*sighs* I do not like the turn the series has taken; but the written is still superb. ( )

Back on Joren after a failed attempt to track down the bounty hunter offering such a price for Cherijo's head, Jarn and Reever have to do some fancy footwork to shield the Trellus colonists from the Jorenians who'd like nothing better than to blow up the whole planet. And of course, since trouble and catastrophe follow her everywhere, it's not long before a crisis on oKiaf sends Cherijo, Reever and the crew of the Sunlace bolting to the rescue. Crystal is eating the planet, and when it consumes of Cherijo's residents, the race is on to find a cure.

Jarn and Reever seem happy together - but somehow I'm not getting the warm and fuzzies about their future together! ( )

Spoiler Alert!
I picked up this book reluctantly since I am fond of Cherijo, and not overly enamored of Jarn. THe last two books have been entertaining, but my heart was not with Jarn--I missed Cherijo. So, I made myself a deal. I would read this book and if Cherijo was not back in this book I would not follow the series. Thankfully she is back.
The book is written with Viehl's usual skill and the story lines are great. We revisited a few characters from the past and met a few new ones, but for me the end was worth it. I really thought that Jarn was annoying, and a little dense, if Viehl did not have the skill of telling a tale I would have dropped the series two books ago, but now I must wait impatiently for the next one!I missed you Cherijo!

I would have given this four stars except for my extreme dislike of Jarn. Is that a fair thing to do, to not rate higher, because I don't like a character? Hmmm, pondering. ( )

In this twelfth addition to S. L. Viehl's riveting StarDoc universe, the author reveals her mastery of characterization in her legerdemain of Cherijo/Jarn/Cherijo, the now-you-see-her, now-you-don't title character. I would like to have rated this a five star instead of four-and-a -half, and I blame it on the rules of publishing that I could not. In a commercial environment where series like StarDoc "must" be limited to a certain number of pages, writers like Viehl are forced to squeeze imaginations worthy of Tolkien or Rowling into a hit-and-run version of what is truly going on in the labyrinth of their inner prose. And no, I don't personally know Viehl or her publishers, but have learned enough about the 'new rules' of publishing, and have read 90% of her available back list, so I presume to intuit what an epic she might have written if unleashed.

So, there is nothing wrong with Crystal Healer that another, say three hundred pages, wouldn't cure. I might as well go bay at the moon for ever seeing it happen, but my patience is exploded and I just had to vent. ( )