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Review Summaries
"Cherijo Grey Veil surgeon extraordinaire and clone has made up with her husband Duncan for his apparent betrayal that kept them both alive on the slave planet Catopsa. Duncan and Cherijo promptly get kidnapped by Dr. Joseph Grey Veil -- Cherijo's dad-- and sent back to Terra, so she can be his lab rat again. Then they get kidnapped from Joe by what appear to be Navajos living traditionally underground who are in fact half-breed human and aliens and some disabled people led by a man who turns out to be Cherijo's brother/ clone. These people have a professional shockball team that Cherijo becomes doctor for and Reever plays on.
Fortunately, at the end of this book, Cherijo's monster “father” is apparently killed. (But I wouldn't put it past him for him to be as near immortal as he made Cherijo.) At the end Cherijo and Reever do make it back to the Sunlace, the starship that her relatively healthy alien adopted family fly.
"
Julia Walter, Resident S.L. Viehl Scholar
"
SL Viehl
Roc, Nov 2001, 6.99, 416 pp.
ISBN: 0451458559
As they travel through space, Dr. Cherijo Grey Veil and her spouse, Perpetua ship Captain Duncan Reever are pleased over her pregnancy. However, her joy turns to sadness when she learns her cloned body's immunity system is killing the baby. She informs her husband she has a miscarriage. Cherijo knows she can never birth a child with anyone except perhaps her demented creator Joseph Grey Veil.
While Cherijo recovers, a meteor shower disables the Perptua beyond repair. Transferring to their other ship Truman may mean that Cherijo's creator who gave her that spacecraft may be able to track them via some undetected device. Soon the duo is forced to go underground to live among half-breeds. Duncan has no choice but to participate in the local version of SHOCKBALL even as Cherijo now knows you can hide, but at some time you must fight especially when the cause is personal.
SHOCKBALL, the fourth Stardoc tale, is an exhilarating science fiction space adventure. The zestful story line stays at warp speed even when introducing new readers to the lead characters. Cherijo is as fresh as ever as she undergoes new heartaches while her spouse has his own problems. 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.
Harriet Klausner
"
Harriet Klausner, Resident S.L. Viehl Scholar
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Overall Review
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Plot
Composition of Book Descript. of chases or violence - 30% planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30% Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20% Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 20%
Tone of book
- suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION?
- science fiction story
Romance
Yes
Romance plotlets:
- two lovers coping with tough mission
Story involving clones/duplicates?
- good clones/duplicates
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Clones
Yes
Family relations
Yes
Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Profession/status:
- doctor
Age:
- 20's-30's
Has magical/special powers?
Yes
Magical/mental powers of main character:
- mind reading
- healing
Eccentric:
Yes
- eccentric
- obsessed
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
- Very much smarter than other characters
Physique
- very athletic
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
- 60's-90's
Profession/status:
- scientist
Eccentric:
Yes
- obsessed
- mentally ill
- deluded
- emotionally unstable
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- almost none
- a moderate amount
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
- mean, arrogant
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
- Very much smarter than other characters
Physique
- very athletic
- average physique
Setting
Terrain
- Domed/Underground City
Earth setting:
- medium future 22-24th century
A substantial portion of this book takes place on a non-Earth planetary body:
- humans in a contemporary society
Takes place on Earth?
Yes
Planet outside solar system?
Yes
Takes place in spaceship?
Yes
Style
Person?
- mostly 1st
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
- very explicit references to deaths and torture
scientific jargon? (SF only)
- a fair amount of scientific explanation
- a significant amount of technical jargon
Sex in book?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- actual description of sex
How much dialogue?
- mostly dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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