Rating: 
Summary: No action or surprises - a major disappointment
Review: After reading the first five books in the series, this one is easily the worst. Mostly exposition, but little action or sastifying character development.Moon is best at detailing tactics with surprises, yet this book has none. The front teaser describes Gelan Meharry - a very minor character, yet the only one that does anything exciting. Ranger Briarly is a wonderful character that is introduced, but she does not help advance the plot at all. We are introduced to Thornbuckle's wife, who acts prematurely and unconvincingly. The characters we know and love (Lady Cecilia, Brun, Barin, Esmay) accomplish little. The only satisfying resolution is with Barin's "wives" and Brun's twins. I can see the start of character development in Miranda, Cecilia, Brun and Luci, but they accomplish little in this book. I was looking forward to seeing the Familias conflict dealt with in a satisfying manner, but this never happened. The obvious villians are introduced, and dealt with in a very unsatisfying manner. Their motives are poorly developed, and they never deal with the consequences of their actions. It's as if they are sacrificial lambs, to be used up as quickly as possible. The mutiny seems like a last-minute addition to the plots, and seems to be added as a cliff-hanger for the next novel. Take away the mutiny, and the plotline shrinks to nearly nothing. This novel seems to be all exposition, perhaps in preparation of the next novel. I hope the next novel is worth it. Read the earlier books and wait for the reviews of Against the Odds. If you like the earlier books, and the next sequel is good, then read this book. Otherwise, skip it.
Rating: 
Summary: Only Half of a Book
Review: Change of Command is the third (and hopefully not the last) of the series it was a disappointment. While what there was of the book was enjoyable, it was really only half of a book. The characters are familiar and are enjoyable. But you should read the others before this to understand what is going on in this book. My biggest complaint is that it did not bring the story lines to conclusion. While there are 320 pages to this book, it wasn't enough. The few story lines that did come to a conclusion were enjoyable. The main point I think is if you enjoyed this series and plan to continue reading this series then buy this book. You will need it to figure out the next book.
Rating: 
Summary: Not her best
Review: Change of Command suffers from "interum syndrome" where a book in the middle of a series has to tie up loose ends and introduce new subplots, but can't seem to create cohesion or a self contained storyline. Many new interesting developements are introduced, but left to dangle. If Moon can come back and write a good sequel, this uninspired volume might be seen in a better light. Best to reserve judgement. Sachie
Rating: 
Summary: Very little military action/adventure, but interesting.
Review: Chronologically this novel is a sequel to "Rules of Engagement," but in mood and orientation it is more a sequel to, "Winning Colors." Very little of the book is devoted to the continuing adventures of Esmay Suiza in the Regular Space Service. Like "Winning Colors" it is mostly devoted to the maneuvering within the Familias Regnant. I enjoyed the character development and insights into the government of the Familias, but there is very little military action/adventure. The mutiny on Copper Mountain had some good action and this novel did set up the civil war within the Familias and the Regular Space service for the next novel.
Rating:
Summary: consistent quality, more focus on politics
Review: Elizabeth Moon - Change of Command Next in a series, this installment was consistent with her style. Strong central focus on female characters. Politics play a big part in the plot. With conspiracies, corruption, espionage, terrorists. Family infighting, and cross family feuding. More dark secrets revealed, and people killed. Most memorable part: sword dancer slips (...). Interesting how some characters are able to virtually read peoples minds by their body language. New characters introduced and developed each installment, starting to get crowded. Technical flaws: military tactics sloppy and disorganized. military vehicles not ready for use. Planned attack and take over of installation not very tight. Improbable incompetence of nearly every villain.
Rating:
Summary: Change of Command- Maybe it was a change in Writers
Review: Elizabeth Moon breaks her run of outstanding books with this group of short stories with no ending in sight. During the first chapter the book outlines a plot worth reading. Then the last chapter barely closes the first. The sub-plots within sub-plots combine to make this the most boring book she has written. I almost thought another writer must have slipped in. However the story line is written in her style. I do not reccomend this book at all.
Rating:
Summary: Disjointed and too many plots
Review: Elizabeth Moon is a favorite author of mine and I looked forward to the next installment in this series but.... I found the book to be confusing, sluggish and distracting. Not enough time was spent on any one plot and I felt cheated that I didn't get more out of one thread through the storyline. It was a bit overwhelming to juggle all the scenarios and keep them straight. At times, I lost interest. I frequently re-read Moon's other books because the writing is so strong but this novel fell flat.
Rating:
Summary: Moon's worst effort to date
Review: Esmay Suiza is a very likeable character, and as in the first two books of this series the cover features her prominently - this time holding a weapon of some kind. But that's about all you'll see of her in this book. Occasionally the author remembers Esmay was supposed to be the central figure of this series, and we get to see her bemoan her problems of getting family and fleet permission to marry for a page or two, but that's the entirety of her involvement. She has nothing to do with any of the other plots, no action, and even very little dialogue. Moon starts this book out well. For the first third we see numerous new characters introduced, as well as an almost bewildering number of subplots - or what we would call sub-plots if there was an overriding plot controlling this book. There isn't, and while Moon sets out the beginings of her plots very nicely most turn to mush in the second third of the book. As for the third part of the book - it's absent. Moon's habit of wrapping up all major plots by the end of the book is abandoned with Change of Command. Only a few of perhaps ten plots are wrapped up, and they're done so very abruptly, with little imagination on the part of the writer, and little satisfaction to the reader. To a fan of Moon's previous efforts, this is clearly her worst so far; a confused jumble of stories with no endings. Certainly not worth buying in hardcover, and possibly not even in paperback.
Rating:
Summary: CHANGE OF COMMAND
Review: Excellent sequel and it brought in two new heroes/heroines for the serise. Plot was clear and characters were believeable. Most of us have known people like these. Whets the appetite for more!
Rating:
Summary: Too Choppy
Review: Having read all of the previous novels in this series, this one was a bit of disappointment. Quite simply, the novel was too choppy. It shifts from character to character too frequently, abandoning certain plot lines for hundreds of pages at a time, changing directions and tone several times, and overall confusing the reader by introducing many new characters that we don't know much about. This 430 page book felt like an extended prologue to an epic series. Taken by itself, it doesn't work. I'm currently reading the next novel, "Against The Odds". Hopefully all the plot lines introduced in "Change" will pay off in "Against". My advice: don't pick this up without reading the previous books in the series, or without also picking up "Against The Odds". As a standalone, it will not make sense nor resolve much of anything.
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