Once a Hero by Elizabeth Moon - review

Once a Hero
Elizabeth Moon
Serrano Legacy#4
Sci/Fi  =  1997

I don't really want to rate this one - how about... ****

Cover - As far as depicting a space battle, and featuring the women characters, this does it.  The woman in the back even looks hard as hell.  Kind of grumpy and angry, also.  Maybe it's being in the middle of a battle.  maybe she doesn't like the woman in front of her....Maybe she's just cranky.  LOL - of course, it's the battle.  I don't think there's going to be a lot of smiling and pleasantries in the midst of a huge space battle. :)

I enjoy a good SciFi novel; especially one that features a woman who is strong and can take things in stride, learning along the way, etc.  I also enjoy the whole SciFi feel - the space travel, the talk of FTL travel, all the little gadgetry  - nano bots, etc - that go into a book concerning the future and all the possibilities.    It's even better when it's obvious that the author knows his or her science but DOES NOT ram it down our throats in the form of pages and pages of science lectures and ''learnin' ''.  

Elizabeth Moon does pretty good with this - her women are strong, her science explanations are mostly short and sweet, incorporated in the story.  I think she even avoids those pesky long-winded conversations when two characters are discussing theory in their sneaky way of TEACHING the reader something sciencey. EXCEPT-during some conversations with a therapist.  Needed, but a little much for me.  However -  Her characters are pretty close to being a Mary Sue type of character.

Now, I don't think that Elizabeth Moon necessarily WANTS to be a young woman who is perfect in space.  But her character is so close to perfectly unassuming, not appreciating her own knowledge or strengths, possibly keeping them hidden even from her self - that it's almost nauseating.....Despite this...

I did enjoy the story for the story's sake.  The narration dialog between characters were fun to read - engaging.  Her main character, Esme was saved from being a complete Mary Sue by her RAGE...this rage that she kept tamping down because she had to be in complete control of herself at all times...so much in control that she picked a boring non-glorious career track that she wasn't really suited for.

 The books starts out with her facing a court-martial.  Seems she was involved in a mutiny - a ship she was on had a little situation, the crew mutinied against the captain, who was possibly a traitor.  So that whole thing had to sorted out - and this young woman, fresh from academy was in a situation where she ended up having to CAPTAIN the ship herself,  made a decision to go into a battle and save another ship, making some mistakes (saving her from being so perfect), but ultimately being hailed as a hero.

AND - she's so unassuming, that she suspects everyone who makes friendly advances toward her.  She doesn't really believe that anyone really wants to be her friend.  She is suspicious of almost everyone wanting to be around her because of her notoriety (which, ironically, seems to be mix of extreme low selfesteem and extreme high opinion of her fame...).  Sometimes people are just friendly, lady!  Sometimes.

She ends up going home - where she ends up finding out something that has been hidden from her - something pretty damaging and something that has affected her whole life.  It's a major spoiler, so you can't read about it here.  But, she feels betrayed by her father and family and feels this  RAGE.  perfectly justified.  (she had been dealing with nightmares her whole life, they popped back up after the space battle)

After her trip home, she's reassigned to a deep space ship repair goliath of a space craft.  One that is so huge that even long term employees have a hard time finding their way around.  Of course, once there - she's noticed by many people, some of them top brass, and most of them have high opinions of her - seeing right through to her potential.  This part kind of bothered me ---- it seemed a little improbable - but what the hell, this is a piece of fiction, and as such has the right to be a bit fairy tale-like.  There was one - the captain of the goliath, that did not like her, was pretty dead set against having her there, didn't trust her because of the mutiny background.  So that was refreshing.  And her immediate supervisor, or commanding officer - was pretty grumpy to her, even though she secretly was awed by the perfect shininess of Esme and her wonderful abilities that were deeply hidden, except during the mutiny and following space battle....

Once again, there is nefarious plotting going on, and this huge thing - this goliath of a space craft comes under attack.  And circumstances pave the way for Esme once again to be the young inexperienced person that everyone - no matter how many other experienced people were on this ship - to be the one that ultimately saves the day.  It's all explained, sabotage and attacks, isolation of many of the crew from each other, murder, etc.  

Even though I found some parts of the novel to be "oh please, sure this would happen"; even though I found some of the characters oh so predictable (the grumpy supervisor, the greedy villians, the hateful captain, etc)  I did enjoy the story, because no matter what, and no matter how improbable, Moon can tell a good story.  It's entirely possible that part of the story was supposed to show how silly perceptions can be - Esme's self-perception, her crippling way of shying away from her own abilities, her family's perception of the way things should be, her captains's perception of her mutiny, etc.  Something about her style and her characters made me want to keep reading til the end.   There was some eye rolling going on while I read, for sure, but still -  I want to read more from this series....

