History Literature / StarDoc

* DesignerBabies: Are explicitly illegal, thanks to some laws that Joseph Grey Veil got pushed through. [[spoiler:After all, [[CloningBlues he can treat his clones as shittily as he damn well pleases that way]].]]

* BlueSkinnedSpaceBabe: Jorenians are pretty much an entire race of these.

* FishPeople: [[spoiler:Duncan]] disguses as one to rescue [[spoiler:Cherijo]]. They end up having sex.

* {{Yandere}}. [[spoiler:Ktarka]], ''[[UpToEleven so]]'' much. [[spoiler:Xonea]] is {{Flanderized}} into this in later books.

** And then, there's how [[JerkAss Rogan]] misdiagnoses the Orgemich patient's peritonitis as indigestion, on the grounds that her species are "[[BigEater gluttons]]; suns only know ''[[ExtremeOmnivore what]]'' she ate." (The big gal only survives thanks to her [[BizarreAlienBiology redundant organs]] and Cherijo's skill.)

** And then, there's how [[JerkAss Rogan]] almost kills the Orgemich patient by misdiagnosing peritonitis as indigestion, on the grounds that her species are "[[BigEater gluttons]]; suns only know ''[[ExtremeOmnivore what]]'' she ate."

* DisposableFiance: See above.

* HumansAreTheRealMonsters

* ''Stardoc''
* ''Beyond Varallan''
* ''Endurance''
* ''Shockball''
* ''Eternity Row''
* ''Rebel Ice''
* ''Plague of Memory''
* ''Omega Games''
* ''Crystal Healer''
* ''Dream Called Time''

* NotIfTheyEnjoyedItRationalization: Played disturbingly straight more than once.

** ''Stardoc''

* GayAesop: ''Plague of Memory'' contains an in-universe one.

* HealingFactor: Chorijo [[spoiler: and later Duncan]] heals unusually quickly thanks to her father's experimentation. And it gets faster as time progresses.

* InhumanableAlienRights: A central conflict of the series through ''Rebel Ice'' stems from the fact that Cherijo, as a genetically engineered clone, is legally nonsentient and the property of her creator Dr. Joseph Grey Veil according to Terran law (a law which Joseph himself lobbied for). The citizens of Kevarzangia Two, whom Cherijo had saved from an epidemic, uniformly disagreed with the decision but the judge was unwilling to overrule Terran law. Kao Torin's clan took a more direct approach and simply staged an armed assault on the courthouse after the verdict; the Jorenian government broke off all diplomatic ties with the League afterward. [[spoiler:Joseph dies helping her escape at the climax of ''Shockball'', and in ''Rebel Ice'' the Jorenians acquire sufficient leverage to force the League to drop their grievance and arbitrate an end to the war with the Hsktskt in the process.]]

* ScrewYourself: [[spoiler:Grey Veil]] fancied himself too good for anyone except his OppositeSexClone. He's also implied to have [[spoiler:anally raped one of his male clones to infect the latter with syphilis]]. All in the name of science, [[BlatantLies of course]].

* InMyLanguageThatSoundsLike: ''Shockball'' has an amusing scene of the {{omniglot}} Duncan and Cherijo arguing over names for their baby, with Cherijo shooting down his alien-derived suggestions because she can't pronounce them ("It has to have vowels"), and Duncan saying what the various Anglophone names she suggests mean in alien languages. He also comments that the reason he likes ''her'' name is because it doesn't mean ''anything'' in any of the however-many languages he knows (it's actually an acronym).

* ContinuityNod: The spinoffs stand on their own but often mention events from the main series and vice versa. ''Shockball'' makes a brief reference to a shockball player named Jory Rask, who becomes the protagonist of ''Blade Dancer''. ''Blade Dancer'' in turn gives a quick summary on the current relationship between the League and the Jorenians (i.e. all diplomatic ties broken over the question of Cherijo Grey Veil's [[InhumanableAlienRights personhood]]) after Jory tries to barter passage to Joren, and a later book has Duncan and Cherijo

* InhumanableAlienRights: A central conflict of the series through ''Rebel Ice'' stems from a League court decision in ''Stardoc'' that Cherijo, as a genetically engineered clone, is legally nonsentient and the property of her creator Dr. Joseph Grey Veil. The citizens of Kevarzangia Two, whom Cherijo had saved from an epidemic, uniformly disagreed with the decision but the judge was unwilling to overrule Terran law. Kao Torin's clan took a more direct approach and simply staged an armed assault on the courthouse after the verdict; the Jorenian government broke off all diplomatic ties with the League afterward. [[spoiler:Joseph dies helping her escape at the climax of ''Shockball'', and in ''Rebel Ice'' the Jorenians acquire sufficient leverage to force the League to drop their grievance and arbitrate an end to the war with the Hsktskt in the process.]]

* ScrewYourself: [[spoiler:Grey Veil]] fancied himself too good for anyone except his OppositeSexClone.
** He's also implied to have [[spoiler:anally raped one of his male clones to infect the latter with syphilis]]. All in the name of science, [[BlatantLies of course]].

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* [[spoiler:AbusivePrecursors: The Jxin.]] You don't find out the full extent of their status as such until fairly late in the series.

* [[spoiler: CloneByConversion:]] In ''Plague of Memory'' Cherijo's long-dead first love, Kao Torin, is sighted on the Hsktskt homeworld. [[spoiler:He turns out to be a genetically altered Hsktskt, created from DNA extracted from Kao's corpse which was [[BurialInSpace buried in space]] by Jorenian custom.]]

''Stardoc}' and its sequels, collectively known by the title of the first book, are a series by American romance novelist S.L. Viehl that are best described as part SpaceOpera and part MedicalDrama.

* FantasticRacism: [[HumansByAnyOtherName Terrans]] have a [[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch mostly-deserved bad reputation]] for being [[HumansAreBastards rabid xenophobes]]. Extraterrestrials can only even ''visit'' [[PlanetTerra Terra]] on a limited basis, and certainly aren't allowed to ''live'' here [[spoiler:legally, resulting in underground communities of aliens and "[[HalfHumanHybrids breeds]]"]]. As a result, no one likes ''us'' much, either.

''{{Stardoc}}'' and its sequels—also collectively known by the title of the first book—are a series by American romance novelist S.L. Viehl that are best described as part SpaceOpera and part MedicalDrama.

* FantasticRacism: [[HumansByAnyOtherName Terrans]] have a [[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch mostly-deserved bad reputation]] for being [[FantasticRacism rabid xenophobes]]. Extraterrestrials can only even ''visit'' [[PlanetTerra Terra]] on a limited basis, and certainly aren't allowed to ''live'' here [[spoiler:legally, resulting in underground communities of aliens and "[[HalfHumanHybrids breeds]]"]]. As a result, no one likes ''us'' much, either.