Rules Of Engagement

Rating:
Summary: Bravery pays off - a true page turner
Review: "Rules of Engagement" is the bravest book in this series by Elizabeth Moon. And it's also the best put together of all books. The result is a work with character and the grit of real life war; a true page turner.

Moon focuses on young heros, Esmay Suiza, spoiled rich brat Brun, and a youngster of the famous Serrano family, Barin. At first, a usual misunderstanding of first love by Esmay and Barin - Esmay is convinced Brun is after her man, which leads to a blow up between the two young women. Unfortunately, the argument wasn't as private as Esmay thought ... the Fleet had a scan on Brun for security reasons.

Out of favour with her seniors, Esmay is in disgrace. Brun decides to leave her course with the Fleet as a result -- and unfortunately, is caught by a malicious bunch of religious fanatics who decide she will make a good breeding woman. Brun faces imprisonment, the embarrassment and humiliation of rape, and is forced to live mute among her captors.

Barin is harrassed by another young, beautiful officer, and Esmay hardly knows what to do with herself as Brun's father doesn't want her anywhere near the rescue operation. But she happens to understand what Brun's going through and even has a good idea on how to free her ... Brun has her own ideas, of course; and Barin, a Serrano, refuses to be left out of the action.

This work is truly compelling. Moon tells an entwined and captivating story of love, hate and the reality of warfare and how heros become heros. The story is complete, the characters are captivating and the scenario believable.

Five stars for this book which outshines all the others in the series.

Rating:
Summary: Not Once A Hero
Review: After finishing Once a Hero and thoroughly enjoying it, I immediately purchased Rules of Engagement. In this novel, the story is split between Esmay Suiza, her potential love interest Barin Serrano and Brun Meager, the beautiful, spoilt, headstrong daughter of a rich and influential political leader.

Brun latches onto Esmay at Copper Mountain, a military training facility where both are taking classes. Esmay simply doesn't have time to play friend, tutor and mentor to this very pushy, outgoing yet charming woman because she has switched from technical to command track and has to double up on courses. Esmay does like Brun and tries to be pleasant, but Brun also flirts with Barin, the young man Esmay likes. Esmay doesn't know how to handle liking Barin or Brun flirtations and it strains their relationship to the point of an explosive argument between the 2 women. Esmay is disgraced and Brun storms off and gets kidnapped by a radical group of villains whose beliefs allow them to oppress and mistreat women.

The rest of the novel jumps between characters...the reaction of Brun's father to her kidnapping, the rescue effort, Esmay, Barin, Brun, her fellow captors, the villains, the villains wives...I found there were pages I wanted to skip because I just didn't care or find the information relevant. I always enjoy the parts of the story when Esmay is on Altiplano, but that is a small part of this book. I also don't understand why in a book about a completely made up future universe, Moon would decide to pick Texas, a place that exists in America today and make our descendents evolve into crazy extremists in her book. Why offend her readers when she could just as easily have made these villains based on a fictitious culture? I did think the book was readable, but I can't recommend it and I won't continue with the other books in this series.

Rating:
Summary: Brisk light action/adventure/romance. 4.5 stars
Review: __________________________________________
Rules is the sequel to Once a Hero (97), and shares some supporting
characters with the "Heris Serrano" trilogy (1993-95). It's reasonably
self-contained, though you'll enjoy it more if you've read some of
the preceeding books, all of which I've liked.

Esmay Suiza (the Hero) is a likeably nerdy young officer. Her heroic
exploits overshadow her difficult childhood, her love life is terrible,
she's had a bad-hair *life*... When Brun, rich, spoiled & beautiful,
breezes into her life with hairdressing tips, & then goes after Esmay's
secret beau... Well! Another reviewer (alright, Christina Schulman)
comments that "these confident, decisive people behave like
insecure teenagers when they're thrown together at Command
School..." Ah, but I think that's precisely Moon's point -- Cupid's
tardy arrow will turn someone like Esmay, a seriously repressed
overachiever, to instant mush. Personal resonance here: Ms. Moon
and I were classmates at Rice in the mid-sixties (though I don't
think we ever met), and I'm willing to bet she was a TRG, just as I
was a TRB -- earnest, nerdy, bad hair, socially-awkward, sexually-
repressed... oh god, it's excruciating just to think about those times...

Anyway, Moon's delightfully Wodehousian aunts-in-space arrive
just in time to save Esmay's butt (and career), and young love
prevails... As usual, Moon's fast-&-furious action, meticulous

military-medical backgrounding, and formidable storytelling skills
carry the day. There's another Suiza-Serrano-Familias novel
coming, and I'm looking forward to it.

Rules is Moon's fifth book set in her Familias Regnant
universe -- a rather implausible interstellar plutocracy with
corruption/kleptocracy/rejuvenation problems -- threatened
by, eg, the Bloodhorde barbs-in-space (Hero) and the NuTexas
Godfearing Militia (Rules). This background was light
entertainment for the Heris Serrano series, but Ms. Moon seems
to have a bit deeper intentions for the Esmay Suiza books, and the
backstory creaks ominously under the load. After this OCC (obligatory
critical carp), I should note that she is simply carrying on an historic
space-opera convention, and the the scratchy backstory will interfere
little (if at all) with your reading pleasure.

Happy reading!
Pete Tillman