This is a Serrano Legacy novel - there are quite a few other books in the Serrano series, however, in this particular novel, the Serranos did not have a huge presence as characters.  There is the Serrano that was involved in the mutiny, but you only read about her.  There is an Admiral Serrano that interacts with Esme for a short time, and then there is the young male Serrano.  He befriends Esme, and is one Serrano who definitely feels the heavy mantle of the Serrano expectations and legends weighing him down, expecting so much out of him...He doesn't play a huge part - but is a good friend to Esme.

Oh, I know there are better SciFi writers out there - I've read them (Tanya Huff's Valor series, Laura E Reeves' Minoan Space series, Marianne de Pierres' Nylon Angel and her Orion series, R.M. Meluch and her USS Merrimack series and Elizabeth Bear's Jenny Casey series - love that one....) but STILL - I enjoyed this book and would like to read more. There's just something about Elizabeth Moon's books that I like despite myself.  :)

Bottom line.  An extremely readable book with charm.  There are some heavy subjects - but nothing too graphic.

It's Monday.... and I've been sooooo lazy, (grin)

 I've had a whole entire week of being lazy...the extent of my activity has been reading, sleeping, watching t.v., and thinking about dying my hair -  I've been getting very tired of my gray and white hair.  I've even gone so far as to send off for a copperish color of dye. I used to be brunette - the type of brunette with auburnish highlights from the sun. Kind of waffling on this, because I know I'll have to deal with the white roots coming in, and there's nothing worse (with hair, that is) than having a bunch of white hair in skunk like roots coming in - it can make you look pathetic pretty quick.  within two to three weeks of coloring your hair.  One option, is deliberately leaving a few chunks of white, hoping for a streak effect.....

I did re-arrange drawers in my kitchen - or rather, I FIXED the drawers, since a house full of men means that things get put where-ever they end up - no rhyme or reason, just stuff things where-ever the whimsy strikes.  grrrrrrr.

I usually link to Sheila's It's Monday, What Are You Reading? post, but I think she's still out of town, on her weekend getaway - I don't see a Monday post to link to yet.  So I'm linking to her home page,  we'll just have to see how things go.

Anyway, I haven't been doing very good on these posts.  I've missed a few, and then last week, when I finally posted, I didn't visit very many other blogs - being the lazy person that I was this past week.  LOL, who am I kidding?  No One!  I'm always lazy - but I've been lazier than normal (it all stems from a childhood of having to work very hard on the weekends,CLEANING house, doing laundry - and babysitting my little bros after school! like many people my age, we children had to work - do chores,we didn't just play.  lol - don't get upset, young ones.  I know some kids do have chores nowadays, but a lot of kids don't)

So - It's Monday, What Are You Reading? - the usual.  We visit each other, see what we've all been reading, or finished reading (if we've managed to finish any books).

What I finished reading:

Just two novels - 

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

 

by Douglas Adams

One of two books that feature Dirk Gently.  I think this is the first one...(The second one is better...)

This one jumps back and forth between another dimension and a monk who happens to ride a horse and college professor and one of his students - this goes on for almost half a book before something actually HAPPENS and we finally meet Dirk Gently, who is not a very likeable person.  He's a bit of a con.  There are some snooze-worthy bits, but there are also some very chuckle-worthy bits, so I stuck with it.  :)

and - 

Once a Hero 

by Elizabeth Moon

The story of Esmey, not one of the Serranos, (there are quite a few books featuring the Serranos, a space/military family) but a woman who finds herself on the same ship as a Serrano more than once; one time there is a mutiny, and the other time with a different Serrano there is an attack on the  Deep Space Ship Repair vessel that they're on.  It was interesting, even though the character could be considered a Mary Sue - she's just so.... unassuming and barely has any experience and yet manages to play a huge part in...well, you'll have to read the review.

What I'm currently reading:

The Dead Of Winter

by Lee Collins

This is a book I've started previously - and as usual have flitted around to many other books in the meantime...but I do keep coming back to this one - even though I'm in a SciFi mood.

The Wild West...Mining towns, Old Miners....and a woman who happens to hunt monsters.  Vampires, and other critters from hell.

I already have the sequel here to read; it was one of those books that i accidently bought the second in the series.  But so far, this is interesting enough for me to think I'll want to read the sequel so 'sall good.

My sleeping habits have completely turned around.  My nights are wide awake - my days are spent either sleeping or extremely sleepy.  I wouldn't mind this, except for the vaguely guilty feeling I'm having.  Like I should be at work - or being productive.

