Line #20 Literature/Stardoc


1	[[quoteright:254:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stardoc_cover_7573.jpg]]
2	''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.
3
4	'''The ten books in the series are:'''
5
6	# ''Stardoc''
7	# ''Beyond Varallan''
8	# ''Endurance''
9	# ''Shockball''
10	# ''Eternity Row''
11	# ''Rebel Ice''
12	# ''Plague of Memory''
13	# ''Omega Games''
14	# ''Crystal Healer''
15	# ''Dream Called Time''
16
17	Viehl's duology ''Bio Rescue'' and ''Afterburn'', the stand-alone novel ''Blade Dancer'', and several short stories are set in [[TheVerse the same universe]], and have some overlap in cast.
18	----
19	!! The series provides examples of the following tropes:
20	* AbusivePrecursors: [[spoiler:The Jxin.]] You don't find out the full extent of their status as such until fairly late in the series.
21	* AccidentalMarriage: First, [[spoiler:Cherijo Grey Veil and Kao Torin]]. Later subverted by the son of the Patriarch of Furin: The proposal is an entirely symbolic act of [[spoiler: ([[{{Patricide}} entirely feigned]])]] gratitude.
22	* ArtificialLimbs: In ''Blade Dancer'' Jory has a prosthetic knee due to a serious injury while playing shockball. It's later smashed by her blade dancer school rival, and she ends the book with a prosthesis from the knee down.
23	* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:Kao]], in ''Dream Called Time'', thanks to [[spoiler:Maggie]]. [[spoiler:[[CleaningUpRomanticLooseEnds Quite conveniently]], he's [[LaserGuidedAmnesia forgotten]] everything after a point shortly before meeting Cherijo.]]
24	* BedTrick: [[spoiler:Duncan]] disguises as a [[FishPeople Fish Person]] in order to rescue [[spoiler:Cherijo]], and they end up having sex. When she finds out the truth, she doesn't mind. Guess he was ''that'' good.
25	* BizarreAlienBiology: The series absolutely ''revels'' in it. Jorenians alone have green blood, twelve-chambered hearts, unusually large and complex [[UselessSpleen spleens]] that [[AvertedTrope are a vital organ to the species]], compartmentalized stomachs, and built-in cartilaginous subdermal "body armor."
26	* BloodstainedDefloration: When Cherijo and Kao Torin have TheirFirstTime, he's concerned afterwards that he's accidentally injured her. She informs him it "always" hurts the first time human women have sex, before demanding seconds.
27	* BornUnderTheSail: The Jorenians are known for developing wanderlust and taking large portions of their [[TheClan HouseClan]] on deep space cruises for months or years at a time.
28	* BurialInSpace: Jorenian tradition, as seen in ''Stardoc'', is for the dead to be ejected from the ship on a course that will result in cremation by stellar or planetary atmosphere. As seen in ''Plague of Memory'', [[spoiler:it doesn't always go as planned]].
29	* 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.]]
30	* 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 leave Marel in Jory's care.
31	* CosmicRetcon: The main plot of ''Dream Called Time''.
32	* CunningLinguist: Duncan.
33	* DeadGuyOnDisplay: Jorenian warriors do this to anyone who [[PapaWolf threatens]] their [[MamaBear families]].
34	* DeathOfTheHypotenuse: Poor, doomed [[spoiler:Kao]].
35	* DesignerBabies: Are explicitly illegal, thanks to some laws that Joseph Grey Veil got pushed through. [[spoiler:After all, he can treat his clones as shittily as he damn well pleases that way.]]
36	* DismemberingTheBody: Jorenians sometimes declare [=ClanKill=] against particular enemies, in which case they eviscerate them with their claws after defeating them.
37	* DisposableFiance: Kao Torin becomes infected with the plague afflicting Kevarzangia Two, and Cherijo injects him with her own blood in desperation to save him. Her HealingFactor kills the pathogen, but then it starts on Kao as well, and he dies anyway.
38	* FantasticRacism: [[HumansByAnyOtherName Terrans]] have a [[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch mostly-deserved bad reputation]] for being [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters 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.
