Med Ship

Med Service #1,2,3,4

by Murray Leinster, Eric Flint (Editor)

Scattered through the galaxy are thousands of worlds colonized by humans. Many have native microbes dangerous to the human immigrants. Others have diseases brought to them accidentally -- or on purpose -- by visiting ships. When millions of lives are threatened, it's a job for the Interstellar Medical Service, and a Med Ship is sent to solve the problem. Calhoun is the best the Med Service has, and hard experience has taught him that often the major obstacle to curing the sick is... the sick. And removing that kind of obstacle may take very strong medicine.

This book is a compilation of four books released in the 1960's: The Mutant Weapon, Doctor to the Stars, S.O.S. from Three Worlds and This World is Taboo.

3 • Med Ship Man • (1963)
57 • Plague on Kryder II • (1964)
121 • The Mutant Weapon • (1959)
231 • Ribbon in the Sky • (1957)
285 • Tallien Three (aka The Hate Disease) • (1963)
351 • Quarantine World • (1966)
425 • The Grandfathers' War • (1957)
505 • Pariah Planet (aka This World is Taboo) • (1961)
632 • Editors' Afterword by Eric Flint and Guy Gordon

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Ebooks, Anthologies, Adventure, Short Stories, Space

640 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 2002

About the author

see also:
Will F. Jenkins
William Fitzgerald Jenkins

Murray Leinster was a nom de plume of William Fitzgerald Jenkins, an award-winning American writer of science fiction and alternate history. He wrote and published over 1,500 short stories and articles, 14 movie scripts, and hundreds of radio scripts and television plays.

An author whose career spanned the first six decades of the 20th Century. From mystery and adventure stories in the earliest years to science fiction in his later years, he worked steadily and at a highly professional level of craftsmanship longer than most writers of his generation. He won a Hugo Award in 1956 for his novelet “Exploration Team,” and in 1995 the Sidewise Award for Alternate History took its name from his classic story, “Sidewise in Time.” His last original work appeared in 1967.

Reviews

[Jessie J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Someone else wrote, "I have a thing for medical science fiction;" well, me too. I really liked the book, although the writing was not the greatest, the predicted "science" was awful (animalcules, I ask you), and it was terribly sexist. But as a period piece, it was just wonderful. Most of the movie in my head when I read it was a mix of a Buster Crabbe "Buck Rogers" and "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea."

That's really all I can say. It's not for everyone.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was in the free bin at the library and I picked it up because I had read some of the stories in the book when they first appeared in magazines. As a teenager, I liked the puzzle solving but now, rereading these after nearly fifty years in some cases, I value the underlying perspectives about altruism, the futility of war and the use of creative thinking to resolve conflicts.

[Pruitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a collection of short stories originally published back in the 1950's. They are among the very first SciFi stories about Doctors in Space, a genre which is popular among many.

I found these stories to be quite enjoyable, and easy to read. It was like each story was written with a moral in mind, much like modern fables. They don't feature medicine, per se, they are more about basic human struggles and coping mechanisms, and how one man, the lead character, Calhoun, and his alien animal compatriot, Murgatroyd, help others to eventually help themselves, during their travels from planet to planet helping spread the latest in medical knowledge.

These stories are very well written, with a number of twists and turns in each, and as such, I think are well worth reading for anyone who enjoys the SciFi Medical Man genre, or who enjoys reading older books for their historical value to SciFi. I know I enjoyed them. :)

[Mark Smiley · Rating 2 out of 5]

How many times can a med ship arrive on a planet, diagnose a plant-wide plague that should have been prevented by the previous med ship, come across hostile natives and suspicious neighboring worlds, find a cure to the plague and distribute the cure to all affected and improve planetary relations?
Apparently, eight times, for there are eight stories in this volume, all of which follow a similar theme. You get used to the chee chee chee of his companion, the frantic search for a cure, the outsmarting of entire governments, over and over again.
Good to read in an anthology, mixed in with other varied stories, but eight of them all together was overkill.
If only there was a med ship dude to save me from this book.

[Joe Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the stories but it's a bit hard for me to read an entire anthology of one author. The individual stories are good but after a while it's hard to read the same thing over and over.

[Janelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

The version I listened to included eight stories.

Med Ship Man
Plague on Kryder II
The Mutant Weapon
Ribbon in the Sky
Tallien Three
Quarantine world
The grandfather’s war
Pariah planet

The Grandfather’s War was my favourite story. I’d rate it five stars.

I think I’ve now listened to all the Med Service stories, which is rather disappointing. I’d love to keep reading them.

[Whitney (SecretSauceofStorycraft) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5- fix up novel…. And it feels that way.

