Orbit Hospital

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Orbit Hospital ( English Sector General ) is a cycle of science fiction novels and short stories by James White . The stories about the Orbit Hospital, which emerged from 1957 over the course of several decades, were summarized by White in twelve books in which he corrected inconsistencies in the first editions. Ten of these books have now been published in German.

The beginning

The idea of a hospital on the outskirts of the galaxy goes to White's short story To Kill or Cure (dt. Kill or Cure ), appeared in the short story collection The Aliens Among Us (dt. Brothers in the cosmos ) back. In this story, a military doctor tries to rescue the survivor of a crashed alien spaceship.

The Sector General (the English name) series began in 1957 . White offered a 17,000-word story to Ted Carnell, editor of New Worlds , entitled Sector Twelve General Hospital . Carnell, whose first reaction was to return the story for revision on the grounds that the story looked too similar to the television series Emergency Ward 10 , only galactically, had a gap of just 17,000 words in the November issue of New Worlds to fill and accepted the story. Carnell, who basically liked the idea of ​​the story, advised White to write more stories about the hospital every now and then. This then developed into a whole universe full of sick and injured aliens, up to a whole planet that needs to be healed.

The attraction of the Orbit Hospital books is based on the extraterrestrial beings that cavort in the hospital and who, due to their strange appearance and habits, their emotional world, their perception, their behavior and the environmental conditions they prefer, are "real" to the reader. Aliens appear. Of course, this also applies the other way around, if the inhabitants of another planet are disgusted with the eating habits of people, or if they perceive human laughter as barking. As White has psychologist O'Mara put it, the hospital is an organizational joke.

The hospital

The hospital itself is on the edge of Galactic Sector Twelve, between the Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds, and was created by a federation of humans and aliens. New races keep joining this federation. The foundation of the hospital goes back to an accident at a spaceport on the planet Melfa. Different species were waiting for their spaceships there. Due to an accident, the waiting hall was exposed to the Melfan atmosphere, which was fatal for most of those present.

The hospital itself has 384 levels on which the living conditions of the various races can be established. Between zero G and 10 times the earth's gravity, chlorine and methane atmospheres, entire jungle and underwater habitats are present.

The control, organization and logistics of the hospital are in the hands of an interstellar police force, the Monitor Corps. This organization, which combines the tasks of the police and the military, is partially subordinate to the hospital's medical staff when it comes to medical questions. The Monitor Corps is concerned with maintaining peace in the galaxy, and violence is only used as a last resort. In addition, specialists from the Monitor Corps are responsible for initial contact with unknown species.

As in every hospital, there is a hierarchy of medical staff in the Orbit Hospital. In addition to the nursing staff, there are interns, doctors, chief physicians and diagnosticians.

White invented a system of psycho tapes that can be played into the brains of chief physicians and diagnosticians. On each tape are the physiological facts of a species, as well as the personality and memory of the being who had this knowledge. In this way, the correct help can be given to the respective patient of a species, regardless of which species the treating doctor belongs to. While a chief physician can only expect one or two of these tapes at a time, it is assumed that diagnosticians are mentally stable enough that they are able to "drag around" the data of up to ten tapes with them.

The characters

The recurring characters in the series are Dr. Peter Conway , a human physician, the Cinrussk Dr. Prilicla , a spider-like being that comes from a world with low gravity and reacts to emotions, the human nurse and later pathologist Murchison , who becomes Conway's partner, the human chief psychologist O'Mara and the nurse Naydrad , a caterpillar-like Kelgian. In all, sixty known, intelligent races populate White's universe.

The classification system

In order to provide the right help to the injured or sick, White invented a physiological classification system that consists of four letters. However, this system is not consistent and exact, which may be due to the fact that the row around the Orbit Hospital was not planned and continued to grow by chance. The first letter determines the classification of the life forms, starting with A.

Groups A – C are water breathers, D – F are warm-blooded oxygen breathers, G – K are insect-like beings from planets of low gravity who also need oxygen, L – M are bird-like beings, O – P are used to classify chlorine breathers and Q– Z form beings that are very exotic, such as living crystals, beings that breathe super-hot steam, telepaths, shapeshifters, etc. Above all, the last groups show that the four-letter system was not used consistently.

The books

Hospital Station

The volume Hospital Station , published as the first novel in the Orbit Hospital cycle , is actually a collection of five short stories that are only loosely connected to one another. The first part, The Medic ( O'Mara's Orphan ) tells the story of the hospital's later chief psychologist, O'Mara. The action takes place during the construction of the hospital. The second part, the Orbit Hospital ( Sector General ), introduces the later chief physician Peter Conway, who initially begins his work as an assistant physician.

