8. Beginning Operations (A Sector General Omnibus) by James White - actually three books in one. The first is a series of short stories telling how the Sector General hospital comes to be. The other two books are novels with much more complete plots.
A little dry at times, also chauvinistic, both of which I expect from older sci-fi. Especially annoying: certain descriptions (of the hospital, of how to classify life-forms, etc.) are copied word-for-word from one book to the next. Interesting takes on how life forms with vastly different physical needs and social structures would be able to relate to each other. Although the main/recurring characters are mostly human, the books are less human-centric than most of their counterparts (space opera, etc.) A solid B
9. The Road to Damascus by John Ringo and Linda Evans - I'm becoming a John Ringo fan; reading his work is a guilty pleasure. I also liked what little I've read of the Bolo series (mostly written by Keith Laumer)... so when I saw this in March, I figured it was worth the $6. I was not disappointed. The female characters in this book made a good antidote to James White's fragile nurses; here there are several women and girls who are warriors, whether overtly or covertly. Also good at covering the causes and timeline of a rebel uprising, as seen from both sides. Gripping, but trite at times, which is the only reason I don't give this a perfect score. A
