Elizabeth Moon writes outstanding works, both SF and Fantasy. Both her Paksennarion novels and the Familias Regnant novels are wonderful examples of how to create worlds and write good stories set in them.
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If you haven't been following the Familias Regnant books by Elizabeth Moon, you do not want to start with this one. It ties in a great deal of peripheral characters and event from the earlier books that can easily make for a very confusing read. Even if you have been following the books, it can be almost overwhelming moving around between the various viewpoints, characters and event.
As the title of the book indicates, it is concerned with a change of command. But not just any change or even just one. The book starts with the biggest change right off the bat, the assassination of Bunny Thornbuckle, a major character from the earlier books. Most of the command changes in the rest of the book are direct consequences of this first change. Some were just as major and disrupting, such as the happenings on Copper Mountain, others so subtle they could easily be missed, such as the final one with Barin and Esmay.
This is not an easy book to read, with some things being very disturbing to read. But it is worth the effort to really read it and pay attention to what happens. The rapid POV changes, the somewhat disjointed narrative style, and the sometimes disquieting events all make for a difficult read. But following the chain of events from the assassination to the final changes, and seeing how each of the follows and is caused in some way by what went before, makes for a very rewarding use of time. If you have been following this series of books and are willing to but some real effort into this one, pick it up, it is well worth it.
An archetype of how to do a fantasy series. Starting from a farm girl running away from home and progressing to a soldier and ultimately to a legendary Paladin, Paksennarion is an engrossing and entertaining heroine. Whether it is the omnibus edition or the three single books, if you are a fantasy fan, you want to read these stories. The other novels deal with some of the history of Paksenarrion's world, particularly the story of St. Gird Paksenarrion's main patron.
This starts off looking like fairly standard space opera, but it doesn't stay there very long. The first three books focus on Heris Serrano, a member of a military family that has been forced to resign. Her adventures with the Lady Cecelia and the yacht Sweet Delight range from political intrigue to hand to hand combat to space warfare. She also adds in some interesting thoughts about the affects of age extension on society.
Rules of engagement is a military term detailing how units may react to enemy units or being under fire. The conditions can range from being unable to return fire without permission to attacking enemy units on sight. The DefCon status made famous in various movies is an example of rules of engagement that are used by the US military. On a more general level, everyone has their own rules of engagement for dealing with other people. And that is what this book is about.
Reading some of the reviews about this book before reading it myself was somewhat worrisome. Several mentioned how Esmay, Barin, and Brun, characters from earlier books of the Familias Regnant, all seem to regress to earlier versions of themselves. I was afraid that Elizabeth had had an off book. But having tried it, I find that instead she has stayed at the top of her form. All three of the main characters do and say some rather stupid things to each other, but it is not because they are regressing to former personalities. Rather it is because they are all still in the process of growing from those personalities.
Esmay has started using her talents for command, but she is still unsure about interpersonal relationships. But she has not had either the inclination or the opportunity to practice those relationships, so it is not hard to believe that she makes mistakes. Barin and Burn also make mistakes dealing with each other and Esmay, again because they still have growing to do. Almost all of the mistakes made can be traced back to the fact that all three people have their roots in very different cultures. Brun a spoiled child of the Ruling Families, Barin from the very rigid military family of the Serranos, and Esmay a mixture of the two as a member of the ruling military family on Altiplano. The rules of engagement within each of these cultures is very different, so there is going to be a lot of friction when they interact.
Friction also results when entire cultures meet. The New Texans have such different rules from the Familias that there is almost no common ground. But the one place they do meet is enough to create a very powerful bridge, at least among some people.
If you have been wondering about picking this up because of the less than stellar reviews, ignore them. This is a wonderful addition to Elizabeth's Familias Regnant books. Not only a very nice space opera, it has a lot of thought provoking material. You really want to pick this one up.
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