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A review by ketsu_onyo
Jedi Healer by Steve Perry, Michael Reaves
4.0
I bought this book series on google play books, and my opinions are my own.
I really wish there were more of the MedStar series. These two books have been one of the most original explorations of The Clone Wars in specific and Star Wars in general save the Republic Commando series.
And just as that series had its glorious flaws, such as the author not being informed of key plot points that might have helped better develop the story and enrich the characters, so too does the Medstar series have its own.
Among them are some of the relationships between the characters and dangling plot threads for sequels never written. For that, one demerit, but only one. After all, we have to consider the source material, and its long list of now non-canon fiction written to fill gaps in the plot of the movies to begin with.
Also, if you've come for Barris, there's plenty of story that enriches her journey, but doesn't extend or end it.
In fact, the MC here is an original, well thought out Corellian surgeon with a palladium scalpel named Jos Varnar, and Barriss Offee often takes a passenger seat to his driving of the plot. With his sassy quips and razor-sharp wits that are dulled only by the complete exhaustion that befalls everyone in this Rimsoo, or R*M*S*U, Jos has been conscripted like everyone else to help fight a war he doesn't believe in. Rather than completely shame and exile himself from his Corellian family by conscientiously objecting and running off, he finds himself constantly overworked, understaffed, and undersupplied in a conflict over a planet where a panacea grows.
The plant called bota adapts to any species' biology and cures every wound, disease, or mental illness it comes across. It's an invaluable resource in the war no matter what side you're on. And so both the Republic and the Confederacy are eagerly, desperately trying to lay claim to the entire supply, or at least prevent the other from gaining access to it. And they aren't the only ones. Black Sun has quite a large stake in the endeavor as well, and has its own agents stirring the pot to a frothing boil.
Jos is understandably lonely for both home and romance. But he is also forced to choose between a boring, loveless marriage at home on Corellia with the prescribed successful practice, kids, and well-respected family or a relationship with one of the many beautiful non-Corellian women he has met out here in the galaxy. Sex, let alone marriage, with a non-Corellian is verboten by his society. If he does mess up and sleep with one from time to time, well, it's acceptable, understandable, even, as long as he doesn't talk about it or bring any of them home. That would be a scandal to ruin his family's good name, and force him back off-planet to make his own way. But Jos is also the sort who knows himself well enough to realize he couldn't just engage in rando hookups. He wants more, a lot more, and it's making him absolutely miserable.
And that's where my one star for problematic relationships starts to come in: clearly, in the first novel, Jos is romantically and sexually attracted to Barris, a gorgeous, mysterious young woman whose curious, benevolent nature hides the iron will and discipline of a highly regarded Jedi padawan. But he is also attracted to his nurse, another gorgeous young Lorrdian woman named Tolk Le Trene (yes, seriously), who has the near-human species' ability to read emotion through body language. And it just so happens she's particularly attuned to Jos's. Well, of course she is, he's her superior officer and he chooses her more often than not to assist him in delicate surgeries.
We really never get to know much more than that about her, although the MC's character progression is mainly fueled by his inner conflicts about Tolk, as well as various other characters like the droid medical assistant I-Five (groan). The reprogrammed protocol droid is military property, like a weapon or a crate of bandages. But his sarcasm betrays a far-deeper self-awareness than any droid Jos ever known. If he's actually sentient, then Jos can no longer ignore the intrinsic suffering of the clone soldiers he operates on daily. Yet to do so would open Jos up to the actual true horror of their situation.
Sadly, although these issues are mainly resolved by the beginning of the first novel, we don't really get to know any of the other protagonists beyond snappy one-liners, gallows humor for the soon to be deceased.
We do get pretty full characterization of some of the villains, such as the spy, the crooked Admiral, the assassin, and the vague Sithiness that is the martial arts instructor.
And that fills a great many gaps in my like column for these stories. Too often, we see cardboard cutout villains that are practically clones of Darth Sidious, Darth Maul, or Darth Vader, whether it's in a Star Wars novel or other fiction. So I didn't take another star away when the journalist, a rather charming Sullustan named Den Dhurr, fails some pretty big morality checks for the sake of not spoiling the plot and perpetuating the myth of his conscienceless avarice for the story, a being that will do anything to see it to its end.
It wouldn't be the first time in Star Wars or other stories that we are left wondering why characters are blind to easy solutions, and others pay the price for their self-centeredness as they pat themselves on the back for neatly avoiding becoming a known villain to the friends he values. I liked Den a lot, but like the chorus in a Greek tragedy, we the readers are left to bemoan the irony of the characters' actions.
Other things I really liked about the books were the attention to detail in terms of scientific and medical realities, and metaphor. If I see one more Star Wars story where any one of the characters refers to the bathroom instead of the 'fresher, I will personally track down the editor and give them a good finger-wagging. These writers really put some though into the metaphors the characters would use, the literature they'd refer to, the morality lessons given by professors, Jedi Masters, and deities. The glimpse into Sullastan domesticity was also quite interesting, as well as the extrapolation of Corellian social norms.
Overall, this is a fine and thoughtful addition to the Star Wars universe, and it's a real shame it has been relegated to "Legends" status. There are plenty of books and comics that predate this one and really belong there (New Jedi Order, I'm looking at you!), but this is not one of them.