We did go to the beach one day with the grandchildren.  That was fun, even though I thought we should have stayed a bit longer.  We were only there for about three hours.  But the kids played in the sand, chased the waves - staying a good length away from the water (granma is very paranoide about riptides and losing kids to the ocean)- played with seagulls, found some shells and bought some taffy.  yummy.

One moment that stays in my mind - hearing the two of them in the back seat harmonizing to "I Knew You Were Trouble" by Taylor Swift.  They sounded so wonderful singing together, and like many children were completely unaware of being heard, and therefore sang completely in tune.  Five and six years old - I wish I had had something with me to record them at that moment... ah well, something for the memories.

I hope everyone is having a good summer so far

Happy Reading All!

Victory Conditions by Elizabeth Moon - review

Victory Conditions
Vatta's War #5
Elizabeth Moon
Science Fiction
2009
****

The final installment to the Vatta's War series, Victory Conditions is one of the best books of the series. I found the ending satisfying, if a bit heartbreaking.


Ky has earned quite a reputation as a commander of a space force, yet it hasn't come without some tragedy. She's also been dealing with grief from family death, the loss of a way of life and being the cause of death of others - even though they may have been enemies, it doesn't feel that great to know she's the cause of so many deaths. She's also been a bit bothered by how much she enjoys the kill at times - something that's come up since the first book in the series. She finds herself perilously close to a breakdown, just when she needs most to keep herself sharp. She is going to be in charge of a multisystem force to fight the pirate, which have also grown in force. The odds seem too high.


Rafe has his own difficulties, his father has been damaged, his sister has been depressed and his mother isn't quite the same. On top of that, the board of ISC seems to be growing suspicious of his intentions, though at first they were glad of his help. He's chafing at having to be in charge of everything - and fighting not only his own board, but the government to take the threat from the pirates to their planet seriously. Besides dealing with many spies, there has been mismanagement on all levels by many people at the family corporation.


Stella and Toby have to deal with a kidnapping attempt, and Toby is also dealing with a first love situation - Zori comes from an important family and they're suspicious of Toby's family. And there's something creepy about Zori's dad...


With a great mix of espionage, relationship issues, war strategy and heroics from unexpected places, Victory Conditions was a great final book to a fun series about space traders, pirates, tragedy and family.  I had fun reading the series.

Command Decision by Elizabeth Moon - review

Command Decision
Vatta's War #4
Elizabeth Moon
Science Fiction
2001
****

After thoroughly enjoying Aunt Grace's sections in the last book, I was more than ready to read more of her. However, even though there are sections starring Grace, the main stars in Command Decision were Ky and Rafe. Stella and Toby play a large part also, but the novel seems to focus on Ky and her expanding fleet and allies and Rafe.


Rafe has grown concerned at the lack of communications from his family. Though he's been a bit of a black sheep, distanced from his father they had been keeping in touch and he has been doing some undercover industrial espionage type of work for his father and their company. ISC, a huge powerhouse that had a monopoly on systemm to system communications, is in huge trouble. Seems there has been trouble brewing for quite a while, trouble that Rafe is just beginning to find out about - the ansible outages of the previous novels are just the tip of the iceberg. And now it seems his father, mother and sister have disappeared. Rafe goes undercover to find out what happened to them.


In the meantime,Ky is going into battles with the pirates that have tried to destroy her family and other systems. Allies are coming forth. Unfortunately she's also finding out the limits to her own ships, ships that she thought were in good shape after the retrofitting she had spent so much on.


Stella continues to build the business back up in the new temporary headquarters, and Toby has refined the shipboard ansibles that they found on the ship Ky confiscated from her pirate uncle. Good stuff.


The series continues to get a bit more complex, the characters are multilayered and it's been great reading. However, parts of Moon's writing seems to remain a bit ....I can't think of the right word.  The villains read a bit predictable in their dialogue, the protagonists read just as predictably and typical for sexists...and yet, the rest of the book keeps me interested.   All the main characters are finding their beliefs and views challenged on more than one front. I'm looking forward to reading the final novel in the series. 

Engaging the Enemy by Elizabeth Moon - review

Engaging the Enemy
Vatta's War #3
Elizabeth Moon
Science Fiction
2007
****

Engaging the Enemy is my favorite out of the Vatta's War series so far. Ky has obtained a ship from an exiled piratical relative, and she is continuing her plan to gather reinforcements to fight the pirates that seem to have caused so much death and tragedy to so many systems.


Stella's personality continues to emerge. Toby is revealed as a tech whiz, and Rafe continues to be an interesting almost friend - a friend you can't quite trust yet.


The best part is the alternating pov between Ky and Grace - the aunt that has been staying under everyone's radar as a dotty old lady who is obsessed with baking horrific fruitcakes. This woman is almost a one woman security force. There are some great scenes between her and one of Ky's former commanders in the academy-MacRobert.


