Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780671721763
ISBN number: 0671721763
Label: Baen
Manufacturer: Baen
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 384
Printing Date: July 01, 1993
Publishing house: Baen
Sale Popularity Level: 280769
Studio: Baen
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
After she is forced to resign her post in disgrace, Herris Serrano takes a job as ''captain'' of an interstellar luxury yacht and finds herself fighting a bunch of cutthroats, smugglers, and others.
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Rated by buyers 
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Another capture from a scout to a used bookstore, I discovered Elizabeth Moon and was intrigued by the woman wielding a weapon on the front cover.
Captain Heris Serrano used to be an officer in the Regular Space Service--that is until she was forced to resign. Now the captain of Sweet Delight, the private space yacht of Lady Cecelia, Heris must deal with things she never expected: a badly disorganized ship, a seedy crew, a very ignorant owner, six spoiled brats, and learning how to ride a horse. But once the ship lands on the planet, four of the young guests decide to skip off to an island getaway--with terrible results.
Good:
The primary reason I was attracted to the book was its promise of having a strong female character in the military. This appeals to me, and I wanted to see how Moon treated this subject.
While I was reading I noticed the amount of detail, and it became obvious that Moon put a lot of time and effort into her research. She went to great lengths to establish the horse training and the fox hunting scenes. And her detail to the ship and how it is run is admirable.
Also, I enjoyed reading how Heris showed Ronnie a thing or two (that someone should have shown him a long time ago). I will be bold in saying that the best scene was between Heris and Ronnie when he barged on the bridge during jump (in which Heris whacks him across the face--good for you, Heris!).
Once the four youngsters crash land on the island, the action picks up a lot. Most people have probably read better "survival" stories (character(s) trapped on an island being hunted by something/someone), but this one has its fair share of heart-racing action and spine-tingling suspense. Definitely one of the highlights of the book.
Lastly, I give Moon credit for writing about a subject that most people would never have thought compatible with the science fiction universe. Moon's characters spend considerable time horseback riding or fox hunting, two activities that I have never seen in science fiction before.
Bad:
One person described a particular class as being so boring that contemplating eating sand was more interesting. That is probably a perfect description of reading Hunting Party. The events are so dull, I could hardly read more than a few pages before stopping and wondering why I bothered to continue. The most exciting event in the very first 100 pages occurs when Heris discovers a malfunction in the environmental controls that kills one of the environmental technicians but don't expect great action sequences, insightful character revelations, or mysteries to be unearthed. Up until Ronnie, George, Bubbles, and Raffaele run away from the hunt (I wish I could have!), most of the book had covered unimportant conversations, events, (seemingly endless) horseback riding, and "character" development (more on this aspect later) that really did not connect with what occurred in the last 150+ pages.
Another thing I did not like about this book was the subject matter. Heris is to take Cecelia and her young guests to a planet for horseback riding and fox hunting--"Old Earth" traditions. This, in my opinion, is a big no-no. Personally, when I see an author do something along these lines (i.e. hero/ine goes back in time to the era in which the author lives, hero/ine has hobby/interest not common in his/her time period), I feel that the author can't think of anything better so goes back into history, digs something up, and writes about a "highly advanced" civilization partaking of the old pastime. Just to give you an idea how ludicrous this seems to me: on a list of favorite pastimes today, how high does gladiator events rank? Chariot races? When was the last time you hiked on down to watch a dog fight? I don't know about you, but these aren't my hobbies and never will be.
Besides the aforementioned, characters are colorless, clichéd, or downright boring. Heris Serrano is about as interesting as an empty roll of toilet paper. Her comments about life are so bland that I began to wonder if she were a robot. Moon attempts to make Heris seem more human by having her laugh or be upset, but after over 100 pages in which Heris is described most by the word "military" all descriptions of her acting otherwise come across flat. And then, once the youngsters crash on the planet, Heris seems to be unimportant and thrown in for some reason that only the author knows. Cecelia attempts to defy the old lady stereotype on one hand (hating the gaudy decorations of her yacht and enjoying the freedom of horseback riding) but is so burdened by it on the other (being persnickety, not wanting to talk with the young guests, being obsessed with horses to the point of comparing everything--I mean, everything--with horses). Then there's Ronnie, George, Raffaele, Bubbles, and Buttons (who came up with these stupid names after all? They sound more like pets than children) ... Read More
Rated by buyers 
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Hunting Party is the very first book in the Seranno Legacy series. The series is a space drama with recurring characters over several years. This book features Heris Serrano as the main character. She is a former space ship captain trying to get back into the military. The series features space ships, guns, lots of military references, horses, good guys, bad guys, spies, politicians, and strong female roles. The cover art for the books is rather silly. But don't let that turn you off.
