Against the Odds

Rating:
Summary: Don't bother to read this
Review: Elizabeth Moon's strengths are characters and action. In Against the Odds, she brings both together and gives us a nice adventure. Certainly she has brought her characters a long way over the course of this series.

Occasionally, I found the speechifying of several of the characters to slow the narative. Although fully in context, I think we could have done with a little less of this. Also, while it seems to be the style these days to jump around amongst widely spread characters, narative threads, and physical location, I think Moon detracts from, rather than increases, the story's momemtum by relying on this device so much.

Moon is a compelling writer and AGAINST THE ODDS is certainly worth the reading. Given the chance, it should be read after CHANGE OF COMMAND although it can certainly stand on its own.

Rating:
Summary: A rousing conclusion despite dangling plot threads
Review: Esmay Suiza knows that marrying Barin Serrano against the wishes of both their families will have consequences, but she doesn't anticipate being dismissed from the Fleet on the orders of a Serrano admiral. As Esmay makes her way to Castle Rock, in hopes that her friend Brun Meager-Thornbuckle (of the Familias Regnant) may help, she has no idea that Barin has come close to dying in battle. Traveling aboard a trade-ship that doesn't normally carry passengers keeps her insulated from much of what's happening in the rest of Familias space, as the Fleet is torn apart by mutiny and Brun's family finds itself under attack from within.

This seventh volume brings the Heris Serrano/Esmay Suiza series to a rousing conclusion, as the characters we've come to love find their places in the universe and their meticulously drawn society meets its greatest crisis. I'm disappointed that the author leaves several plot threads unresolved (or at least not clearly so), but it's an excellent read just the same. Especially the last poignant, downright haunting chapter.


Rating:
Summary: Better, but still has a ways to go
Review: In this the final book of the Serrano/Suiza series we come back to much of the promise we saw in the first 4 book! But we are still left hanging at the end!! This author has a bad habit of writing endings that while assure us of our favorite charcter's current status leave us hanging for the long term. While this series did have promise and was entertaining, I can't help but feel it was an attempt by the author to compete with David Weber's Honor Herrington series. It is an attempt that failed on two fronts. One the author is no where near the same caliber as Weber when it comes to writing about battles, tactics and military personel and politics. Second the author tries to make stage much of her story on character drama and and skip on the tatics of war, at the same time creating a drama that in several of her stories brings the general flow of the story to a screaming halt! I'd say this book is worth the reading time and the price of the book if only to finish off the series. But on the other hand the book itself is pretty good. But as a whole i'm disappointed with the series as several of the books just seemed to shoot the guts right out of it...or shoot it off at the legs whichever you prefere.

Rating:
Summary: A good book
Review: It is hard to say what makes a book better than another and how much of it is personal preference and/or author's style. In the universe of the Serranos and Suizas, I give this book a thumbs up.

I liked this book the most because it flowed so well. It was fun to read, I cared about the characters and was there with them as the story hopped from sub-plot to sub-plot. In the previous book, Change of Command, I was most disappointed because the sub-plots seem to take me away from the story and not into it.

I have to say, the ending did take me by a surprise a bit. As if the story had a lot of mini-endings throughout the book and simply chose to end after one of them. Also, then ending scene was actually very well written to evoke emotion, however I agree with a previous reviewer who questioned whether events appropriately led up to such a scene.

And lastly, as the book itself mentioned in the beginning, most likely this book won't be nearly as enjoyable as it was to me if you haven't read some of the previous books.

Read the previous books in the series, they are fun.

Rating:
Summary: A grand finale
Review: Like Change of Command, this is not exactly a stand-alone book, and I would not recommend it as your very first Elizabeth Moon read. But oh, it's a lovely finish to the Familias Regnant series (which began with Hunting Party).

I'm not ashamed to admit I cried at the end. To absent friends, indeed.

Rating:
Summary: Happy End
Review: Someone implied this book is the end of the Familias Regnant series. I'm not so sure about that, but the end is, indeed, very satisfying. It has a sense of conclusion that few other books in the series had.

The pace is pretty good for about three fourths of the book, but it gets bogged down in the middle. Also, some of the threads in the story are a bit weak, meaningless. Looking back, I can see why they were there, but one does get a sense of "and the point is?" while reading it.

New readers should stay away from this book until they have read the rest of the series, though. Or, at the very least, the Esmay Luiza books of the series.

Rating:
Summary: Once again another very enjoyable book by Elizabeth Moon
Review: This book which is really the second half of Change of Command does an excellent job of bringing this series to a satisfactory conclusion. I enjoyed reading it and it is up to the authors usual high standard.

Let us hope that Elizabeth can be pushed into writing a new group of stories in this universe!

Rating:
Summary: YES! A much better effort than _Change of Command_
Review: This installment of the Familias Regnant series has redeemed my faith in Elizabeth Moon. The previous book (Change of Command) was spotty and was more of a "set-up" for the events that take place in this book. I must agree with one of the other reviewers, they should have been one book. We get to see more of the irrepressable Cecilia deMarktos, and Heris Serrano of course. This book is about youth growing up -- the younger characters (Brun, Barin, and Esmay) all come into their own, parallelling the maturing that occurs in the Familias Regnant as the issue of the "diamond ceiling" of rejuv is tackled. I was very surprised by some of the events that occured in this book, and found the ending to be rather touching.

I was hesitant about this book because the previous one just wasn't up to standard; however, I figured that _Change of Command_ was setting the stage for the next installment, and took a chance. Am I glad I did!

Rating:
Summary: YES! A much better effort than _Change of Command_
Review: This installment of the Familias Regnant series has redeemed my faith in Elizabeth Moon. The previous book (Change of Command) was spotty and was more of a "set-up" for the events that take place in this book. I must agree with one of the other reviewers, they should have been one book. We get to see more of the irrepressable Cecilia deMarktos, and Heris Serrano of course. This book is about youth growing up -- the younger characters (Brun, Barin, and Esmay) all come into their own, parallelling the maturing that occurs in the Familias Regnant as the issue of the "diamond ceiling" of rejuv is tackled. I was very surprised by some of the events that occured in this book, and found the ending to be rather touching.

I was hesitant about this book because the previous one just wasn't up to standard; however, I figured that _Change of Command_ was setting the stage for the next installment, and took a chance. Am I glad I did!

Rating:
Summary: Adequate but not Stellar
Review: This is another one of those books, which I expected to enjoy far more then I did. I am probably one of the few people reviewing this book who thought that Change of Command was a superior novel to this one. I did enjoy the novel but had several issues with it.

My first major issue was probably the time lapse since Change of Command. One of the problems with reading a series as it is written is that you have lag time that fogs your memory of the detail of the previous novels. The only way to avoid this issue is to either reread the previous book(s) whenever a new one comes out or to wait to read the series until it is finished. I am pretty sure that I would have enjoyed this book more is I had read it one week after reading Change of Command rather then 3 months later. Elizabeth Moon weaves a universe that if nothing else is complex.

The other major issue I had was with character believability. I had a hard time understanding or believing the motivations for the actions of many of the characters, especially secondary characters. These character issues led to problems I had with the plot. When the characters no longer behave in a believable manner then the plot ceases to make sense. Many of the actions seemed so pat and trite. I know the closing bar scene was supposed to be stirring but I found nothing short of silly.

Overall I was not completely satisfied with the novel and can't say that I am sad to see this series come to an apparent end. An adequate novel I do not regret reading but I am sure I will not read again.