[MeiLin Miranda · Rating 2 out of 5]

As an historical read, this comes close to essential--if only to see how far the genre has come both in writing competency and attitudes toward women. Holy cats, there were times...

Nevertheless, the relationship between the Med Ship man Calhoun and his tormal Murgatroyd (the likeable member of the duo), is fun. Some of the puzzles Calhoun faces are quite interesting. And the blending of medical drama with sci-fi, possibly for the first time here, is very "peanut-butter-cuppy," if you know what I mean.

In the end, though, this is pretty much for those interested in the roots of the genre, and not much more.

[Dave Law · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable read. A nice collection of stories about a doctor and his adventures in space. I know others have commented that these seem dated, I thought they held up better than some of his other stories and it didn't detract from my enjoyment of them.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably closer to 3.5 stars.
Interesting stories. These certainly can not be read one after the other as they are repetitive.
They could be the basis of a good graphic novel series.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Calhoun's animal companion is named Murgatroyd. I'm not sure why, but consider these two quick google results, for what they're worth:

"Murgatroyd is a surname from old English aristocracy.... Several characters in Gilbert and Sullivan's light opera, Ruddigore, are named Murgatroyd."

Who first said Heavens to Murgatroyd?
Bert Lahr
"The first use of the phrase wasn't by Snagglepuss but comes from the 1944 film Meet the People. It was spoken by Bert Lahr, best remembered for his role as the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz. Snagglepuss's voice was patterned on Lahr's, along with the 'heavens to Murgatroyd' line. "("Snagglepuss was based on Tennessee Williams, both in terms of his back story being a Southern gothic playwright and also living as a gay man in New York.")

His ship is named the Aesclipus Twenty. Under different spellings, the Staff of Asklepios is an alternative to the now more famous Caduceus, and is a full 3K years old (whereas the Caduceus is, well, wrong).

Leinster was an educated and smart man and that's part of what makes his stories still worth reading.
---
Ok done. Goodness that's a long read. Far from perfect, and not particularly recommendable unless you're already pretty sure you want to read it and aren't waiting for my say-so. Anyway, I'm not going enumerate the faults. I have plenty of book darts about interesting stuff to record:
---
So, I would love it if *Probability and Human Conduct* by Fitzgerald were a real book. Leinster lays out some provocative insights about psychology in the 'quoted' snippets preceding some of the stories here. For example, Leinster as Fitzgerald talks about avoiding "unfavorable outcomes" (aka accidents. "... whether this process is called the intelligent use of probability, or piety, makes no difference to the facts. It is the method by which unfavorable chance happenings are made least probable. Arbitrary actions such as we call criminal cannot ever be justified by mathematics, for example..."

"Fitzgerald" also wrote *The Practice of Thinking* for which Leinster created this excerpt: "Human error, moreover, is never purely random. The mind tends to regard stored data as infallible and to disregard new data which contradicts it...." (just one example of the many many kinds of cognitive biases we should be aware of as we try to live honorable & successful lives).

Also "An unsolvable but urgent problem may produce in a society, as in an individual, an uncontrollable emotional tantrum, an emotional denial of the problem's existence, or purposeful research for a solution. In olden days, the first reaction produced mass-tantrums then called "wars." The second produced dogmatic ideologies. The third produced modern civilization. All three reactions still appear in individuals. If the first two should return to societies, as such . . ."

I liked so many of the bits of world-building. For example the recording of semi-audible & ignorable background noises of nature, music, conversations, to soothe the mind in the otherwise deathly silent & lonely ship. And the tormal, Murgatroyd, not sapient but still a valuable companion and also medical device.

More things to think about: "It's been known for a long time... that no life-form exists alone. Every living creature exists in an environment in association with all the other living creatures around it. But this is true of compounds, too! Anything that is part of an environment is essential to that environment. So even organic compounds are as much parts of a planetary life-system as—say—rabbits on a Terran-type world. If there are no predators, rabbits will multiply until they starve."

There is one that is particularly relevant in 2020-21: "But it wasn't unprecedented for planetary governments to try to cover up things that would be bad for business. There'd been attempts before now to conceal outbreaks of disease. Some had probably succeeded. Those that failed turned out very badly indeed. Minor epidemics had become major plagues.... But very, very many lives had been lost because of governments subordinating everything but business to business. They'd tried to prevent business crises and financial panics and industrial collapse. They'd only delayed them—at incalculable costs in lives."

Just one more: "Any indulgence frequently repeated would become a habit, in the sense that it would give no special pleasure when indulged in, but would make for stress if it were omitted. Calhoun deliberately went for weeks between uses of his recordings, so that music was an event to be looked forward to and cherished."

