Hunting Party - Book Review

Hunting Party (The Serrano Legacy #1) by Elizabeth Moon

What is it about:
Heris Serrano was an officer born of a long line of officers. Being forced by a treacherous superior to resign her commission under a cloud was not just the end of a career path; it was the end of everything that gave her life meaning. Still, even ex-captains grieving for lost careers must eat, and Heris has wound up as "Captain" of an interstellar luxury yacht. Being a rich old lady's hyperlight chauffeur isn't quite the same as captaining a dreadnought, but nothing Heris will ever do again will compare to that. Or so she thinks....For all is not as it seems aboard the good ship Sweet Delight, and soon Heris finds herself fighting for her life against as varied and villainous a bunch of cutthroats, smugglers, and "sportsmen" as ever had the misfortune to cross her path when she was a captain of the fleet.

What did I think of it:
I picked this book up as it sounded like it could be an interesting read, but I found it rather boring.

The actual action only starts in the second half of the book and is over much too soon, after which there's still a lot of the book left where there's lots of non-action again. There's also a sudden love interest thrown in after everything is solved to give the book a happy end, while so easily this love interest could have been mentioned earlier in the book. As for lead character Heris: there's too little emotion in her thinking and in her actions to make me feel for her. I will confess I was more emotionally invested in minor characters than in her or other main characters. The book is classified as Science Fiction, but this setting is just fluff and isn't used to its full potential.

That I finished this book at all is because Moon's writingstyle is pleasant and because there were some interesting plotpoints and I really hoped the story would redeem itself, but it was not to be. Which is sad in my opinion as with a few modifications and with a faster pace this story could have been an awesome read.

Why should you read it:
It's a pleasantly written adventure.