Stella and Ky have decided to set up temporary headquarters for the family business (they've been unable to communicate with the home planet) and are trying to bring in any family business ships that are still out trading. Stella proves herself to be excellent at this side of the business. Ky continues with her part, strategy and providing some safety to whomever she can. Some allies come her way and after a tragedy involving pirates, she ends up with two other captains who will follow her.


The characters - all the other system characters, spacedock staff, etc. are dramaticlly difficult or judgemental, yet I still find this to be an interesting series. I have enjoyed this particular novle much more than the first two, which I had fun reading - especially the emerging personality and force of "batty" ol' Aunt Grace.  If only we could all be so tough and sneaky at that age as she is portrayed. :)

Marque and Reprisal by Elizabeth Moon - review

Marque and Reprisal
Vatta's War #2
Elizabeth Moon
Science Fiction
2004
****

A very interesting sequel to Trading in Danger, Marque and Reprisal starts off almost right where the first novel left off. Ky is continuing to try to keep her ship in condition, trade for profit and is finding out that many systems have been having trouble - communications ansibles have been sabotaged, systems are left isolated with no means of communicating with the rest of the universe, and these places are being hit by pirates. Ky is putting two and two together and is coming up with a plan. Unfortunately - most people don't believe in either the need or the plan, so she's not getting much support.


It's good reading, Ky's decisions, the mistakes she makes and her solutions. While dealing with the news of her family's many deaths and the attacks on the home planet, she also comes across two family members and a new character - a bit of a rogue that's more than he seems. In fact, her cousin Stella is also more than she seems. Things are becoming a bit more complex.


There is still lots of dialog that probably could have been pared down, and lots of information and space/trader strategy narration, but the series has continued to interest me and I read this book almost in one sitting. One of the problems Ky has been dealing with is not being taken seriously because of her age, and her sex. In fact, I had a bit of a problem with how sexist the older males were in a supposedly advanced society's, where there are many females in high positions, it's amazing how Ky's actions are blamed on being a female, being "turned by a pretty face" and her age.


However, something about this series keeps me interested, and the characters - Stella, Grace (the supposely weird frutcake making aunt), Toby (the young cousin) and Rafe all have hidden depths of character. It's mostly because of the space opera tone and the characters that I'm wanting to read more.

Trading in Danger by Elizabeth Moon

Trading in Danger
first of five

Elizabeth Moon
****
cover- It's science fiction. The cover is interesting because it's showing the view from the inside (presumably) of a space ship, with the stars and a planet in the background and a rather intense looking woman on the cover. Other than that, it feels unremarkable to me. Like a common sense cover. But for what it is, it's okay for a cover

First off, I enjoyed this book - very much. So much that I pretty much read it cover to cover without my usual switching back and forth between books. Now for the weird part. I can't really pin down what I do like about this book.
I liked this book in spite of lots of dialog that seemed repetitive. Kylara (Ky) seemed to be making the same explanations over and over, and as a reader I got to read it over and over...There were also quite a bit of what some might call minutae. Lots of dialog about shipping, trading, credits, Ky learning about procedures of captaining a ship, fighting, etc. Many, many explanations in dialog and narration of the minutae of space ship/trade ships. The loading, the buying, the trading, etc. But even though at times all this dialog type of information seemed a bit much, it was also kind of interesting in a weird way. And,in spite of all of these things that would normally make me put a book down, there was something about this novel that kept me reading it simply to find out what happens in the end. And then when I got to the end, it made me want to continue reading this series and I went out and bought the next two novels.
There were also a lot of what I think of as obvious characters - stuffy older captains, bigoted people, irritating officious characters....any stereotypical irritating character you can think of is portrayed. Even so - something kept me reading.
In this first novel, Kylara Vatta is an uptight seeming, by the book almost naive young woman who has been asked to resign from the Space Academy due to a political scandal that she was tricked into taking part in. She goes home, mortified and is given just a short time to recover. Her father asks her to captain an aging ship on it's last trade run that is supposed to end in a space ship junkyard.
This is where the real story begins. While she is captaining her first ever space ship, she's not so sure she wants to turn the ship into a junkyard. Her family on her homeworld is also attacked, her own ship ends up in danger and Ky ends up learning some hard lessons as well as succeeding in keeping her ship and crew alive.
Very interesting, easy to read (if you don't mind lots of details in the dialog) and made me want to read more. What saved it for me is the interesting characters that appeared, and threaded through the obvious conversations and characters were a few gems, gems that were so interesting that I was hooked...to the point where it almost felt like a good old fashioned campy SciFi novel.