(Thank you, Baen, for posting the pdf online so I didn't have to type all that!)

So, inconclusion, read this for the ideas. Not for the super-competent Calhoun or the other characters, not for plots, but for things that will make you go 'hmm...' I didn't agree with anywhere near all of Leinster's theories, nor will you, but they're fun to think about.

Btw, no need to read the stories in this omnibus in any order. In this collection they're all scrambled. You could try according to publication date. Or, maybe, I think, try "The Grandfather's War" first.

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary:
This is a collection of stories that follow the adventures of Calhoun and his assistant Murgatroyd, a Tormal. In the future humanity has spread far and wide with many different governments and cultures having came into existence over the hundreds of years of expansion. Since no one government controls everything the Med Service, kind of a galactic Red Cross, was created to be an impartial entity that serves the purpose of keeping human kind healthy and up to date on the latest and greatest in medical information. The organization also serves as a kind of loose communication net that helps humanity keep in contact with itself throughout the galaxy.
They also have the responsibility to deal with any medical emergency that they may come across during their travels. To help with this every ship is assigned a Tormal. A cat like creature that evolved to have a super reactive immune system that can create antibodies in response to any known or unknown virus in existence.
Unfortunately, though it’s never stated why, the Med Service stopped or couldn’t fulfill its mission for some time which left quite a few worlds to muddle through any problems they had on their own. This is where Calhoun and Murgatryod come in. Along with their normal planetary medical checks, they are also given the task of checking on planets that haven’t had a visit from med service in years or in some cases centuries.
Calhoun must be ready for anything as medical emergency can cover many problems such as a planet’s population being poisoned so a businessman can buy a planet, a renegade med ship doctor, a plague of demonic possessions, and planet that once set foot on, can never be left. No matter where he goes or what he encounters, Calhoun has to think on his feet and keep his cool as one mistake will not only cost him his life but doom those he came to help!
My Thoughts:
I thought that this was a pretty good read. There are eight stories in this book and all of them are interesting in one way or another. It’s important to remember that Lester Murray wrote these in the 1950’s and 1960’s so that if certain parts tend to drag or some parts may seem odd compared to modern stories then that’s mostly due to when the stories were written. It’s also easy to see how these stories influenced future SciFi stories that were to come. Some of the plot points may seem like old hat now, but this is the era that those well tread plot points started in. There is also some interesting psychology and history woven in to a few of the more interesting stories. If your interested in reading one of the great early SciFi writers or you just looking for a collection of good SciFi stories give this one a read. M.a.c

[Steve Rainwater · Rating 3 out of 5]

The complete collection of Leinster's Medical Service stories.

Leinster wrote many Med Service stories and there is now a confusing assortment of incomplete books. This large volume is the only book that I'm aware of containing a complete collection of the Med Service stories. If you have this book, you don't need any other Med Service / Med Ship books, it's all here. Plus this is a fairly recent printing so it's also likely you can still find a copy easily.

The Medical Service is an organization that sends small medical starships out to the various colonized worlds of the galaxy. Each ship includes one human medical doctor and one tormal, a small cat-like mammal with a remarkable immune system that's both human-compatible and resistant to nearly all infectious diseases. The Med Service stories follow the adventures of the Med Ship, Asclepius Twenty, crewed by the human Calhoun and the tormal Murgatroyd. Each story presents a new challenge for the team, sometimes directly in their line of work, such as a plague, and sometimes indirectly, such as interplanetary political shenanigans that need to be sorted out.

The stories are typical to above average 1950/1960 pulp fare. There's a mixture of adventure, politics, weird diseases, and occasional romance. The medical science is obviously a bit dated but the plots themselves are usually solid. One or two stories have a bit of 1950s style sexism. If you're a fan of Leinster or science fiction of that era, these are readable, enjoyable stories. Recommended.

[Alan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was very close to not finishing this book. Somewhere in the dark recesses of my memory I have at least middling feelings about Leinster. After this I don't think I'll pick up anything by him.

The characterization is so dated that I cannot forgive it. The characters, including the lead Calhoun, are so stilted they might as well be scarecrows. I wanted to read this in order to compare it to the Sector General series.

There is no comparison. Calhoun doesn't even come across as a CDC functionaries. There medical aspect feels that it is hardly there. At least in Sector General there are attempts made at character, alien medical problems, and consistentl logic in the series (and that series does have it faults).

[Michael Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Four books in one about Calhoun of the space medical service and his tormal, Murgatroyd. In the service he travels through space doing medical checks on the physical and mental health of far flung human occupied planets. While most of the planetary trips are merely medical conferences and bringing the planet's doctors up to date on the latest techniques, Calhoun comes up against assorted villains, scared people, plagues, wars, and so on that stem from medical matters which can only be sorted out in his own inimitable style. A series of short and long stories of the space medical service, written by a master of science fiction.

