This 8th book of the Sector General series is the first one to not feature Dr. Conway since the very first book. While I found it interesting to have a non-human main character for the first time, Lorien (a Tarlan) was a more frustrating protagonist than Conway ever was. Plus the many discussions about religion, though appropriate, were of less interest to me than other types of ethical debates. However, I would be interested in reading more about Lorien in a future book to see how his "punishment" ends up! White made a small but significant change in his writing which enhanced the 'alien-ness' of the narrator - all masculine & feminine pronouns were replaced by neuter ones (it instead of he or she).

Oh, and just in case anyone is horrified by the title - Lorien isn't a mad killer or even a mercy killer, just an arrogant doctor who made a mistake due to insufficient information and impatience. This is not a spoiler as these facts come out in the very beginning of the book. ( )

Last time I rated this I gave it 5 stars, I am a lot fussier these days. It is still a really good book and all the characters come alive and are interesting. I immediately wanted to reread the first books because I could not remember a Carmody and wanted to know more about him. A tiny bit of all the regulars and the new people all worked for me. Feeling a bit anxious..only four books left. That is always one sign of a really good series when I really really do not want it to end.

Not my favorite of his Sector General books, but it's nice to know what the Cromsaggar Incident was and why it created the Lioren of some of the later books. Fairly heavy on the philosophic and religious rambling, but all firmly in character. ( )