Dr. Trouble

A humorous alien space adventure sci fi novella

By: K. E. Brungardt

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Dr. Xandria Trebelin, graduating her studies as the galaxy's most skilled physician for both humans and aliens, can't find work despite her impeccable credentials. Dubbed "Dr. Trouble," Xandria's reputation for attracting bizarre medical cases leaves her shunned by colleagues.

Desperate, she applies for a position on a distant, remote planet, hoping to escape her undeserved reputation. However, her journey takes an unexpected turn when she literally collides with an unknown-to-her species. This encounter leaves her with a debilitating condition that prevents her from physically touching anyone. Faced with the possibility of never practicing medicine again, Xandria must navigate this unprecedented challenge. Determined to overcome her new affliction, she embarks on a quest to find a solution, driven by her unwavering passion for saving lives.

Will she be able to conquer her latest obstacle and continue her mission to heal others, or will this unforeseen complication end her medical career for good? Find out in this humorous novella of a sci fi alien space opera adventure where medicine and outer space collide!

Told, Not Shown

Congratulations to the author on writing a whole book. It does badly need revision, though.

This book has a charming and very promising premise. Unfortunately, the execution of the premise suffers greatly from a propensity to “tell” rather than “show.” The main character is supposedly a doctor, and supposedly highly skilled, but the author does not take the reader through any diagnosis steps, just has the character state a conclusion without much foundation. The main character boards and walks around a starliner, but little to no description is given of the experience to differentiate it from walking around a regular office building. The main character is said to be asking a mentor a lot of technical questions that frustrate him, but we get no hint of what those questions are.

The author attempts to keep the story clean and relatively wholesome, which is nice. Unfortunately, the author also seems to underline a desire to dip into erotica, with sudden and tonally-shifted parts of the story referring to “my lady bits” and what the main character wants to do to an object of amorous attention. Contrast this with sections where this supposedly mature and educated doctor engages in notably elementary-aged childishness.

A skilled narrator might have found tones of voice that helped to submerge the undesirable characteristics of this book. The Virtual Voice narrator, however, emphasizes every flaw with unerring accuracy.

Please, author, revisit and continue working on this story! You have the bones of something good, here, it just could benefit from more time in development and from you having read some more doctors-in-space fiction, like the “Sector General” and “StarDoc” novels.