Customer Reviews

Change of Command (The Serrano Legacy)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(18)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

My expectations of Elizabeth Moon have been set high after reading her early books (Deed of Paks, Legacy of Gird). The $1.99 teaser for "Once a Hero" caught me and hooked me into this series of books. The first two books were very entertaining... they reminded me of the Vorkosigan space-opera from Lois McMaster Bujold (also highly recommend those books by the way, a fun series).

Ok, now that I've confirmed that I believe this author has skill, on to the review....

Change of Command was not as satisfying as the first two books and ends right when things were just getting interesting. The book spins several different subplots and has the reader constantly wondering when Esmay (main character from first two books) is going to jump into the plot. This never really happens in this book. Being a 3rd book in a series, I expected the story to revolve around the previous main character. Instead the story is around Brun, a character from the 2nd book. Esmay simply occupies one of the sub-stories that are in this book. This is one of the two main criticisms I have of the book. The second criticism is that the book ends.. just ends and the reader is left thinking, "ok, what was the base story that this book was about?". The two previous books in this series had a prime story (and substories as well). Instead, it looks like the 4th book is very well setup now to have a great prime story and that this book just served to set it up.

Basically, I get the feeling that Change of Command was pushed to publication before it was ready. It has the basic meat of a good book, just not strung together well (in my opinion of course). I think that Elizabeth Moon is an excellent writer and would like to see more books akin to her previous writings.

In fact, I'm off to buy the 3 books that take place in this universe before "Once a Hero" right now.

Enjoy!

I like Elizabeth Moon's books, and this series (i.e, the Esmay Suiza series) in particular, at least, until this book. Why this book? Well, first , this book just ends in the middle of the story, making sure that you have to buy the sequel just to figure out how it ends (this is the main reason why Robert Jordon books frustrate me...you're left hanging until the sequel to find out what's going on, if you're lucky). Second, this book tries to weave several different plots together, at the expense of ignoring what is (at least what I thought was) the main characters and plotline. Third, the different plot lines and all the jumping around tends to muddle any flow that the book has. So, if you want to continue reading this series (and the first two books, Once a Hero, and, Rules of Engagement, are quite good) you should read this book, but wait until the paperback, or the sequel, comes out (when you have to know what happens in this book to figure out the sequel).

I have only recently discovered,or perhaps I shoud say re-discovered Ms. Moon. I had read her earlier fantasy series and thought they were ok, but nothing to write home about. Ove the holidays I picked up Once A Hero on a wim and I was hooked her Familias Regnant series. I do love a good Space Opera and this is one of the better ones going. I will admit that Change of Command does have a tendancy to suddenly grow subplots, but I found myself getting sucked into them and only being anoyed later that the main plot was crawling along. How can you not love the brassy big haired Lone Star ranger? I'd like to read a book about her case file. I'll be browsing my local bookstores for Ms. Moon's next book. I think she is going someplace fun with the loose ends at the end of this one.

This is the latest in E Moons Familias series of Space Opera with humour(with Heris Serrano and Esmay Suiza.) The previous books were Once a Hero & Rules of Engagement both good value and now available in paperback.

This books starts lots of threads, with at least three sets of assassins, mutiny and space siege and most of the females from the previous book having to take on greater responsiblities. We lose Brun's father and the whole book is about the Hobart Conselline speakership but suffers from lack of focus though the individual parts are well done. Things are just hotting up when < The End > arrives with most threads unfinished. Really the book is two interlaced half books with little communication. Suggestion - read or reread Rules of Engagement and wait for the next in the series.

Having read the previous two books in the Esmay Suiza series I was looking forward to reading this one. After reading the book I was left with an unsatisfied feeling. I reread the book and realized that I felt cheated. It felt like I had read half a book. After a comparison with the previous books I noticed it was shorter and that none of the plot lines seemed to come to a conclusion. If you've read the other books don't waste your money on the hardback. Wait for the paperback. While I'm waiting for the other half of this book to be published I will go back and re-read the Haris Serano series of Familias Regnant books.

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.

I enjoyed the first two of Elizabeth Moon's "Esmay Suiza" books immensely. Esmay is a very likable heroine, and she's the same sort of "trouble magnet" as Modesty Blaise.

*This* book, however, isn't about Esmay. It's about the assassination of a head of state, power politics, technical problems with rejuvenation technology, a mutiny on a prison planet, and a blood feud between the Suizas and Serranos (think Montagues and Capulets with nuclear weapons) Esmay herself appears in no more than about one-sixth of this overly-long book, and she's mostly being shoved around from pillar to post.

I have a feeling that Ms. Moon is basically using this book to set the background for what I call "meal ticket series" writing, where each book is milked for maximum revenue without regard to entertainment value, and you have to buy *all* the series to understand any of it.

I was greatly disappointed with this one.

I read the other reviews here on Amazon before I ordered this book, but decided to buy it anyway. I'm glad I did, but... Moon is a great story teller--she builds many characters and situations and gives you the feeling that there's an endless font of imagination there waiting to tell us another tale. This book opened a plethora of story lines and piqued my imagination concerning where each one was headed. This time, though, Moon didn't finish *any* of the story lines she started. The book ends, and you don't know what's happened to *anybody*. Poop. That doesn't mean it wasn't a fun book to read, but I really expect a book to resolve some of the situations it sets up--and this one didn't. That wouldn't be enough to stop me from buying a future book in the series, but I do think it was a questionable approach. If I weren't already a loyal Moon reader, and this had been the first book I'd ever read by her, it would also probably have been my last because the plot line was so totally unresolved.

The disappointed tone of many of the customer reviews of C of C come from a misunderstanding of the genre of this particular volume. It is an *Expansion of the Canvas*. Think of "Two Towers," where the trick is performed to perfection. A lot happens, many new characters appear, but not much of the overall action advances. My own opinion is that Moon doesn't do a bad job at all. What generates the disappointment, I believe, is a feature she shares with others who learned much of their craft at the feet of Anne McCaffrey, a certain mechanical tying of loose ends. McCaffrey herself is really bad about it. You can almost hear the click click whirr of the Hollerith cardsorter. "We haven't tied an end for a while. What shall we tie? (Click click whirr) Ah so (copy card contents. insert.)" By comparison Moon is artistic. But face it. At some point she *had* to expand the canvas.

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.