The third part, problems with Emily ( Trouble With Emily ) is about a doctor with PSI abilities of the size of a prune, and the patient who is about the size has a dinosaur. In the fourth part, an extraordinary visit ( Visitor at Large ), the insect-like empath Dr. Prilicla introduced. In the fifth part a shipwrecked man ( out patient ), Conway is promoted to chief physician and has to solve the problems with that sick shipwrecked man.

Star surgeon

For Star Surgeon, the two short stories Field Hospital and Resident Physician have been expanded into a novel. Among other things, the Galactic Federation is involved in an armed conflict with the Etlanian Empire and the Orbit Hospital serves as a field hospital for wounded and dying combatants and civilians.

Major operation

The short stories Invader , Vertigo , Blood Brother , Meatball and Major Operation were merged into one novel for Großoperation. Among other things, the hospital is threatened by an invisible being, which only the empath Dr. Prilicla can be tracked down.

Ambulance ship

The fourth novel, ambulance ship, combines the short stories Contagion , Quarantine and Recovery . Dr. Conway is transferred to an "interstellar ambulance" called Rhabwar , which specializes in the emergencies of wrecked Federation starships of as yet unknown species. In addition to the main characters introduced by then, a new one is being added for the first time. The captain of the Rhabwar is a monitor named Fletcher. Since he is in command, except in medical matters, this character offers White the opportunity to portray things from a different point of view than the doctor's point of view.

In addition, the ambulance ship contains the "unwritten story of the Orbit Hospital" where White reveals something about the genesis of the series and its characters.

Sector General

The novel consists of the extended short stories Accident , Survivor , Investigation and Combined Operation . In Accident part of the history of the Federation is told.

The faith healer

The novel is about how Dr. Conway and the Rhabwar crew cure a species of psychosis. Conway becomes a diagnostician and is now allowed to have up to ten psychological tapes imported into his brain. The reader learns what it is like when one of the personalities in Conway's head emerges stronger than the others and takes control. Conway is disgusted with the appearance of his own body and Murchison, his wife, no longer looks so attractive from the point of view of another being.

It is remarkable and annoying that the miracle healer in Germany was brought out according to the emergency code blue . The publisher has made a big mistake with this, as Emergency Code Blue is partly based on the previous novel. This is why this novel is in the right place in the sequence. In order not to deprive yourself of reading pleasure, The Faith Healer should be read before Emergency Code Blue .

Emergency code blue

In this novel, White describes the hospital for the first time from the perspective of an alien.

Cha Thrat , from the planet Sommaradva , is a magnet for trouble, despite being one of the hospital's hardest working students. She always gets into new difficulties. Due to the social conditions on her planet, she has greater difficulty adapting. In the German translation, Cha Thrat is female, while White uses "it" in the original version.

Radical operation

This novel is also about a non-human being, the doctor Lioren, a being from the planet Tarlan. This doctor almost wiped out an entire people through a misdiagnosis. Although he has since suffered from the most severe feelings of guilt, he manages to overcome his inhibitions and heal mentally ill patients in the hospital.

In this novel, White deals with euthanasia, incurable diseases or death, psychology and pangalactic theology, among other things.

Chef de Cuisine

In this novel, the main character is also not human. A Tralthan named Gurransevas has set itself the goal of making the food in the hospital more palatable for every species. As Gurranseva's attempts were mixed up and all the residents of the hospital went on the barricades about the attempts, Gurransevas was finally transferred to the Rhabwar.

The reader learns a lot about the logistics of the Orbit Hospital, but medical problems are also dealt with, as in every novel in the series. Here, Chef de Cuisine of the most humorous of all novels of the series.

The final diagnosis

The last novel to be published in German is about the earthly patient Hewlitt, who has suffered from various ailments since childhood without the doctors helping him or at least able to determine the cause, which is why he now visits the Orbit Hospital as the last option.

Mind Changer (not yet published in German)

Major O'Mara is preparing for his well-deserved retirement. While on the one hand more or less suitable candidates for his successor are scrutinized and have to prove their practical suitability in the Orbit Hospital, flashbacks lead back to the beginnings of the chief psychologist's career.

Double Contact (not yet published in German)

One of the empath Dr. Rescue mission led by Prilicla finds two intelligent species previously unknown to the Federation. What began as a rescue mission evolves into two first contact missions that take place in parallel.

With the last novel in the Orbit Hospital series, White wrote a version of his favorite short story First Contact (1945) by Murray Leinster .

expenditure

Novels and collections

In the German Heyne edition, volumes 6 and 7 are reversed compared to the order of the original edition. The translations were done by Kalla Wefel from the 1st to the 10th volume .

