is hardly new or even exciting in the sf scene. What White did, though, is astounding: he wrote a human/alien love story that is truly, genuinely about the love between the characters. I adore this book,and I will never read O'Mara the same way again.
One of my favorite characters in the series is O'Mara, a harsh, hulking giant of a man who is brilliant and genuinely kind hearted even if he's rough around the edges. He's a multi-species psychologist and very good at his job; over the course of the series he's been both foil and aide. He's hard to like, but that just makes liking him more worthwhile. What he's rarely been is the main character.
This book is all about O'Mara's early career at Sector General, and then many years later his retirement from it. What this book REALLY is all about is a love story, and a shocking one at that. James White in his friendly, jovial writing style introduces a story line that would have many publishers today squeamish: O'Mara's life long beloved is a multi-armed caterpillar creature of questionable gender (although it is called a "she" for most of the book, there is no way to know for sure, as her sexuality is so far removed from human).
I'll be clear: there is no inter-species sex. And quite frankly, that makes this story all the more remarkable, as White was not going for the prurient, kinky side of the story. This is a genuine love story, spanning decades as O'Mara first falls for the strange alien doctor and then slowly builds a relationship with her. The meeting of their minds is beautiful as they overcome their own limitations, and the end of the story where O'Mara retires and can finally move to her world and be with his one true beloved had me in tears of joy.
Tentacle porn is practically a trope, it is so common. "Sex with aliens" is hardly new or even exciting in the sf scene. What White did, though, is astounding: he wrote a human/alien love story that is truly, genuinely about the love between the characters. I adore this book,and I will never read O'Mara the same way again.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 10, 2010
This seems to be one of the last of this series, and so it isn't really fair to be reading it having only read a couple of the others, but what the hell. White takes a possibly risky decision, in that the book is about the retirement of one of his most entertaining characters, and the search for a replacement for his job. The risk is two-fold - a book about filling a job doesn't exactly sound inspiring, and the lead character is one whose main role in previous books has been to be acerbic, unapproachable and aloof. White manages to sidestep both of these problems by coming up with some interesting alien/medical problems for the candidates to solve, and by giving us some insight into the workings of the retiree's mind. The ending is really rather touching (and I haven't read most of the books, so am less attached to the characters than I might be), so something must be working here. It probably isn't the prose, which is solid but unsentimental, and the plot is really just a series of incidents strung together, but nevertheless, it's all well done, and the final reveal is well managed.
February 26, 2025
Full circle. The reader meets O'Mara in book one and says goodbye to him in this book. It feels like it should be the last book in the series. We have total closure, we even meet Padre Carmody before he died. All the blanks are filled in and there is nothing left to wish for...so why is there another book.
It's where human and alien medicine a massive hospital space station on the Galactic Rim, with 384 levels and a multispecies staff of thousands.
In the course of practicing deep-space medicine, that staff has seen more than its share of challenges--from plagues caused by cafeteria food, to cafeteria food that resembles alien species. But now they are facing a disquieting new the terrifying Chief Psychologist, Dr. O'Mara, has been promoted to head of the hospital.
Worse, he's been given the job on a temporary basis, for just as long as it takes to train his own replacement. After that, he is up for mandatory retirement. Nobody at Sector General can begin to imagine what they'll do without him--assuming they last long enough to find out.
It's where human and alien medicine a massive hospital space station on the Galactic Rim, with 384 levels and a multispecies staff of thousands.
In the course of practicing deep-space medicine, that staff has seen more than its share of challenges--from plagues caused by cafeteria food, to cafeteria food that resembles alien species. But now they are facing a disquieting new the terrifying Chief Psychologist, Dr. O'Mara, has been promoted to head of the hospital.
Worse, he's been given the job on a temporary basis, for just as long as it takes to train his own replacement. After that, he is up for mandatory retirement. Nobody at Sector General can begin to imagine what they'll do without him--assuming they last long enough to find out.
April 14, 2012
I LOVE this book. Definitely my favorite of all the books. I'm a shameless backstory person, and as this whole book was mostly O'Mara backstory, I was :D the entire time. And what wonderful backstory it was!
love this book. love this entire series.
love this book. love this entire series.
November 3, 2025
O'Mara's Story
The Chief Psychologist of Sector General gets a promotion to Chief Administrator, too. It comes with an order to pick his successor and then retire. O'Mara reflects on his thirty years at Sector General while considering the applicants to replace him. Meanwhile, a new species patient becomes the center of a danger to the entire hospital.
O'Mara's tale is touching. His coming to the hospital, becoming a psychologist, and implementing hospital policy are commendable. I can see myself rereading this volume happily in the future.
The Chief Psychologist of Sector General gets a promotion to Chief Administrator, too. It comes with an order to pick his successor and then retire. O'Mara reflects on his thirty years at Sector General while considering the applicants to replace him. Meanwhile, a new species patient becomes the center of a danger to the entire hospital.
O'Mara's tale is touching. His coming to the hospital, becoming a psychologist, and implementing hospital policy are commendable. I can see myself rereading this volume happily in the future.
August 20, 2007
This second to last story in the sector general series is clearly beginning to wrap up the series by showing more background information on omara as well as phasing out some of the more important characters. Overall I really liked the motivation behind the chief psychologists behavior in the prior 10 books which is only exposed now. If that was what James white had been thinking all along, what an amazing amount of restraint he showing in not ever giving it away...
July 20, 2019
The story circles back to O'Mara, who was at Sector General during its construction, just in time for his retirement. He has to choose and train his replacement first, of course. This book gives you a whole lot more insight into his history and personality, which I at times found a bit disappointing, but mostly interesting. It explains much.
November 1, 2012
This was a very intriguing book. I will now have to check out more of the Sector General series.
February 28, 2014
I always like the Sector General novels, futuristic xeno medicine at it's best. Classic Sci-Fi by one of the best.
January 22, 2016
Science fiction at its finest - the Sector General is a hospital in the stars with all sorts of alien doctors and patients. This is number 11 on my list, but seems to be 13 on Amazon.
December 15, 2023
Major O'Mara is the chief psychologist at Sector General. And he is being forced to retire. This is the story of his life at Sector General.
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