Winning Colors

It looks like Heris Serrano will finally be vindicated. After being unjustly cashiered from the fleet, she has served as the yacht captain for a rich lady. Even that has had its share of adventure but she has always pined for the fleet. Now she has a chance to return but that chance is a dangerous one. Her mistress is visiting a planet intent upon buying some horseflesh. While there, Serrano learns of the locals' fears of imminent invasion. She manages to offer some good advice and help them drive off a probe but things fall apart when elements from her own fleet show up and appear to be turncoats. She might be able to save the system from destruction from the real invasion fleet only if she foments a mutiny and takes command of the fleet herself. Needless to say, the turncoats have other ideas. This seems as if it will wind up the Serrano trilogy. That's a shame. It has been a good series thus far.

Heris Serrano, formerly a captain in the Regular Space Service, has spent the last several years commanding a rich old lady's private transportation instead. Now, in the concluding volume of the trilogy begun by Hunting Party and continued with Sporting Chance, she's offered what may be a chance to go back to the life she loves best. The charming rural planet where Lady Cecelia wants to do some horse-trading lies undefended, and the so-called Benignity of the Compassionate Hand (an outlaw state) has it slated for scorching and annexation. All that stands between the enemy forces and Xavier's frightened population is Heris and her crew. Aboard what? An armed yacht. Aided by a few shuttles, a snail-like ore carrier, and one museum-vintage starship. This wonderful adventure story gets needlessly complicated in places because of all the subplots we're following as the author moves toward tying up the trilogy's many loose ends. You do need to know the characters already in order to grasp what's going on; I wouldn't recommend trying to read this book first, and reading it as a standalone would be frustrating at best. But it does a fine job of pointing up its theme of maturity, as the younger characters achieve this quality that was lacking when we first met them; and as the older characters start to realize how their potentially endless lives (thanks to "rejuv") will alter their children's and grandchildren's futures. Or perhaps I should say nieces and nephews, not children and grandchildren; because aside from Heris herself, this book's most notable characters are its formidable maiden aunts. All things considered, an excellent read.

I highly recommend that anyone who likes space opera take the opportunity to read Elizabeth Moon. She's a fabulous writer, and her characters draw you into the novels. Heris and Cecelia, each quirky in their own way, make drastic changes that affect everything in their universe... and they do it simply by doing what they feel is necessary.

This one rates 5 on my personal evaluation, because I want to be recommended anything like it, to put it simply. :-)Not as good as the previous book, though, this book somehow manages to lack interest in the space battles, which is very odd given the, if you pardon the pun, odds. Also, I was expecting to see the story that Rules of Engagement implies, and it was just not there, which was a let down.Still, this book is a definite bridge between the civilian action of the first two books and the military environment in the follow ups. The story is sound, the pacing is good, and the action is interesting.

The third of Elizabeth Moon's Heris Serrano books is _Winning Colors_. In this book Cecelia, restored to health, has been forced by (unbelievable, to me) legal manipulations to give her yacht to Heris. Cecelia charters it and they head for a horsy world to look at some horse genes for Cecelia's farms. In the meantime Heris has hired Brun, whose father wants to keep her out of trouble, and also Heris has hired an expert "communications tech" from her friend Livadhi's Royal Space Service crew. Also in the meantime, Raffa's family has forced her to break up with Cecelia's niece Ronnie, because of the scandal involving Cecelia's treatment at the hands of her family, and her response: to sue them. Ronnie, at loose ends, agrees to go to the non-Familias worlds of the Guernisi to investigate some suspicious samples of the immortality drugs. When Ronnie (and his friend George) run into trouble, Raffa is sent after them. Also at the same time, a spoiled young rich girl from Ronnie/Raffa/George/Brun's generation is killed by revolutionaries on Patchcock, the source of the questionable immortality drugs. And also (pant pant) the evil mobster empire, the Benignity of the Compassionate Hand (great name!), is planning an attack on, by coincidence, the same planet to which Cecelia and Heris have gone.You can probably see that this is the third book in a series, and you should probably read the first two first. (Though I think that the book does have enough internal info to allow readers to catch up.) It's a very action-filled, involving, novel. There are some pretty cool space battles, some exciting action involving the young uns, and some hints of serious consideration of the potential problems of super extended life spans. It's another great, fast, read. I liked it. But I must say, it also has some flaws, that cause me to rank it a bit below the second and best novel of this series, _Sporting Chance_. Most fundamental is a certain reliance on some outrageous coincidences. To some extent Moon patches this by having some of the action directed from behind the scenes by a benign (not of the Benignity!) figure, but this too seems a bit pat. In addition, Moon shied away from attacking the most interesting question she raised head on: that of what to do with the problem of succession when old people never die. I'm inclined to not mind this too much though: indeed she avoids providing pat answers, just asks hard questions. Throughout there's a hint of the author reminding herself that this whole series began as a light-hearted romp, as space opera, and thus "let's not get too serious". At the same time, serious issues are raised, and bad things happen. The whole trilogy is fun and interesting and a ripping good read.