“The Bush Clinic” by Stella Atrium

The Bush Clinic (The Tribal Wars Book 1)

Stella Atrium
Stella Atrium Writes (2022)
ISBN 9781958959022
Reviewed by Jill Rey for Reader Views (11/2022)

It is the mark of a good book when you’re so lost in the pages that when you finally look up, you realize you are halfway through the story, “The Bush Clinic” was one of those reads. While it clocks in at nearly 500 pages, chock-full of plot and story, it read faster than some shorter page length novels I’ve encountered.

Author Stella Atrium did such a phenomenal job with her scenery descriptions, settings, and character development that I found no need to reference the opening credits map provided, or the glossary of fictional references.

“The Bush Clinic” is separated into three distinct parts. Each part is narrated by a fundamentally different character, a character which holds a significant role in the story and provides a different point of view to the ongoing story, a story that cohesively spans each of the three parts with no breaks or flash backs. Beginning with that of the most prominent character in this book one, Dr. Edna Edwina Greensboro, or Sheeks-Cylom herself.

Primarily set on the fictional planet of Dolvia, Dr. Edna Edwina Greensboro is an Earth-born doctor who has set off through the wormhole to research and provide vaccinations for the ailments that plague the tribes and people that call Dolvia home.  Earning respect in her own regard “The Bush Clinic” follows the encounters, successes, failures, and adventures of Dr. Greensboro, among other key players in the opener of The Tribal Wars series.

From the tribal warriors to the women that keep it all running and the relations, economy, health concerns and movements around the planet of Dolvia, “The Bush Clinic” draws you in, making readers feel right at home on this strange, science fictional planet. Even the supporting characters, such as the pet gualareps that grace the pages of this novel, add to the connection readers will feel to the characters on the page.

This lengthy book is a quick read for sci-fi lovers, fiction lovers, and earthbound mortals themselves. With “The Bush Clinic,” Atrium has crafted a series kickoff that leaves readers bracing for more as the characters draw you in and hold you in their unique narratives and view of their world.