Eternity Row: A Stardoc Novel

by S.L. Viehl

Book Overview

Aboard the star vessel Sunlace , Dr. Cherijo Torin and her husband have found refuge from the Hsktskt, the League, and her half-mad creator. Now they intend to find Cherijo's foster mother--and the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451458915
• Release Date: September 2002
• Publisher: Ace
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.7" x 1.0" x 4.2"

Customer Reviews

Keep them coming!

This series is hands down my favorite space opera series. I love her writing style, and the way she focuses on character to the point where we can really feel as if we know them, as if they are real. Excellent writer! I also love her books written as Lynn Viehl.

Cherijo is back, and doing what she does best!

This is a continuing story, and I very much recommend that you start with the first book, Stardoc, and read the sequels in order: Stardoc, Beyond Vallarean, Endurance, then Shockball. If you haven't, the rest of this review will contain spoilers for the first four. Contrary to what a lot of other readers seem to think, I believe that Eternity Row has brought Cherijo back into her groove.In this Fifth installment of the StarDoc series, Cherijo Grey-Veil is back on board The Sunlace with her husband/linguist Duncan Reever, and their new child Marel. With them on the huge HouseClan Torin ship are their two tag-alongs from Shockball; Hawk Long Knife, a Terran/Taercal halfbreed, and Dhreen, an Oenrallian who is Cherijo's former-friend and recent betrayer. Eternity row starts with HouseClan Torin decreeing that they will no longer turn their backs on their enemies, and have outfitted The Sunlace for war, willing to declare ClanKill on any who attack. Being upset enough about this, Cherijo goes to visit Dhreen and accidentally shoots him, causing a grievous injury. When Dhreen wakes from his surgery, he has trauma induced global amnesia. And everywhere Cherijo goes, she is now followed by the suspicious new psychiatric resident Qonja, cousin to Clan Torin. Eternity Row is packed with more adventure than the third and fourth books, which bogged down a little on the war between the League and the Hsktskt. Although The Sunlace rescues some ships disabled and floating with both League and Hsktskt survivors, Cherijo treats them aboard the Sunlace until they can be offloaded, and thankfully does not return to this in this installment.Instead, they head for Hawk's home world of Taerca hoping that he can locate his father. What they find is an openly hostile race of dying people, living under strict religious standards. It's trouble on Taerca, and trouble after the leave the planet when Squilyp's mail order bride from Omorr arrives, a haughty little thing who immediately begins to push around the big Jorenians. Trouble waits for Cherijo still when they arrive at Dhreen's home world of Orenrall, where things are not what they seem to be. Orenrall is hiding a horrible secret from the universe, and its up to Dhreen to remember it before the Bartermen sell them all as slaves.Eternity Row is back on the 5 star list along with books 1 and 2 in the series, recapturing the excitement, bizarre worlds and species, and helter-skelter race against life and death that Cherijo always gets herself tangled into. Strange planets, purple moulds, feline deities, squishy worms, planetary drug addictions, the strange ClanCousin Qonja watching her every move, and a racial struggle for death rather than life all will plant themselves in Cherijo's path and force her to confront them.What I really liked about this installment in the series is that they put aside the war for a while to concentrate on bringing back the more sci-fi elements of the series. I like the books bet

Cherijo is back

Cherijo is back to prove that you can't go home again. She and Duncan Reever have settled into a caring, but slightly uneasy relationship (trust is going to be a problem when your husband sold you as a slave to some old pals). Their daughter, Marel, makes the connection a bit stronger, as both love her unconditionally. Spring fever has overtaken the ship, as both Sqillip and Alunthri are thinking about parenthood, one with trepidation and one with longing. Dreen and his Navajo girlfriend are also expecting, with unexpected results. They have three planets to visit, Hawk's father's home world, Dreen's planet, and finally, Cherijo's "mother" Maggie's planet. All three will present danger, confusions, and the unexpected. Xonea, Cherijo's ClanBrother has some surprises for her, too.This book was much more rewarding than SHOCK BALL, with its convoluted plot and bizarre characters. The Stardoc books are really best when they are out in space, as this one is. Marel was the most delightful character!

space opera at its very exotic best

She called him father until the day she learned she was his clone. Dr. Cherijo Torin escaped from him and his experiments on her but the League, of which earth is a member, denied her request for sentient status and instead declared her the property of her creator. Rather than submit to that megalomaniac man, Cherijo escapes and ends up joining the Jorenian alliance.Cherijo is happy aboard the Jorenian spaceship Sunlance accompanied by her beautiful daughter and her telepathic Terran husband. She treats the sick and cares for the injured while evading the bounty hunters out to bring her back to her creator. Cherijo never expects a calm life. On this voyage, she and her shipmates are almost sacrificed to a planet's deity, she plays matchmaker to a lovesick alien, and learns why the natives of an entire planet are sterile but whose inhabitants cannot die. All in a solar moment for Cherijo.The protagonist's life is fulfilled, but ever changing and action packed; readers adore and admire Cherijo. ETERNITY ROW is space opera at its very best as the plot contains exotic alien life forms and colorfully fascinatingly strange planets. S.L. Viehl has created a character and a futuristic setting that is second to none in its readability, quality, and social mores.Harriet Klausner

The Doc is back, and as Cranky as ever!

Dr. Cherijo Grey Veil, now Cherijo Torin, is a new mom, a healer on board the Jorenian ship Sunlace, and is married to a human telepath who was raised by various aliens (and has the biggest case of emotional repression seen in science fiction). I really love this series, and am always anxious when the new book comes out. "Eternity Row" delivered what I'm getting used to out of Viehl: a series of emotionally frustrating events that leave you growling out loud at the situation, with deadly funny situations and bon-mots tossed throughout. And, of course, a big revelation at the end that leaves you hanging and thinking, "But... but... what next?" Duncan Reever and Cherijo are their usual combustible selves. They have a few trillion arguments and disagreements throughout this book, and as usual I found myself ready to toss Duncan out an airlock. I have a hard time rationalizing why anyone - let alone Cherijo - would stay with this man, but I suspend my disbelief and keep reading like a good little book addict. The rest of the plot is always worth it, and this book was no exception. The other quibble was the use of "babytalk" when Cherijo's daughter was speaking. Sometimes I had to read them aloud with a nasally kid-voice in an attempt to translate what the child was saying into english. "Pree dars" is pretty stars, for example. Ouch. With Marel (Cherijo's daughter) developing a sub-plot of interest, and the return of old favourites like Dreen and Alunthri, you'll be content with this episode in the Stardoc series. I sure was. Now I just need the next one... 'Nathan