39	** 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 Cherijo's skill and her own SpareBodyParts.)
40	* FantasyContraception:
41	** Before consummating her romance with Kao Torin in ''Stardoc'', Cherijo administers a contraceptive injection to herself, which Kao later informs her was superfluous because Jorenian males can naturally suppress their half of the process.
42	** In ''Shockball'', Cherijo miscarries her and Duncan's first child because her HealingFactor mistakes the fetus for a threat. She has her tubes tied to keep this from happening again. [[spoiler:In the EarnYourHappyEnding to that book, Dr. Squilyp turns out to have saved Merel with a UterineReplicator.]]
43	* FictionalSport: Shockball seems to be something resembling UsefulNotes/AmericanFootball, with the contact rules and attitude to fouls of street-fighting. Oh, and [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin the ball will give you a nasty electric shock if you hold it too long]].
44	* FishPeople: [[spoiler:Duncan]] disguises himself as one to rescue [[spoiler:Cherijo]]. They end up having sex.
45	* FlatlinePlotline: [[spoiler:Cherijo]] instigates one in order to break up with [[spoiler:Xonea]] in ''Beyond Varallan''. Justified in that [[spoiler:[[FromASingleCell she's basically unkillable]]]].
46	* GayAesop: ''Plague of Memory'' contains an in-universe one: the Jorenians are scandalized when one of their number Chooses a same-sex alien partner. Cherijo's displeased narration refers back to her misadventure in ''Rebel Ice'', commenting that the sex-segregated tribes on the ice half-expected both men and women to turn to each other for companionship while apart.
47	* GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe: Jorenians are pretty much an entire race of these.
48	* HalfHumanHybrid[=/=]NonhumanHumanoidHybrid: Oh, so many of them.
49	* HealingFactor: Cherijo [[spoiler: and later Duncan]] heals unusually quickly thanks to her father's experimentation. And it gets faster as time progresses.
50	* HideYourOtherness: Jory Rask is [[HalfHumanHybrid half-Jorenian, half-human]]. As a professional shockball player, she hid her more obvious Jorenian features, all-white eyes and an extra finger on each hand, with sunglasses and gloves.
51	* HumansAreTheRealMonsters:
52	** Earthlings have a well-deserved reputation for hating nonhumans; alien immigrants and {{Half Human Hybrid}}s like Jory Rask are forced to live in hiding on the fringes of society. The plot of ''Rebel Ice'' is set off by humans of the League taking revenge on the Jorenians for past humiliations by destroying a [=ClanShip=], killing thousands of innocents.
53	** Joseph Grey Veil takes it to an extreme, having 1) engineered Earth's NoTranshumanismAllowed law to eliminate possible competition which renders Cherijo [[UnPerson legally non-sentient]], 2) anally raped his male clones to infect them with the previously eradicated disease syphilis ForScience, and 3) created Cherijo as an OppositeSexClone bride for himself, and then [[SexualExtortion extorting her to bear his child]] in exchange for his help with lifesaving surgery on her husband Duncan (he's stopped before he can follow through).
54	* {{Hypocrite}}: {{Justified}} with Joseph Grey Veil, who was one of the proponents of the laws banning genetic experimentation and human cloning that make Cherijo legally non-sentient, while being her creator. He did this as a way of eliminating any possible competition for himself.
55	* 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 ("Dianthe" sounds too much like one species' word for "dirty water," and "Daniel" like another's for the imperative form of "to jump around screaming," specifically). 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).
56	* 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 [[{{Hypocrite}} 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.]]
57	* InterspeciesRomance: Between Kao and Cherijo in ''Stardoc''. There's also Ilona/Dhreen in ''Eternity Row'', and [[StraightGay Qonja]]/[[WingedHumanoid Hawk]] in ''Plague of Memory''.
58	* KaleidoscopeEyes: Duncan's eyes have no set color.
59	* MisterSeahorse: This is how Thgill's species in ''Blade Dancer'' reproduce. Also comes up in ''Stardoc'', when someone naïvely presumes the same of both humans and Jorenians.
