Lester Del Rey 2 hr 29 min read

In a future ruled by the all-powerful Medical Lobby, a disgraced doctor who dared to help a dying man becomes an outlaw on Mars.

Lester Del Rey's 1963 novel follows Daniel Feldman, stripped of his rank for the crime of practicing medicine outside the rules, as he flees to a Mars where his forbidden skills are desperately needed. Sharp, fast social SF about professional guilds, tyranny, and conscience. Read it for driving golden-age adventure with a pointed critique of monopoly power.

In its time

Published in 1963, during the 1960s, new wave revolutionizes the genre.

Reading it

2 hr 29 min read (a novella, a full arc in one sitting or two).