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Sector General: Difference between revisions
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[[Medical Drama]] ... [[Recycled in Space|In SPACE!!!]]
A twelve-book series by James White, about a huge hospital space station serving a sector of space populated by dozens of sentient races. White grew up in [[The Troubles|Belfast]], and wished to create a [[Science Fiction]] series that did not rely on violence to provide excitement. Since "known space" is [[Sci
These are medical mystery stories, with the focus on figuring out what's wrong and what's ''right'' with a variety of fantastical patients. The first half dozen books are predominantly collections of short stories that revolve around their medical maladies, mysteries and miracles. The second half dozen are full-length novels that add fresh perspectives, such as a nurse's or a patient's, and occasionally even feature [[Character Development]].
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* [[Genius Loci]] - (''Major Operation'') Try diagnosing a sapient living continent. Even worse, try ''treating'' one. Who knew you could use a warship as a tourniquet?
* [[Gentle Giant]] - Most every massive race. This seems to be presented as half social necessity, half an universal quirk. For the adults, anyway. When a half-ton toddler charges at you wanting to play, the best option is to make for the ceiling.
* [[Hello, Nurse!]] - The way male humans respond to Nurse Murchison, you'd think she was the only human female in the sector. Oh, wait...
* [[Hive Mind]] - The radiation-eating <s>and individually bug-like</s> <s>lizard-like</s> <s>keep notes, White</s> Telfi.
* [[Honor Before Reason]] - Cha Thrat's very strict sense of medical ethics is one of the reasons she's not very popular on Sommaradva, and it gets her in hot water at Sector General as well in ''Code Blue - Emergency!''. (It doesn't help that her ideas of ethical behavior [[Values Dissonance|are considerably more extreme than what Sector General practices]].)
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* [[Planet of Hats]] - There's waffling about this, as one species is vain only for the sake of irony, but most species-wide traits have physiological reasons. Large, heavy aliens tend to be gentle and careful because of the fragility of everyone else, and empaths are conciliators and peacemakers if their abilities [[Power Incontinence|don't turn]] ''[[Power Incontinence|off]]''. Newly encountered species are flatter, but "concerned about the missing ozone layer" or "dying of the plague" are valid generalizable traits.
** For example, the "rollers" from Drambo (in ''Major Operation'') are incredibly boastful, but this is explained as being because they can never stop moving (their circulation is powered by their movement), so they have very little time to impress mates.
* [[Psychic Powers]] - A few alien species have abilities outside the norm. All are classed under V in the species classification system. Humanity has telepathic potential... in its evolutionary history. The faculty was never used and is now atrophied and nonfunctional, only serving to make humans a bit more susceptible. It goes up to the VUXG, who look like prunes and are [[Teleporters and Transporters|teleportive]], [[Telepathy|telepathic]], and [[Mind Over Matter|telekinetic]]. One of them attempted to give sentience to a race of plant-eating dinosaurs by giving them the power to [[Flight|fly]] telekinetically. Apparently that ability is [[
* [[Puppeteer Parasite]]: The DTRC Rhumians are a benevolent version of this, who live symbiotically with a stronger non-sentient lifeform from the same planet in a [[Brains and Brawn]] partnership.
* [[Reassigned to Antarctica]] - Basically the entirety of ''Code Blue: Emergency!'' is Cha Thrat shuttling through these, beginning when her home planet pressures her into going to Sector General and ending when she's kicked out of ''the Maintenance division'' for disobeying a direct order. She ultimately winds up working in the only place she hasn't yet been exiled from, the Psych department, but since O'Mara actually ''wants'' her there it doesn't qualify as this.
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