As captain of the astral pleasure yacht Sweet Delight, Heris Seranno has performed more unlikely heroics than she ever did as an officer in the Regular Space Service. Now, she is joining her feisty noble employer and friend, Lady Cecelia, on what should be a well-deserved relaxing trip to the remote world of Xavier.

Unfortunately, Xavier is also the starting point for an invasion of Familias territory by the bordering Benignity of the Compassionate Hand—a predatory criminal empire. Their name happens to be the only thing remotely merciful about them.

Heris is the only one who can lead her rag-tag fleet in a desperate fight against a seemingly unstoppable enemy. But if she is to save the Familias Regnant, she will first need to uncover an enemy hiding within her own ranks…

IN A NUTSHELL
‘Winning Colors’, the third book in The Serrano Legacy series, lived up to my expectations. It was a fun read with some interesting changes in direction that should sustain the series. I enjoyed the multiple points of view, the expanding cast of characters and the clever plot. I was happy to see what looks like a pivot away from horses towards Military Sci Fi, but I hope we don’t lose the horses altogether. 

As she did with ‘’Hunting Party’ and ‘Sporting Chance’, in ‘Winning Colors’ Elizabeth Moon delivered a fast, exciting Science Fiction adventure, enhanced by a unique mix of horse-riding-obsessed aristocrats, competing imperial space fleets and clandestine political manoeuvrings. 

I love that, although the series is called ‘The Serrano Legacy’, ‘Winning Colors’ isn’t just another step in Captain Serrano’s against-the-odds rise from Space Force dropout to galactic hero. Elizabeth Moon has built up an ensemble cast of characters who are continually entangled with one another. This gives the narrative breadth in terms of the age, social class, and motivations of the characters, and allows for a plot with more tense moments, unexpected twists and deeper world-building. I particularly enjoyed seeing the world from Lady Cecelia’s horse-obsessed, aristocratic and recently rejuvenated point of view. Her sense of entitlement, her access to political and financial power, combined with an absence of any military or political ambition beyond preserving what she has, provided a contrast to Serrano’s simpler, duty-first military perspective. 

I enjoyed the various reflections on the consequences of making the wealthiest in society effectively immortal through the availability of repeated rejuvenation. Elizabeth Moon consibered what it feels like to have a mind with eighty years of experience inhabiting a body with the biology of a thirty year old, the ability of the rejuvinated to connect with or feel empathy for the young, the frustration of the next generation when they realise that their wealthy parents may never move aside, and the growing gap not just between those with intergenerationlal wealth wnth the rest, but between those who will live in luxury forever and those who will live and die in their service. 

The plot took a sharp turn towards the Military SF genre, with an exciting, if slightly improbable space battle. I liked the way Elizabeth Moon is pulling Serrano back towards her Space Force roots. I think it will give the rest of the series some new angles to work with.