Hunting Party

by Elizabeth Moon

Book Overview

Grand space adventure by the coauthor of Sassinak and Generation Warriors. Heris, a female officer forced to resign her commission, winds up as captain of an interstellar luxury yacht. Being a rich... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671721763
• Release Date: July 1993
• Publisher: Baen
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.42 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 1.1" x 4.2"

Customer Reviews

A gem of a book.

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 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!

Mil sci-fi with a difference!

Okay, I thought this book was pretty good as far as books from this genre of Military science fiction go. Heris Serrano is a very likeable character, as are the rest of the supporting characters in the book like Lady Cecelia, and even her nephew Ronnie. This book is actually not one about military science-fic per se, but its about an ex-Servicewoman trying to carve out a new life for herself as a civillian. Serrano goes on a self discovery of sorts as she slowly re-immerses herself back into the civillian world and life as Captain of the very saccharine and gag-worthy named "Sweet Delight", Lady Ceceilia's personal craft.. The plot itself centres around a conspiracy that goes up to the highest levels of the government, and is fast moving and fluid. Unlike some books where you find yourself gettting stuck at a particular chapter without motivation to go on, this book is very readable. I particularly liked the "island" scenes where Ronnie and the rest of the youngsters were left to fight for their lives and fend for themselves. I found Bubble's graudual transformation from rich fluffhead to the calm collected young lady she later became especially interesting, and that angle provides a lot of material for Moon to work with as she continues the series. Overall, 5 stars for a fine piece of work, and a good first novel in a series that I will definitely continue reading!

A Very British Story

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 sim

Start Here

I have to give this book five stars if, for nothing else, because it's the first and important background in an extraordinary series.An outcast ex-military officer and a rich old women who has chosen to stay away from political power and the influence that has position carries are joined in adventure, against their expectations and wishes.The forte of this book is not action, but personal relationships. Heris and Cecilia, despite their own personal vows at the beginning to avoid having anything to do with each other, suddenly find themselves developing admiration for each other and seeing a growing friendship. Some other characters who late permeate the series are also introduced in this book, setting background for the series.Do not let this give you the impression that this is an open-ended book, though. The story has a solid end, and leaves nothing to be desired. Well, except equally good sequels. :-)

A fast-paced space adventure that is a fun read.

Elizabeth Moon writes a good, straight-forward adventure story that is a pleasure to read. Heris Serrano has unwillingly resigned her commission from the Space Service and found herself a job as captain on a rich old woman's private space yacht (lavishly decorated in shades of purple.) She might have found the job boring, but that was before she ran across a web of smugglers, traitors, and "sportsmen" hunting the ultimate game - humans. But Heris can handle all that - the real challenges are all those rich, spoiled neices and nephews and learning how to ride that horse. (On a starship??)