Saturday, May 05, 2018

Med Ship Man


Med Ship is a novelization of a series of stories by award-winning author Murray Leinster. I read the first of them, Med Ship Man. You can read it online here as it appeared in Galaxy Magazine in 1963, or you can listen to it read to you here. An interesting story, I'd have loved it when I was younger and less experienced with science fiction. I'd have recommended it to my kids back in the day, or to adults new to science fiction as an easy toe-in-the-water introduction, but not so much for adults familiar with the genre. There is a tribute site here.

from the back of the book:
WHO YA GONNA CALL?
MED SERVICE!

Scattered through the galaxy are thousands of worlds colonized by humans. Many have native microbes dangerous to the human immigrants. Others have diseases brought to them accidentally -or on purpose- by visiting ships. When millions of lives are threatened, it's a job for the Interstellar Medical Service, and a Med Ship is sent to solve the problem.

Calhoun is the best the Med Service has, and hard experience has taught him that often the major obstacle to curing the sick is ... the sick. And removing that kind of obstacle may take very strong medicine. To find a cure for a disease, Calhoun has the help of his small animal companion Murgatroyd, a tormal -a species with the most powerful immune system in the galaxy. But to find a cure for hysteria, prejudice, crime, and even war is much more complicated, requiring considerable ingenuity. Fortunately, ingenuity is something that Calhoun has in good supply...

4 comments:

  1. You have me curious about toe-in-the-water versus familiarity, so I'm going to listen to this today after I get home from Herb Day. Thanks for the review and the links.

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    1. I hope you like it :) Herb Day sounds wonderful. I wish I could go with you :)

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  2. I've wondered if those stories got dated at this point of time. Technology has changed so much from being a kid back then, hasn't it? I suppose kids will say that about things from 2018 in 50 years. :) Happy weekend. Hugs-Erika

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    1. I don't usually notice them being dated, except sometimes in how women are treated or in the writing style, but not often even then. Movies are another story. They are usually dated because all the technology/clothing/hairstyles are pictured, and the sexism is overt. In books your mind tends to provide current images ;)

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