M*A*S*H Meets Star Wars - MedStar I: Battle Surgeons [Reflection Review] - Throwback Thursday

The MedStar duology written by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry is one of my favorite Star Wars Prequel Era tales.  It's like M*A*S*H meets Star Wars!  ^_^

The MedStar duology written by Micahel Reaves and Steve Perry is one of my favorite Star Wars Prequel Era tales. It's like M*A*S*H meets Star Wars! ^_^
© 2004 Del Rey
Title: Star Wars: MedStar I: Battle Surgeons [Star Wars: MedStar Duology #1] 
Authors: Michael Reeves & Steve Perry
Published: 2004 by Del Rey

About the Book:
As civil war between the Republic and the Separatists rages across the galaxy, nowhere is the fighting more fierce than on the swamp world of Drongar, where a beleaguered mobile hospital unit wages a never-ending war of its own…

A surgeon who covers his despair with wisecracks; another who faces death and misery head-on, venting his emotions through beautiful music … A nurse with her heart in her work and her eye on a doctor … A Jedi Padawan on a healing mission without her Master … These are the core members of a tiny med unit serving the jungle world of Drongar, where battle is waged over the control of a priceless native plant, and an endless line of medlifters brings in the wounded and dying—mostly clone troopers, but also soldiers of all species.

While the healers work desperately to save lives, others plot secretly to profit from the war—either by dealing on the black market or by manipulating the events of the war itself. In the end, though, all will face individual tests, and only those of compassionate hearts and staunch spirits can hope to survive to fight another day.


The Artist Librarian's Reflection Review: 
I'm more of an "Original Trilogy and after" fan.  The things I liked most about the Prequel Trilogy and Clone Wars were the costumes, battle choreography, and special effects.  However, there were a few Star Wars characters I loved from this era and one of them was Bariss Offee (as depicted in novels like this, not the CGI Clone Wars series).  Despite this book now being branded as part of the "Star Wars Legends" continuity and no longer part of the official timeline since Disney acquired the franchise, I still look back on Battle Surgeons fondly.

If Michael A. Stackpole & Aaron Allston's X-Wing series is Top Gun meets Star Wars, Michael Reaves & Steve Perry's MedStar Duology is surely M*A*S*H meets Star Wars.  Like the X-Wing series that mostly followed original characters not seen in the films, Battle Surgeons follows the day to day life of these doctors, nurses, and staff that operate on the front lines of the Clone Wars.  I was surprised how quickly I grew attached to these characters.  There's scenes reminiscent of a medical drama, there's espionage, mystery, action, romance, humor --all with a Star Wars flair.  I won't spoil the ending except to say, I hope you have the second book, Jedi Healer, close at hand after you finish --believe me, you'll be glad you did!  This duology is easily one of my favorite Prequel era tales.

About the Authors:
Michael Reaves is an Emmy Award-winning television writer and screenwriter who has written, story edited, or produced nearly four hundred teleplays for various series, including Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Twilight Zone, Sliders, and Monsters. He has published many books, including the New York Times bestseller Star Wars: Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter. He's also written short fiction, comic books, and the dialogue for a Megadeth video. He lives in California.

Steve Perry has sold dozens of stories to magazines and anthologies and has also written a considerable number of novels, animated teleplays, nonfiction articles, reviews, and essays, along with a couple of unproduced movie scripts. He wrote for the television show Batman: The Animated Series and was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Writing, and his novel Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire spent ten weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. He also wrote the bestselling novelization of the blockbuster movie Men in Black, and all of his collaborative novels for Tom Clancy s Net Force series have made the New York Times bestseller list. He is a recipient of the Willamette Writers Lifetime Achievement Award.
Have you read any Star Wars novels?  Were they "Legends" (published before April 2014) or part of the current timeline?

0 comments

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts! Comments are always welcomed and appreciated.

Popular Posts