MedStar II: Jedi Healer

MedStar II: Jedi Healer is a book written by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry that takes place during the middle of the Clone Wars, approximately two years after the Battle of Geonosis. It follows the story of a Medical Doctor named Jos Vondar, and his Rimsoo 7 (Republic Mobile Surgical Unit) on the planet Drongar. The book is part of the Clone Wars multimedia project.

Editions

 * ISBN 0345463110; September 28, 2004, Del Rey, 302-page paperback
 * ISBN 0739303260; September 28, 2004, Random House Audio, Abridged CD
 * ISBN 0345492684; December 6, 2005, Random House, eBook
 * ISBN 8324120106; Amber, 280-page Polish paperback

Publisher's summary
While the Clone Wars wreak havoc throughout the galaxy, the situation on the far world of Drongar is desperate, as Republic forces engage in a fierce fight with the Separatists&hellip;.

''The threatened enemy offensive begins as the Separatists employ legions of droids in their attack. Even with reinforcements, the flesh and blood of the Republic forces are just no match for battle droids' durasteel. Nowhere is this point more painfully clear than in the steaming Jasserak jungle, where the doctors and nurses of a small med unit face an impossible situation. As the dead and wounded start to pile up, surgeons Jos Vondar and Kornell "Uli" Divini know that time is running out.''

''Even the Jedi abilities of Padawan Barriss Offee have been stretched to the limit. Ahead lies a test for Barriss that could very well lead to her death&mdash;and that of countless others. The conflict is growing&mdash;and for this obscure mobile med unit, there's only one resolution. Shocking, bold, unprecedented, it's the only option Jos and his colleagues really have. The unthinkable has become the inevitable. Whether it kills them or not remains to be seen.''

Plot Summary
Starting off approximately one week after MedStar I: Battle Surgeons, this novel continues the story of Barriss Offee, Jos Vondar, Tolk le Trene, Klo Merit, I-5YQ, Den Dhur and Kaird the Nedij's stories during their stay on the planet Drongar over the Republic and Separatists' war for bota over the planet. Dr. Vondar is still wallowing in grief over the loss of his late friend Zan Yant, even as Zan is replaced by the adolescent surgeon, Kornell "Uli" Divini, who takes a liking toward Barriss, who does not reciprocate his interests because of the Jedi Order's ban of attachments. Kaird succeeds in his operations on Drongar for the Separatists and Black Sun's interests and leaves. Meanwhile, the spy, who is also working for the Separatists and Black Sun, continues his duties of sabotaging the Republic Rimsoos. Barriss nearly falls to the dark side when she takes bota to heal herself, but rejects it at the last second. She then uses her Force powers to locate who the spy is, and finds the culprit in Klo Merit. Dr. Vondar confronts him with a blaster and kills Merit, avenging Zan's death. The Republic and the Separatists then leave Drongar when they figure out that the drug has mutated into a useless weed, but the effects it has in enhancing one's Force abilities to the point of the dark side, such as from Barriss's case, still lives on unbeknownst to the Republic or Separatists. And as for I-5YQ and Den Dhur, they depart for Coruscant to fulfill the late Lorn Pavan's wishes to look after his son, Jax, and just as I-Five believes he has gained sentience. Barriss returns to the planet as a Jedi Knight.

Behind the scenes

 * The authors seem to have an affinity for British Sci-Fi, as, in Chapter 2, Den Dhur orders a 'Sonic Servodriver', a play on words both with the cocktail 'Screwdriver', and the British Sci-Fi character Dr. Who's tool of choice, the 'Sonic Screwdriver'.
 * Page 63 features a nod to the late Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series; Den Dhur starts to order a Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster, an alcoholic beverage featured throughout the series, only to be interrupted by Tolk le Trene. Also, earlier he also orders "that Old Janx Spirit", another drink from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
 * This was the first appearance of the Venator-class Star Destroyer, which was frequently featured in Episode III as a bridge between the Acclamator I- and Imperator-class Star Destroyers, the latter being the principal Star Destroyer from the original films.
 * The headline entertainer who visits the rimsoo is named Epoh Trebor, which is Robert Hope (famed entertainer Bob Hope, who frequently visited US troops abroad) backwards.

Cover gallery
This is a gallery of the different cover variations of Medstar II: Jedi Healer.