  • 1 Hospital Station (1962, collection)
    • German: The Space Medics. Moewig (Terra # 390/391), 1965. Also called: Die Weltraum-Mediziner. Ullstein 2000 # 128 (3331), 1977, ISBN 3-548-03331-8 . Also called: Hospital Station. Heyne Science Fiction & Fantasy # 4974, 1993, ISBN 3-453-06219-1 .
  • 2 Star Surgeon (1963)
    • English: The Battle of the Space Medic. Moewig (Terra # 398/399), 1965. Also called: Battle of the Space Medicine. Ullstein 2000 # 137 (3396), 1978, ISBN 3-548-03396-2 . Also as a star surgeon. Heyne Science Fiction & Fantasy # 4975, 1993, ISBN 3-453-06220-5 .
  • 3 Major Operation (1971, collection)
    • German: The Doctors of the Galaxy. Pabel (Terra Taschenbuch # 203), 1973. Also called: Major Operation. Heyne Science Fiction & Fantasy # 4976, 1993, ISBN 3-453-06221-3
  • 4 Ambulance Ship (1979, collection)
    • German: The ambulance ship. Moewig Science Fiction # 3507, 1980, ISBN 3-8118-3507-6 . Also as: the ambulance ship. Heyne Science Fiction & Fantasy # 4977, 1993, ISBN 3-453-06222-1 .
  • 5 Sector General (1983, collection)
    • German: Sector General. Heyne Science Fiction & Fantasy # 4978, 1993, ISBN 3-453-06598-0 .
  • 6/7 Code Blue - Emergency (1987)
    • German: Emergency Code Blue. Heyne Science Fiction & Fantasy # 4979, 1994, ISBN 3-453-07766-0 .
  • 7/6 Star Healer (1985)
    • German: The miracle healer. Heyne Science Fiction & Fantasy # 4980, 1995, ISBN 3-453-07969-8 .
  • 8 The Genocidal Healer (1991)
    • German: Radikaloperation. Heyne Science Fiction & Fantasy # 4981, 1996, ISBN 3-453-09462-X .
  • 9 The Galactic Gourmet (1996)
    • German: Chef de Cuisine. Heyne Science Fiction & Fantasy # 4982, 1997, ISBN 3-453-12636-X .
  • 10 Final Diagnosis (1997)
    • German: The final diagnosis. Heyne Science Fiction & Fantasy # 5114, 1999, ISBN 3-453-13336-6 .
  • 11 Mind Changer (1998)
  • 12 Double Contact (1999)

Short stories

  • Sector General (1957)
    • German: Chapter Seven in The Space Medicine 1. Part. 1965.
  • Tableau (1958)
  • Trouble With Emily (1958)
    • German: Chapter One in The Space Medicine 2. Part. 1965.
  • Occupation: Warrior (1959)
    • German: The warrior. In: Brothers in the Cosmos. Pabel (Terra Paperback # 193), 1972.
  • Visitor at Large (1959)
    • English: Chapter seven in The Space Medic 2nd Part. 1965.
  • O'Mara's Orphan (1960, also called Medic )
    • German: Chapter One in The Space Medicine 1. Part. 1965.
  • Out patient (1960)
    • English: Chapter fourteen in The Space Medic 2nd Part. 1965.
  • Counter charm (1960)
    • German: Gegenenzauber. In: Josh Pachter (ed.): Top Science Fiction: Third Part. Heyne Science Fiction & Fantasy # 4654, 1990.
  • Resident Physician (1961)
  • Field Hospital (1962, novel)
  • Invader (1966)
    • English: Chapter One in The Doctors of the Galaxy. 1973.
  • Vertigo (1968)
    • English: Chapter Five in The Doctors of the Galaxy. 1973.
  • Blood Brother (1969)
    • English: Chapter Seven in The Doctors of the Galaxy. 1973.
  • Meatball (1969)
    • English: Chapter Nine in The Doctors of the Galaxy. 1973.
  • Major Operation (1971)
    • English: Chapter Twelve in The Doctors of the Galaxy. 1973.
  • Spacebird (1973)
  • Contagion (1979)
    • German: Caution - contagious !. In: The ambulance ship. 1980.
  • Quarantine (1979)
    • German: quarantine. In: The ambulance ship. 1980.
  • Recovery (1979, also as Ambulance Ship , 1980)
    • German: rescue with obstacles. In: The ambulance ship. 1980.
  • Accident (1983)
  • Combined Operation (1983)
  • Investigation (1983)
  • Survivor (1983)

Anthologies

  • Tales of Sector General (1999, Volumes 9-11)
  • Beginning Operations (2001, volumes 1 to 3)
  • Alien Emergencies (2002, volumes 4 to 6)
  • General Practice (2003, Volumes 7 and 8)

Web links