Here's the book order if you are intersted: Hunting Party, Sporting Chance, Winning Colors, Once a Hero, Rules of Engagement, Change of Command, and Against the Odds.
Rated by buyers -
For those who like science fiction, especially military science fiction, this is a poor book. Since I agree with Oscar Wilde that fox hunting is "the unspeakable in full pursuit of the uneatable," I had little interest in the long section on hunting.
The rest of the book seemed to be descriptions of everything from what Milady was wearing, to what Milady and guests were eating, to the interior decor of a space yacht, to a contaminated shipboard environmental system. Incidently, one of the few times I would have liked some description, as in what the ex-captain of the Sweet Delight was smuggling, Moon did not see fit to enlighten me.
I had problems with another part of the plot. Some rich kids are missing. Foul play is suspected. The police are going to the last place the kids were known to be. Ex-Navy Captain Serrano and her ultra-rich boss are invited (!) by the police commander to come along. This is unbelievable in two respects. 1. The police do NOT want untrained, inexperienced onlookers to tag along, particularly on politically delicate operations. 2. The police commander wants Serrano because of her military background. What Moon apparently fails to realize is that police and the military have completely different training due to their completely different missions. The military is trained to use deadly force early and often ("Do unto others before others do unto you!"). The police are trained to use deadly force as a last resort. A senior cop and a senior military officer would both know this. Even though it was necessary for the plot that Serrano and Lady Cecela be with the cops, in real life, it wouldn't happen.
I've been told that this is the weakest book of the series. I certainly hope so, or else the other books will be horrible.
Rated by buyers -
This was my very first book by Elizabeth Moon. As a fan of sweeping space opera and a person running short on the authors with which I am more familiar, I turned to this book looking for more. I did not find it but I was not disappointed.
It does involve spaceships, nobility, military dynasties, scoundrels and the other stock items of space opera but they are not put together in operatic form. It made for a pleasant change.
The heroine of the story is one Heris Serrano, late of the space navy. She comes from a long line of naval officers and a naval career is what she desired for her life. It went well for a while but then tragedy struck. Because of the actions of a venal admiral, she found herself disobeying orders. As a result, she faces a choice. She can resign for the good of the service and say nothing or she can stand trial with her entire crew. She chooses to protect her crew and winds up the captain of a rich lady's yacht. It is not a happy decision.
She finds herself with a splendid yacht, and inept and corrupt crew, an employer who knows nothing about yachts and cares mostly for fox hunting and several bratty and aristocratic young people. She is taking them to a fox hunt on another planet. All is not as it seems, however. The kids find themselves being hunted and the yacht's owner turns out to have unexpected depths. A good measure of vengeance helps out as well.
The story is well written and, if not the most exciting I have encountered, certainly well worth the effort of reading it. I look forward to reading more.
Rated by buyers 
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Heris Serrano is making the best of a bad situation. Forced to resign her commission in the Regular Space Service, she goes to work as captain of an elderly lady's private yacht. That's a definite "come down" in the universe, for this woman whose family habitually produces admirals. Heris still has her professionalism, though. She's determined to bring the Sweet Delight and its crew up to standard. When that determination saves the yacht's owner and her guests - not to mention the crew, of course - from dying during their very first passage together, she and Lady Cecelia discover that a champion horsewoman and an RSS captain have more in common than either might have thought. That establishes trust between them which they're going to need, once they reach the private estate (an entire planet!) where Lady Cecelia's bound. Where there's something going on that the owner of Siralis knows nothing about, which has everything to do with Heris Serrano and her former Space Service crew.
This is a gem of a book. We come to know Heris Serrano, Lady Cecelia, and the many secondary (I can't call them minor) characters by experiencing their lives with them. That's also how we become acquainted with their far-future part of the universe - its politics, technology, economy, and culture. The story gains complexity gradually, and we get backstory exactly when we need it. The characters learn, grow, and change, and - with the possible exception of the tale's villian - they are multi-dimensional people. Including the apparently quintessential "eccentric maiden aunt" Cecelia. Highly recommended!
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