Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780671876777
ISBN number: 0671876775
Label: Baen
Manufacturer: Baen
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 416
Printing Date: August 01, 1995
Publishing house: Baen
Sale Popularity Level: 428177
Studio: Baen
Other books you might be interested in perusing:
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
-
The very first of the Heris Serrano novels, Sporting Chance, was very good, with interesting characters who -- for the most part -- were not the stereotypical sci-fi heroines. I particularly liked Cecelia, the 90-year old yacht owner.
The second in the series -- Hunting Parties -- was a bit of a disappointment, particularly the ending (in which Cecelia was "rejuved" into a 40 year old!). The plot was overly complex with little interaction between the two female protagonists, and too much info on equestrian events.
This, the third of the trilogy, wasn't even good enough to hold my attention past the half way mark. So much yak yak yak! And I'm sorry, but I just can't believe that this civilian yacht is suddenly going to wage fierce battles as if it were a star ship out of some Star Wars movie. The premise is weak, the characters are cookie cutter, and the dialogue is boring.
Moon is a talented writer and her "Remnant Population" was one of the best sci-fi books I've read in a long long time. But this series, sadly, ran out of steam quickly and I am glad she didn't continue with it.
Rated by buyers -
Winning Colors is the weakest link in the series. It gets bogged down in politics. But don't let that turn you off. The cover art for this book is silly. If you read Against the Odds and Sporting Chance, hang in there. You will still get a dose of space battles and horses. Check this one out from the library.
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 
-
It looks like Heris Serrano will finally be vindicated. After being unjustly cashiered from the fleet, she has served as the yacht captain for a rich lady. Even that has had its share of adventure but she has always pined for the fleet. Now she has a chance to return but that chance is a dangerous one.
Her mistress is visiting a planet intent upon buying some horseflesh. While there, Serrano learns of the locals' fears of imminent invasion. She manages to offer some good advice and help them drive off a probe but things fall apart when elements from her own fleet show up and appear to be turncoats. She might be able to save the system from destruction from the real invasion fleet only if she foments a mutiny and takes command of the fleet herself. Needless to say, the turncoats have other ideas.
This seems as if it will wind up the Serrano trilogy. That's a shame. It has been a good series thus far.
Rated by buyers -
Heris Serrano, formerly a captain in the Regular Space Service, has spent the last several years commanding a rich old lady's private transportation instead. Now, in the concluding volume of the trilogy begun by Hunting Party and continued with Sporting Chance, she's offered what may be a chance to go back to the life she loves best. The charming rural planet where Lady Cecelia wants to do some horse-trading lies undefended, and the so-called Benignity of the Compassionate Hand (an outlaw state) has it slated for scorching and annexation. All that stands between the enemy forces and Xavier's frightened population is Heris and her crew. Aboard what? An armed yacht. Aided by a few shuttles, a snail-like ore carrier, and one museum-vintage starship.
This wonderful adventure story gets needlessly complicated in places because of all the subplots we're following as the author moves toward tying up the trilogy's many loose ends. You do need to know the characters already in order to grasp what's going on; I wouldn't recommend trying to read this book first, and reading it as a standalone would be frustrating at best. But it does a fine job of pointing up its theme of maturity, as the younger characters achieve this quality that was lacking when we very first met them; and as the older characters start to realize how their potentially endless lives (thanks to "rejuv") will alter their children's and grandchildren's futures. Or perhaps I should say nieces and nephews, not children and grandchildren; because aside from Heris herself, this book's most notable characters are its formidable maiden aunts.
All things considered, an excellent read.
Rated by buyers 
-
This was my very first and last Elizabeth Moon novel. Something about the cover art appealed to me, but a pretty painting covers an awful book.
Winning Colors suffers from a rambling plot, an unlikely political setting and absolutely dismal characterization.
Adventures remembered by characters are not flashbacks to illustrate a point, but filler snippets from previous books in a series. This device (dating back to the pulp age of science fiction when authors were paid by the word) has no place in 21st century sci-fi.
Much of the disjointed nature of the book comes from the fact that a word-count was being sought. Once Moon reached that count, the book wraps in less than 10 pages. The plot of this book is boring, hackneyed and predictable. Adding insult to injury, the plot that is rehashed here from a previous book in the series seems far-fetched; in addition to being boring, hackneyed and predictable.
There is a principle in series fiction that each installment should, in some way, stand alone. That is definitely not the case here. If you try (as I did) to enter Moon's universe with this book, you will likely be disappointed.
If you have a favorite character from an earlier book, you might find something worthwhile here. In the span of this novel, none of the characters appeared interesting enough for me to care much what happened to them. The excessive number of characters for such a thin plot is not new to series fiction, but in this case they were so unlikable that their continuing presence became an additional irritant.
Try out this book from your local library before you waste $7 on a poor effort.
Find other books like this one:
