The Healer's War by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Now THIS is what I would call real Lit-SF.

Most of the modern type likes to moan and complain about how inadequate the MC is when it comes to dealing with RL, usually surrounding unsatisfying relationships -- interspersed among SF tropes -- but this one has a nicely different feel.

This 1988 SF winner of the Nebula award spends a good half of its foundation in the Vietnam war, with Kitty being a hard-working nurse trying to do the best she can in less than awesome circumstances. We get know her, some patients of both Vietnamese and American persuasion, and some local flyboys. The relationships are everything, and I hardly missed the SF/F twist.

When things go to hell, that's when the twist leads us into many raw experiences that draw us deeper and deeper into the real state of war -- and the best part, at least for me, was how the special auras mainly highlighted psychological and social states, bringing her closer and closer to an epiphany that never seems to come.

And then there's also the aftermath, the true-to-life ennui of returning from war, and what comes next.

THIS is what I call a true Lit-SF. The SF portion is genuine and necessary for the underlying emotional center.

I just wish modern types would master this. Alas.

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