Paperback, 364 pages
Published July 1, 1999 by Orbit.
I enjoyed this book a lot, I thought I would, since I've really enjoyed most of the other books that Moon has written, For some reason the hunting scenes of the island kind of freaked me out, and I usually don't get freaked out with books, so that's kind of interesting.
Elizabeth Moon is the strongest in her sci-fi. It is immediately warm and fuzzy, like coming home to a warm fire in the hearth and a comfortable chair.
After the atrocious narration of the Paksennarion Legacy, I opted to go for the Graphic Audio version. That's much better.
There are many repeat motifs from Vatta's War here, which isn't good. But it is difficult for a writer to avoid that. I like Cecilia a lot. More than Herris, however, their chemistry is very good. I like the way Moon writes old people, and women in general. It is so refreshing to have them populate at least half of the character list and the plot, and have them in most of the important places. If you think that feels unnatural and overdone... well, that's because most sci-fi novels are the opposite: mostly populated by men, and most of the important roles …
Elizabeth Moon is the strongest in her sci-fi. It is immediately warm and fuzzy, like coming home to a warm fire in the hearth and a comfortable chair.
After the atrocious narration of the Paksennarion Legacy, I opted to go for the Graphic Audio version. That's much better.
There are many repeat motifs from Vatta's War here, which isn't good. But it is difficult for a writer to avoid that. I like Cecilia a lot. More than Herris, however, their chemistry is very good. I like the way Moon writes old people, and women in general. It is so refreshing to have them populate at least half of the character list and the plot, and have them in most of the important places. If you think that feels unnatural and overdone... well, that's because most sci-fi novels are the opposite: mostly populated by men, and most of the important roles fulfilled by males.
The women in Moons books are strond and capable, sometimes bordering on Mary Sue, yes. But they have flaws.
Her characters aren't perfect (as in writing) but enjoyable. This series is delightful fluffy light reading, bordering on pulp, with a lot of feel good chuckles.
I like her coupling of horse riding with spaceships :-) however, in this first book, the hunt-part is very boring. But fortunately, it gets better quickly after that.
I like to think of Elizabeth Moons Sci-Fi as the Conservative Rich people in space. It's pretty good fun, but shockingly weak on the pushing the boundaries type stuff. Last time it was polygamy, this time it's homosexual relationships - while they're not handled badly, it's not exactly ground breaking stuff.
Anyway, plenty of bang zap aimlessly running round to keep me entertained.