[Steve Bender · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eight good stories about an interstellar public health doctor and the different situations that he finds himself in. Originally published in the golden age of SF as four different books. Some thought provoking scenarios very similar to today.

[Rick Zucker · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

I like medical stories, like Sector General. I got through the first 3-4 stories. But they were more appropriate for a secret agent than for a medical person. And the basic plot kept repeating. I gave up after four stories.

Also, they are very much of their time.

[Elfhaime · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great classic Sci-Fi. Sometimes the outcome is a little is a little obvious, but a great read!@

[Frank Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

All the stories in one place, to fill in the gaps or more specifically the ones I couldn't find on Libravox.

[Bigal-sa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy reading these books which are actually "historical science fiction". Items which are high-tech in the author's era are made to reach ultra-high-tech in the book - the one that I remember is the voice recorder, which was a miniature reel device. The author would have had no idea that this would be superceded by solid-state devices.

However, I'm sure Leinster has been a source of inspiration for many of the more modern authors. For instance, it certainly feels that the treecat in Weber's Honor Harrington series has its roots in the tormal, Murgatroyd, in this book.

The OCR conversion has been well done, with the only irritation for me being the extra line-breaks between paragraphs.

[Rk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Series of stories about a physician named Calhoun and his sidekick, quaintly named Murgatroyd. Murgatroyd is an alien called a Tormal and is really just a lab animal. But he is cute and lovable one and who makes the stories very enjoyable.

The characters are one dimensional. Especially Calhoun, who even seems to have only one name. We learn nothing of his background and he has very little emotion. We are told nothing of Murgatroyd's home planet. But the medical mysteries that are solved by Calhoun in these stories are fascinating. One could say he is a medical Sherlock Holmes.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is actually a collection of stories about Calhoun, a "Med Ship Man" and his counterpart Murgatroyd, a furry creature know as a Tormal. The stories were originally written in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It was a very interesting look at some of the early SciFi writing, and fun to see how some of the themes have carried on into today's writing. If you are into old school SciFi, then this is for you.

[Nicholas · Rating 3 out of 5]

F.Scott Fitzgerald reading Calhoun and his alien companion Murgatroyd travel the galaxy solving inventive medical mysteries with a fast moving prose style from Leinster. Some of the dialogue is a bit heavy handed, but the action moves at a fast clip. I was drawn to the details of interstellar travel, especially the hazards of space travel as presented by Leinster. The invention of the tormal, Murgatroyd, adds humor and is a unique science fiction creation.

[Kevin Connery · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collection of 1950's-1960's Medical Service stories, where Doctor Calhoun and his biological lab (and pet) travel from planet to planet solving problems--not all of them medical.

Surprisingly undated, save for a couple of technology references, and with a solid set of plots and mysteries. Weak to no characterization, other than demonstrating that Calhoun has fewer emotions than Mr Spock.

Nice storytelling overall.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of shorter stories - I expect they were never intended to be read in a single go, as there's a lot of repetition of some basic facts near the start of each one. Interesting, but be prepared to accept it as a product of its time, with the way it handles technology (tapes!) and women (little dears who shouldn't do anything as strenuous as thinking!)

[Matt Kelland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyable, old-school sci-fi medical stories. These paved the way for such classics as James White's hospital ship stories, and of course the obligatory doctor characters in series like Star Trek.

The Kindle formatting is irritating, though; italics are inconsistent, sometimes changing mid-word. Still, it was free, so I'm not complaining.

[Harry Lane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book is a series of connected SF short stories, in which the principal character is presented with situations in which he has to cope with potentially deadly threats with no resources beyond those contained in his ship and his own wits. Very clever plotting and effective narrative make for entertaining reading.

[Jay Sprenkle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book collects the stories about the Med Ships. They are the emergency medical technicians in the rocket age. The author explorers a unique area and does it well. The stories are well plotted, well paced, the mysteries are interesting, and I liked the characters. A fun read especially if you're looking for something a little different.

[Phil Cowin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one I picked up from Baen books in the free ebook section, and I truthfully expected it to be crap. I am glad I was wrong

It's full of interesting dilemmas, and interesting solutions to solve them. I've even used the Road Building crisis one in real life :D It's great fun.

I can't believe it was written over 50 years ago!

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collection of short stories. No medicine involved, really: each tale is about a roving doctor (with a cute pet who serves as a diagnostic lab--shades of Nourse's STAR SURGEON)who encounters and deals summarily with greedy or otherwise bad guys.