Elizabeth Moon - Serrano Legacy Books 1-7

description from book 1
Hunting Party (1993) is the first novel in the Familias Regnant series.
Heris Serrano is a Commander in the Regular Space Service when she is
framed and set up to be court-martialed, but takes the offer to resign
instead. She accepts an interim job as the captain of a private yacht
while she searches for a way to be reinstated. As a scion of a multi-generation
RSS family, Heris has not had much contact with the ruling families
and encounters a number of surprises. Moreover, there is more widespread
corruption within the RSS than she expected.

In this novel, Heris gets a job as the captain of Lady Cecelia's yacht,
the Sweet Delight, but all is not well onboard. Lady Cecelia's nephew,
Ronnie, is aboard at the insistence of his parents due to unseemly remarks
of a bedroom nature about the Heir Apparent's current lover. Odious
George is aboard to be with Ronnie. Sarah and Raffaele are aboard to
be with the boys while Buttons and Bubbles are going home to visit their
parents, Lord and Lady Thornbuckle. Ronnie is none too pleased with
the whole thing and lets his aunt know that in no uncertain terms. He
is also piqued at having to dress for dinner and at the prospect of
having to actually ride a horse.

Heris learns that she will command the crew and that Bates will command
the staff, including the cook and gardener. When Heris meets the crew,
she is less than impressed by the pilot, but the navigator first, Sirkin,
seems to be outstanding. A difference of opinion arises between the
two concerning the degree of risk that is acceptable in a civilian yacht
and Heris learns that the former captain made wide detours around certain
hazards. When she checks the crew records, she finds that most of them
are second-raters and, when she contacts the hiring agency, she learns
that the first-raters are mostly reserved for critical positions on
large commercial ships rather than private yachts.

Enroute to Sirialis for the fox hunting season, one of the yacht's moles
-- environmental techs -- is killed and another injured by lethal gasses
released when they open a sulfur scrubber. If they had been wearing
complete environmental suits, as required by ship regulations, neither
would have been hurt. Since the system proves to be greatly impaired,
the Sweet Delight is diverted to Takomin Roads for a full environmental
refit as well as an inquest on the dead crewman. When the refit crew
checks out the removed portions of the scrubber, they discover something
that does not belong there.

This novel sets the tone for the series and it is very British, with
dashing young heroes, dinner parties, fox hunting and nepotism. Lady
Cecelia starts as a typical British aunt, strict and no nonsense, but
proves to be a level-headed, intelligent, and flexible woman. She adopts
Heris as a sort of god-niece and they learn from each other. The author
certainly creates great characters and she allows them to develop in
a very natural manner.

This series is quite similar in tone and ambiance to the Sassinak series
written with McCaffrey and Nye and is also more about relationships
than action.

Recommended for Moon fans and anyone who enjoys space adventures with
a touch of Treasure Island.


Requests:

DAS BOOT (THE BOAT)
Unabridged English 21.25 hrs from tape by Isis audio
Lothar-Gunter Buchheim
Read by Gordon Dulieu
The abridged edition is quite common but I've never seen the unabridged.-

The Happy Isles of Oceania: Paddling the Pacific ( only available from
tape)
Unabridged
By
Paul Theroux

Dawdling by The Danube
Unabridged
By
Edward Enfield