BIO RESCUE, by S.L. Viehl, is a definite recommend with its interesting characters, abundant action, and a "different" romance.BIO RESCUE takes place on Kevarzangia Two, the same planet as the first of the Star Doc novels, but set some years after the events of that series. The main character, Dair mu T'resa, is a native of the planet, one of the water-dwelling 'Zangians.
Dair was damaged at birth by a plague that killed her mother and was surgically altered to save her life. Because of the alterations, she can spend more time out of the water than many of her people. She has joined a military group called the SEAL squadron and is active in defending Kevarzangia Two.
Kevarzangia Two has two major issues at the moment. The first is the influx of the lupine Skartesh, who are fleeing from their war-torn world and have developed into a fanatical cult that is close to exploding. The second is the need for faster rescue of many of the species who are fleeing the war zone in space and coming to Kevarzangia Two for shelter. Dair's team is chosen to help in this latter endeavor. They need to learn skills that are alien to them and to their culture.
Throughout the novel, Dair has to deal with how different she is from her people and whether she wants to follow a path that will cause even more alienation. She also needs to decide if she wants a mate of her own species. The romance in BIO RESCUE is fascinating, and S.L. Viehl does a wonderful job of portraying a non-human heroine and an alien courtship.
My only quibble with the book is that it has little bit of the "and then there was a miracle" at the ending. But even so, I found BIO RESCUE to be a great reading experience.--Shelley (6 Jul 04)
Shelley did such a good job of describing the plot, I'll just add my comments. BIO RESCUE is a definite recommend for me also. I've always been fascinated with the idea of alien life, and Viehl does a wonderful job creating aliens of all kinds, thus the Zangians and their watery way of life were totally fascinating to me. I would have liked to see a little less miscommunication between Dair, the heroine, and Onkar. But then again, Onkar was acting like a jealous, possessive Zangian male in his prime, so maybe I'm trying to put human feelings into my alien romance! I truly enjoyed reading about a romance in which the characters don't look human, although there was the human/Zangian mating of Dair's father and stepmother to add to my interest. I really enjoyed the plot but also agree the ending relied more upon a miracle than I would have liked.--Linda (20 Jul 04)
