RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

Rating:
Summary: Not up to Ms. Moon's previous work
Review: I have read enjoyed Ms. Moon's previous work but this book was awful. If you are expecting the pleasant escape of an adventure story this is not the book for you. It is full of lame sit-com type misunderstandings and graphic gratuitous violence. I am all for pointing out the dangers of religous fanatism but this book went too far into the realm of gore trying to make a point.

Rating:
Summary: Riveting
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Riveting
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: A recent release that I enjoyed.
Review: I read both 'Once A Hero' and 'Rules of Engagement' back to back once I picked up the second book. It sure made me stay up late. I first ran across Elizabeth Moon when she co-wrote with Anne McCaffrey in her Planet Pirates series. I am glad to see that her writing stands up when she is writing alone. I hope she continues to write stuff as good as this.

Rating:
Summary: good followup to the previous book
Review: I've been waiting for this book to come out -- and I wasn't disappointed. I liked the challenges that she faces -- it involved me, and I wanted to know more about the people that surrounded her.

Rating:
Summary: Sign Us Up!
Review: My husband and I were first puzzled, then offended by this book. Not that we have any problem with the nitty gritty of warfare -- rape, murder, torture are on the news everyday. But why make one of the main characters spunky, brash and proud if the only way to grow her as a character is to have her suffer gang rape, forced impregnation and mutilation? If that's the way to build character, then sign us up. Not.

Rating:
Summary: A universe to get lost in
Review: Oh, dear. Another series has me hooked, and this one's got - gasp! - seven books in it. What's worse, I've begun reading them out of order since "Rules of Engagement" is the second of four Esmay Suiza novels which follow (and in a sense continue) the Heris Serrano trilogy. Author Moon has created a believable universe, the kind in which a speculative fiction reader who's particularly fond of strong-but-flawed female protagonists can't help but get immersed.

I have two complaints about "Rules of Engagement." First, it told me repeatedly how Esmay and Brun compared to each other when I could and did figure that out for myself from their actions and their words. Second, I'm getting tired of the obligatory female war hero who needs remedial instruction in (shades of Nancy Kwan) how to enjoy being a girl. Despite those two peeves, though, I loved this book. It delivered action, a textured background, and a varied cast of characters with each functioning as an individual. I'm looking forward to reading more.


Rating:
Summary: Page turning fun, marred by cartoonish villains
Review: On seeing Rules of Engagement I bought it and gobbled it down in no time. Elizabeth Moon's stories are great reading: they read fast, they compel page-turning. She's as good as any author of these days at the task of making you care about her heroes and heroines, and at making you insistently turn the pages.

So I enjoyed reading _Rules of Engagement_ a lot. But nonetheless, I wasn't wholly happy with it. Esmay Suiza, heroine of _Once a Hero_, is switching her career path to "command track", and at the same time she has tentatively started a romance with Barin Serrano, the young cousin of Heris Serrano, heroine of the first three Familias Regnant books. At the same time, Brun Meager, daughter of the Speaker of the Familias Council (i.e., nominal ruler now that the King has abdicated), is trying to take a more serious approach to life, and she enrols in some of the same Naval classes Esmay is taking as a civilian auditor. Brun, somewhat innocently, pursues Barin, but Barin is having none of it. Shy Esmay, however, worried also by the difference in rank between she and Barin, puts the worst possible spin on Brun's actions, and chews her out. This gets Esmay in trouble (can't be making the Navy look bad to the Speaker's daughter!), and also annoys Brun, who runs off and manages to get kidnapped by some cartoonish villains from a place called New Texas. The New Texas villains believe in subjugating their women, which involves rape and mutilation when foreign women come their way. The book then follows Brun's struggle for survival as a prisoner of the New Texas folks, and Esmay's struggle to get her career back on track and to be allowed to help rescue Brun.

It's good fun, and there's tons of cool action, but it's severely marred by the awfully cartoonish nature of the villains. I simply didn't believe them, and I hated reading about them. And, again, it seems a divergence from what I think should be Moon's main concern in these books: examining the strains at the foundation of her odd Familias Regnant culture. Worth reading, but not a great book.

Rating:
Summary: Page turning fun, marred by cartoonish villains
Review: On seeing Rules of Engagement I bought it and gobbled it down in no time. Elizabeth Moon's stories are great reading: they read fast, they compel page-turning. She's as good as any author of these days at the task of making you care about her heroes and heroines, and at making you insistently turn the pages.

So I enjoyed reading _Rules of Engagement_ a lot. But nonetheless, I wasn't wholly happy with it. Esmay Suiza, heroine of _Once a Hero_, is switching her career path to "command track", and at the same time she has tentatively started a romance with Barin Serrano, the young cousin of Heris Serrano, heroine of the first three Familias Regnant books. At the same time, Brun Meager, daughter of the Speaker of the Familias Council (i.e., nominal ruler now that the King has abdicated), is trying to take a more serious approach to life, and she enrols in some of the same Naval classes Esmay is taking as a civilian auditor. Brun, somewhat innocently, pursues Barin, but Barin is having none of it. Shy Esmay, however, worried also by the difference in rank between she and Barin, puts the worst possible spin on Brun's actions, and chews her out. This gets Esmay in trouble (can't be making the Navy look bad to the Speaker's daughter!), and also annoys Brun, who runs off and manages to get kidnapped by some cartoonish villains from a place called New Texas. The New Texas villains believe in subjugating their women, which involves rape and mutilation when foreign women come their way. The book then follows Brun's struggle for survival as a prisoner of the New Texas folks, and Esmay's struggle to get her career back on track and to be allowed to help rescue Brun.

It's good fun, and there's tons of cool action, but it's severely marred by the awfully cartoonish nature of the villains. I simply didn't believe them, and I hated reading about them. And, again, it seems a divergence from what I think should be Moon's main concern in these books: examining the strains at the foundation of her odd Familias Regnant culture. Worth reading, but not a great book.

Rating:
Summary: Not her best, but still a fun read
Review: The Deed of Paksenarrion is one of my favorite stories of all time, and I've very much enjoyed Moon's other books on Esmay Suiza as well, but this one was only okay. The bad guys were caricatures and the situations seemed contrived, which worked particularly badly in conjunction with Brun's captivity. Either the first two aspects trivialized Brun's situation and dampened the effect, or the torture made the lighter aspects seem out of place.

On the other hand, Moon's still one of the best writers out there, and even though Brun left me personally cold (I haven't read the other books about her), Esmay fans will probably still enjoy this book. However, if you're just starting to read Moon's work, start with Paksenarrion and go through the Suiza series in order.