I really enjoyed Mindtouch and was thrilled when I saw that Mindline had been released. In Mindtouch, Jahir was given a choice between remaining near Vasiht'h and developing their budding mindline, or leaving his new friends and the mindline behind and accepting a residency at Mercy Hospital on Selnor. He chose to go to Selnor. Mindline picks up where Mindtouch left off. Vasiht'h has decided it was a mistake to send Jahir off on his own and has arranged to finish up as much of his education as possible through distance learning on Selnor. While he is traveling to Jahir as quickly as his limited funds allow, Jahir, unaware that his friend is coming after him, is rapidly running himself ragged. Not only is the residency program extremely difficult, Selnor's higher gravity is making every day feel like a grueling marathon. Things only get worse when a large number of mysteriously comatose patients start showing up at Mercy.

I love Jahir and Vasiht'h. A lot. But it occurred to me, while I was reading this book, that they might be a bit too wonderful and nice for some readers. I think Vasiht'h's only failing in Mindline was that, when his temper finally exploded, which it only rarely did, it was hard for him to rein it in. Jahir had two main failings: he was so pretty that all humans fell a little in love with him (the stuff with Levine seemed unnecessary and repetitive after the minor incident with Berquist in the previous book), and he cared so much about others' well-being that he tended to neglect his own. I really wish the portion of the book in which Jahir was killing himself hadn't dragged on for so long – it made for painful reading.

Everyone around Jahir and Vasiht'h liked them or learned to like them. That didn't bug me, because I liked them too – sometimes I found myself reading with an involuntary smile on my face. What got to me was other characters' comments about their education/professional development. Jahir literally almost killed himself trying to save patients, even after it became clear that they could not be saved. I'd have thought he'd be censured for not recognizing his own physical limitations and for running the risk of turning himself into another patient in need of care or, worse, a corpse. Instead, he was later praised for his dedication.

When Jahir and Vasiht'h scheduled therapy sessions on their own after their faculty oversight canceled all their official appointments, I expected they'd be censured for doing something that could have potentially been dangerous or unethical (they were only student therapists, after all). And yet the same thing happened to them that happened to Jahir on Selnor: they were praised, told that there was no more they could be taught, and sent on their way. I would love to get a medical professional's perspective on this book, because this all seemed pretty dodgy to me.

Jahir and Vasiht'h were wonderful, nice people, a solid (asexual) couple, and students who were praised by every single teacher and patient they encountered. So, yes, they were more than a bit perfect. I can recognize that. But I loved them anyway, when I didn't want to throttle them for trying to kill themselves for the benefit of others. Mindline had fewer lovely, intimate moments than Mindtouch, but there were still some good ones. I enjoyed the hair cutting scene, and their negotiations over the details of owning their first apartment together. Their mindline added a new dimension to their relationship, allowing them to share memories and tastes.

The other characters in the book were, unfortunately, not quite as vivid as Jahir and Vasiht'h. I kept getting several of them mixed up. Paga, a Naysha (aquatic Pelted) and one of Jahir's physical therapists, was the most memorable of the bunch.

The structure of this book was odd. The first two thirds were a medical mystery of sorts, while the last third was quieter and, like Mindtouch, more focused on Jahir and Vasiht'h finishing up their schooling and trying to figure out what they were going to do with their lives. I had assumed that the epidemic of comatose patients would take up the entire book. Moving from the first two thirds into the last third was jarring, like stumbling from one story into another. I think, if that transition had been smoothed out, I'd have enjoyed the book even more than I did.

Overall, I liked this book. Jahir and Vasiht'h are, so far, my absolute favorite of Hogarth's creations, and, as usual, I enjoyed how alien culture was worked into the story. It's too bad this is a duology – I'd love a third book focused on the early days of setting up their own practice.

Extras:

At the beginning of the book, there's a brief glossary. At the end of the book, there's a recipe for Almond Saucer cookies.

(Original review, with read-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

This was more along the lines of what I was hoping for when I read The Case of the Poisoned House and Other Xenopsychiatric Studies. Whereas that collection was nice but ultimately unsatisfying, this felt like a full a complete offering. What can I say, vignettes just don't do it for me.

The word count is skimpy, but at least it's all devoted to a single story. In this case, Jahir and Vasiht'h have been hired to help Lieutenant Commander Nisia Baker, a Seersa who's in charge of the environmental control for an entire starbase. Unfortunately, she may be buckling under the pressure. She's having trouble staying motivated, and depression is setting in. Jahir and Vasiht'h are limited in what they can do for her, because, for security reasons, no one can know what her job is unless they have the proper clearance.

Jahir and Vasiht'h do almost none of the things they usually do when working with clients. Although they spend some time talking to Nisia in order to figure out what's bothering her, they don't use their dream therapy technique at all. Instead, they get creative. They manage to involve the entire starbase in Nisia's treatment and, at the same time, avoid revealing her job and responsibilities to anyone who's not supposed to know.

The way they did it seemed a little far-fetched – I'm not sure it'd be possible for something like that to work that quickly and effectively. Then again, who knows? People latch onto stuff that sounds good all the time. At any rate, it was a nice little holiday story – probably the closest thing to a Christmas story I'll read for a while, since I'm one of those people who burns out on Christmas quickly, due to it appearing everywhere earlier and earlier in the year.

While I still think Mindtouch is the best of the Jahir and Vasiht'h works I've read so far, this was still a good story. Also, unlike The Case of the Poisoned House (etc.), I think it could potentially work for newbies to Hogarth's Pelted Universe. It barely touches on information about the Pelted or Eldritch and, for the most part, doesn’t really need to.

(Original review, with read-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)