Rules Of Engagement

Rules of Engagement (1998) is the fifth naval SF novel in the Familias Regnant series, following Once a Hero. In the previous volume, Esmay Suiza had again shown her ability to command in combat during the battle against Bloodhorde ships. Then she accepted treatment for her prior traumas and applied for transfer to the command track. In this novel, Esmay is attending school at the Copper Mountain Base. She is making up the command courses that she missed in the Academy and simultaneously taking the Junior Officer course. While she has been excused from some courses through examination, Esmay is still very busy. Charlotte Brunhilde Meager is also at Copper Mountain. Brun is taking a few courses to see if she might be interested in an RSS career. Besides, some of the courses -- such as Escape and Evasion -- may be become important to her personally since someone is trying to kill her. Barin Serrano comes to Copper Mountain for the Junior Officer course. With his time on the Koskiusko and his recovery from injuries inflicted by the Bloodhorde commandos, Barin is behind his peers in his duty assignments. He needs to finish his training and go on to a real ship assignment. Lord Thornbuckle is the chief executive of the Familias Regnant state. He is also Brun's father. She is the youngest and brightest of his children. Unfortunately, he and his wife have thoroughly spoiled her. Hazel Takeris is an apprentice onboard the Elias Madero, a heavy trader that takes a shortcut and is ambushed by the New Texas Godfearing Militia. The raiders kill all the men and women on the ship because of their perversion ands abominations. Only Hazel and the little ones -- two boys and two girls -- are left alive. In this story, Brun and Esmay have a confrontation at Copper Mountain and exchange some heated words. Unfortunately, the whole conversation was recorded on internal scan. Brun leaves the facility in a huff and Esmay is called on the carpet by the commander of the training base. Then Brun is captured by the NuTex barbarians. She chews them out and threatens them with major force, so they cut her vocal cords to silence her. The surgery is competently performed since it is a common practice on their planet to mute vociferous women. By the time they reach Our Texas, Brun is definitely pregnant. She even has trouble walking through the corridors and climbing over the airlock fittings. She is immediately taken to a sluthouse, where she has to stay until the baby is born. Hazel and the toddlers are incorporated in the household of Ranger Bowie. The girls and boys are not allowed to play with each other's toys. Then the boys are allowed to run around the house and the girls are kept within the women's quarters, where they are taught sewing. Ranger Bowie sends a package to Lord Thornbuckle with pictures of the capture and treatment of Brun. Bunny is horrified at the way his little girl is treated and quickly passes the package on to the Gran

__________________________________________Rules is the sequel to Once a Hero (97), and shares some supporting characters with the "Heris Serrano" trilogy (1993-95). It's reasonably self-contained, though you'll enjoy it more if you've read some of the preceeding books, all of which I've liked. Esmay Suiza (the Hero) is a likeably nerdy young officer. Her heroic exploits overshadow her difficult childhood, her love life is terrible, she's had a bad-hair *life*... When Brun, rich, spoiled & beautiful, breezes into her life with hairdressing tips, & then goes after Esmay's secret beau... Well! Another reviewer (alright, Christina Schulman) comments that "these confident, decisive people behave like insecure teenagers when they're thrown together at Command School..." Ah, but I think that's precisely Moon's point -- Cupid's tardy arrow will turn someone like Esmay, a seriously repressed overachiever, to instant mush. Personal resonance here: Ms. Moon and I were classmates at Rice in the mid-sixties (though I don't think we ever met), and I'm willing to bet she was a TRG, just as I was a TRB -- earnest, nerdy, bad hair, socially-awkward, sexually-repressed... oh god, it's excruciating just to think about those times...Anyway, Moon's delightfully Wodehousian aunts-in-space arrive just in time to save Esmay's butt (and career), and young love prevails... As usual, Moon's fast- & -furious action, meticulous military-medical backgrounding, and formidable storytelling skills carry the day. There's another Suiza-Serrano-Familias novel coming, and I'm looking forward to it.Rules is Moon's fifth book set in her Familias Regnant universe -- a rather implausible interstellar plutocracy with corruption/kleptocracy/rejuvenation problems -- threatened by, eg, the Bloodhorde barbs-in-space (Hero) and the NuTexas Godfearing Militia (Rules). This background was light entertainment for the Heris Serrano series, but Ms. Moon seems to have a bit deeper intentions for the Esmay Suiza books, and the backstory creaks ominously under the load. After this OCC (obligatory critical carp), I should note that she is simply carrying on an historic space-opera convention, and the the scratchy backstory will interfere little (if at all) with your reading pleasure.Happy reading!Pete Tillman

"Rules of Engagement" is the bravest book in this series by Elizabeth Moon. And it's also the best put together of all books. The result is a work with character and the grit of real life war; a true page turner.Moon focuses on young heros, Esmay Suiza, spoiled rich brat Brun, and a youngster of the famous Serrano family, Barin. At first, a usual misunderstanding of first love by Esmay and Barin - Esmay is convinced Brun is after her man, which leads to a blow up between the two young women. Unfortunately, the argument wasn't as private as Esmay thought ... the Fleet had a scan on Brun for security reasons.Out of favour with her seniors, Esmay is in disgrace. Brun decides to leave her course with the Fleet as a result -- and unfortunately, is caught by a malicious bunch of religious fanatics who decide she will make a good breeding woman. Brun faces imprisonment, the embarrassment and humiliation of rape, and is forced to live mute among her captors. Barin is harrassed by another young, beautiful officer, and Esmay hardly knows what to do with herself as Brun's father doesn't want her anywhere near the rescue operation. But she happens to understand what Brun's going through and even has a good idea on how to free her ... Brun has her own ideas, of course; and Barin, a Serrano, refuses to be left out of the action.This work is truly compelling. Moon tells an entwined and captivating story of love, hate and the reality of warfare and how heros become heros. The story is complete, the characters are captivating and the scenario believable.Five stars for this book which outshines all the others in the series.

This book does something very difficult. It doesn't let you down after the superb Once A Hero. This book also brings back the characters that featured the prequels to Once A Hero, slowly preparing ground for, what I expect, will be a BIG war (at this time, the sequel to Change of Command hasn't been published, so I can only guess). :-)If you liked Once A Hero, you'll probably like this book. If you liked Winning Colors, you'll probably like this book. If you are a fan of the series, why are you reading this review at all? :-)

I nearly did not buy this book, believing the other reviewers (3 Stars?). Well, I am glad I did not heed their reviews. The book is good. It has more characters than her other books, jumping between them (this may annoy some). The plot is good, the cultures are good. And all round good and enjoyable read.