60	* NamedAfterFirstInstallment: A ten volume book series where the first book is just called ''Stardoc''. It's about doctors in space and can be described as a fusion of MedicalDrama and SpaceOpera.
61	* NotIfTheyEnjoyedItRationalization: Played straight more than once.
62	* {{Omniglot}}: Duncan can learn alien languages telepathically by making physical contact with the alien in question.
63	* OneWordTitle:
64	** ''Stardoc'': A fitting name for a fusion of MedicalDrama and SpaceOpera.
65	** ''Endurance''
66	** ''Afterburn'': Also {{Portmantitle}}, as it's a compound word.
67	** ''Shockball'': Also {{Portmantitle}}, as it's a compound word.
68	* OppositeSexClone: [[spoiler:Cherijo]] is one of [[spoiler:Dr. Joseph Grey Veil]]. This was ostensibly [[spoiler:for the purpose of WifeHusbandry, but it turned out that it was due to the [[AbusivePrecursors Jxin]] meddling]].
69	* PairTheSpares: [[spoiler:The "real" Jarn marries Kao in the alternate timeline.]]
70	* PayEvilUntoEvil: The Jorenian tradition of [=ClanKill=], where a Jorenian takes revenge by disabling their enemy and then eviscerating them with their claws while they're still alive.
71	* PlanetTerra
72	* {{Portmantitle}}:
73	** ''Afterburn''
74	** ''Shockball''
75	* RedSkiesCrossover: ''Shockball'' and ''Plague of Memory'' reference the events of the SpinOff ''Blade Dancer'' by name-dropping respectively Jory Rask (the viewpoint character of ''Blade Dancer'') and the new [[TheClan HouseClan]] formed by her and her LoveInterest Jakol Varena. This is the only mention any of the spinoffs get in the main series.
76	* RetGone: [[spoiler:Cherijo and Duncan go back in time to [[CosmicRetcon retcon]] the meddling of the Jxin]]. They end up creating an alternate timeline in which the only real evidence of their existence is the fact that...well, they're ''there''. [[spoiler:And so, [[BellisariosMaxim somehow]], is Marel.]]
77	* RomanticFalseLead: [[spoiler:Kao and arguably Xonea (although it was pretty clear from the outset that the latter was a matter of convenience and going nowhere)]] for Cherijo. One could stretch a point and call [[spoiler:[[NotHimself Jarn]] one for Duncan]].
78	* 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, which had previously been eradicated]]. All in the name of science, [[BlatantLies of course]].
79	* SexualExtortion: In ''Shockball'', Duncan loses a kidney to a knife wound while playing for a shockball team that's really a glorified street gang, and was born without the other. Joseph Grey Veil extorts her to bear his child in exchange for help saving Duncan's life. She thinks he means IVF, but he means to rape her. Fortunately, before getting any further than explanation, he's interrupted by the shockballers breaking into the lab to rob it and get Cherijo and Duncan back.
80	* SingleTargetLaw: {{Inverted}}: Cherijo's genetic father Dr. Joseph Grey Veil engineered the passage of an Earth law banning genetic engineering research and declaring any human results to be legally nonsentient. This was meant to eliminate potential competition to his own research; he himself had the clout to invoke ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections if caught.
81	* {{Veganopia}}: Jorenians are, for the most part, vegetarians (despite being a pastoralist culture whose ancestors were predators). Zigzagged in that they're portrayed as both an [[PlanetOfHats entire]] [[ProudWarriorRace race of]] {{Cultured Warrior}}s and/or {{Warrior Poet}}s ''and'' as a SuperiorSpecies ([[HumansAreTheRealMonsters by default]]).
82	* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Dr. Joseph Grey Veil, and ''how''.
83	* WifeHusbandry: Turned out to be [[spoiler:exactly why Grey Veil [[OppositeSexClone created Cherijo]] in the first place. ([[MindScrew Maybe.]])]]
84	* {{Yandere}}. [[spoiler:Ktarka]], ''so'' much. [[spoiler:Xonea]] is {{Flanderized}} into this in later books.

Context Literature / Stardoc