Thursday 8 July 2010

Hunting Party

Fox hunting and sci fi? Well, Elizabeth Moon brings it off brilliantly, to the extent that you wonder why you never thought of that combination before. In a word: fascinating.

Heris Serrano was forced to resign from the military. Now she has found herself new employment, as the captain of a space yacht for an eccentric elderly lady. The problem? The previous captain was incompetent, and up to something distinctly dodgy. He was not fired because of that, but instead because he took far too long to travel between planets, meaning Lady Cecelia de Marktos has to take her nephew and a handful of friends away on her yacht now they're persona non grata on the planet they had been living on. Forced to adjust to life away from the military, Serrano is determined to sharpen up the crew on the yacht, and then discovers that all is not as it seems on the apparently luxurious yacht. The interior decorator might have done a good job (at least in the eyes of some people...) but the yacht's vital systems are distinctly under-maintained. An amusing and fascinating book, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and will definitely be keeping an eye out for the rest of the series.

Highly recommended.

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