Doctor Galaxy by Jenny Schwartz

I originally read this story when it was released back in 2022. At the time the story felt so reminiscent of Farscape that I found it fresh and exciting to read. In Doctor Galaxy, Schwartz manages to merge a slice of life story, with a medical procedural and intergalactic politics. This is a specialty of Schwartz - an author who’s back catalogue I have worked through in the last 4 years. 

In Doctor Galaxy we meet Alexi - an emergency room doctor who has recently finished her training. Alexi has recently suffered a shock - finding out that she has been betrayed on multiple fronts by people who supposedly loved and supported her. They have used her to their own advantage and she is left trying to pick up the pieces. In the face of this challenge, Alexi signs up to work for the intergalactic government as the first Human medical doctor to work on the front lines of an ongoing conflict. Alexi thinks she understands the waters she’s jumping into, but we quickly find out that not all is as it seems. 

My favorite thing about this story is the way that Alexi is both so self possessed and finding herself after having the rug pulled out from under her. She is learning who she is in the new environment but also post the betrayal that jettisoned her into this world. 

I appreciate how Schwartz challenges us as the reader with unexpected conflicts, choices and creatures (aliens Humans call Fart Boueys, for example), but always centers back on Alexi’s ethics. 

Listening to this audio book, I was struck by the pacing changes in a way I didn’t recall from reading the book. We transition abruptly about 2/3rds of the way through the book from a slice of life medium-slow pace into a rapid escalation and quick resolution. It felt jarring to me via audio. 

Brentan’s voice acting is strong. She manages to convey the personality of differently aliens by pacing, diction and intonation changes. However, I don’t know that I’d recommend the audio because of the pacing that felt so bizarre to me. 

This is a great story for someone who likes a medium paced SciFi that is heavy on politics and a character who is working to find themselves after betrayal. There is a romance element, but I feel it serves as a method to explore Alexi learning to trust herself and others again, over being a main focus of the story.