Beginning Operations

I read this after "The Galactic Gourmet" and was thoroughly engrossed. What great fantasy and futurism. I could visualize what he was writing about. More, More , more...I just ordered 2 more White novels.

The book began strongly. Often with books in which there are multiple species, it is difficult to keep up with the transitions. This is deftly handled by the author. The reader is drawn further and further into this world and attachments to characters are formed easily. I will need to read more by this author.

After spending some time at Sector General where the humans and aliens learn to interact with the main purpose being to give health and understanding to all; most of the people we meet on a daily basis here on earth who may have peviously seemed a bit strange are not so unusual any more. I love this author. He has a beautiful mind and develops interesting and unusual problems to be solved.

James White is one of the first sci-fi authors I grew up with and in fact is one of the first authors, right up there with Zane Grey and Robert Heinlein, whose books I learned to read without being pushed into it by parents or teachers.The first book in this omnibus is really a bunch of short stories put together. These stories help us to understand how Sector General came about and allow us to see where the main characters of Conway and O'Mara came from. It also allows the reader to get use to how the hospital deals with everyday problems, ill aliens and special VIPs. The next two books are full length novels, one about war and the other is about one of the biggest patients you'll ever read about. A 511 pages full of humor, drama and optimism. James White believes that, not only can we all get along, even with aliens, but that we could thrive working together. He believed in the humanity in everybody, including aliens!

This omnibus collects the first three Sector General books--Hospital Station, Star Surgeon, and Major Operation. White's Sector General books exemplify the medical subgenre of the SF puzzle story--what weird E.T. thing is going on and how do we solve the problems it presents?This series is part of my personal "Golden Age" of science fiction and I'm delighted to see it back in print.