I really wish there were more of the MedStar series. These two books have been one of the most original explorations of The Clone Wars in specific and Star Wars in general save the Republic Commando series.
And just as that series had its glorious flaws, such as the author not being informed of key plot points that might have helped better develop the story and enrich the characters, so too does the Medstar series have its own.
Among them are some of the relationships between the characters and dangling plot threads for sequels never written. For that, one demerit, but only one. After all, we have to consider the source material, and its long list of now non-canon fiction written to fill gaps in the plot of the movies to begin with.
Also, if you've come for Barris, there's plenty of story that enriches her journey, but doesn't extend or end it.
In fact, the MC here is an original, well thought out Corellian surgeon with a palladium scalpel named Jos Varnar, and Barriss Offee often takes a passenger seat to his driving of the plot. With his sassy quips and razor-sharp wits that are dulled only by the complete exhaustion that befalls everyone in this Rimsoo, or R*M*S*U, Jos has been conscripted like everyone else to help fight a war he doesn't believe in. Rather than completely shame and exile himself from his Corellian family by conscientiously objecting and running off, he finds himself constantly overworked, understaffed, and undersupplied in a conflict over a planet where a panacea grows.
The plant called bota adapts to any species' biology and cures every wound, disease, or mental illness it comes across. It's an invaluable resource in the war no matter what side you're on. And so both the Republic and the Confederacy are eagerly, desperately trying to lay claim to the entire supply, or at least prevent the other from gaining access to it. And they aren't the only ones. Black Sun has quite a large stake in the endeavor as well, and has its own agents stirring the pot to a frothing boil.
Jos is understandably lonely for both home and romance. But he is also forced to choose between a boring, loveless marriage at home on Corellia with the prescribed successful practice, kids, and well-respected family or a relationship with one of the many beautiful non-Corellian women he has met out here in the galaxy. Sex, let alone marriage, with a non-Corellian is verboten by his society. If he does mess up and sleep with one from time to time, well, it's acceptable, understandable, even, as long as he doesn't talk about it or bring any of them home. That would be a scandal to ruin his family's good name, and force him back off-planet to make his own way. But Jos is also the sort who knows himself well enough to realize he couldn't just engage in rando hookups. He wants more, a lot more, and it's making him absolutely miserable.
And that's where my one star for problematic relationships starts to come in: clearly, in the first novel, Jos is romantically and sexually attracted to Barris, a gorgeous, mysterious young woman whose curious, benevolent nature hides the iron will and discipline of a highly regarded Jedi padawan. But he is also attracted to his nurse, another gorgeous young Lorrdian woman named Tolk Le Trene (yes, seriously), who has the near-human species' ability to read emotion through body language. And it just so happens she's particularly attuned to Jos's. Well, of course she is, he's her superior officer and he chooses her more often than not to assist him in delicate surgeries.
We really never get to know much more than that about her, although the MC's character progression is mainly fueled by his inner conflicts about Tolk, as well as various other characters like the droid medical assistant I-Five (groan). The reprogrammed protocol droid is military property, like a weapon or a crate of bandages. But his sarcasm betrays a far-deeper self-awareness than any droid Jos ever known. If he's actually sentient, then Jos can no longer ignore the intrinsic suffering of the clone soldiers he operates on daily. Yet to do so would open Jos up to the actual true horror of their situation.
Sadly, although these issues are mainly resolved by the beginning of the first novel, we don't really get to know any of the other protagonists beyond snappy one-liners, gallows humor for the soon to be deceased.
We do get pretty full characterization of some of the villains, such as the spy, the crooked Admiral, the assassin, and the vague Sithiness that is the martial arts instructor.
And that fills a great many gaps in my like column for these stories. Too often, we see cardboard cutout villains that are practically clones of Darth Sidious, Darth Maul, or Darth Vader, whether it's in a Star Wars novel or other fiction. So I didn't take another star away when the journalist, a rather charming Sullustan named Den Dhurr, fails some pretty big morality checks for the sake of not spoiling the plot and perpetuating the myth of his conscienceless avarice for the story, a being that will do anything to see it to its end.
It wouldn't be the first time in Star Wars or other stories that we are left wondering why characters are blind to easy solutions, and others pay the price for their self-centeredness as they pat themselves on the back for neatly avoiding becoming a known villain to the friends he values. I liked Den a lot, but like the chorus in a Greek tragedy, we the readers are left to bemoan the irony of the characters' actions.
Other things I really liked about the books were the attention to detail in terms of scientific and medical realities, and metaphor. If I see one more Star Wars story where any one of the characters refers to the bathroom instead of the 'fresher, I will personally track down the editor and give them a good finger-wagging. These writers really put some though into the metaphors the characters would use, the literature they'd refer to, the morality lessons given by professors, Jedi Masters, and deities. The glimpse into Sullastan domesticity was also quite interesting, as well as the extrapolation of Corellian social norms.
Overall, this is a fine and thoughtful addition to the Star Wars universe, and it's a real shame it has been relegated to "Legends" status. There are plenty of books and comics that predate this one and really belong there (New Jedi Order, I'm looking at you!), but this is not one of them.