Book Review: Hunting Party by Elizabeth Moon

Hunting Party
by Elizabeth Moon (Moon)

My science fiction club recently selected this book to read for one of our regular group book discussions, and I’m very glad I did. Though she’s a prolific author, I’d only ever read one other book by Elizabeth Moon (The Speed of Dark), which I loved, but which is a completely different type of novel.

 

Hunting Party is the first in a series (7 volumes so far) of “space operas/military SF” novels under the umbrella title The Serrano Legacy. Heris Serrano was forced to resign from a respected position in command of a ship in the Regular Space Service. Now, she’s taken a position as the captain of a luxury space yacht, for a rich eccentric woman, Lady Cecelia de Marktos, and must ferry her employer and some of Lady Cecelia's dilettante relatives to a distant planetary system for some old-fashioned fox hunting, by horseback. All of which sounds like an odd combination of characters and plot elements. But Moon makes them work. Heris is a fascinating character, and her relationship to Lady Cecelia becomes one of the strongest elements of the book. Moon provides a lot of great details about military and social protocols, there’s an unusual amount of time (for a space saga) spent on horseback riding, and there are twists and turns aplenty, including the introduction of a “most dangerous game” subplot late in the book.

 

In the end, some of the plot threads end up wrapping up in not-entirely-satisfactory ways, but the journey of following Heris and Lady Cecelia, and several other very strong female characters, in a type of storyline usually dominated by males, made Hunting Party a very enjoyable read. I hope to continue with additional volumes in the future.

 

[ official Serrano Legacy series page on the official Elizabeth Moon web site ]

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library – Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Plain Bad Heroines by emily m. danforth

Plain Bad Heroines
by emily m. danforth (Danforth)

 

Plain Bad Heroines by emily m. danforth (who prefers lowercase) is a delightful big, red book about a troublesome big, red book. In a 1902 Rhode Island girl’s boarding school, several teens have become obsessed with Mary MacLane’s red-covered memoir that’s bursting with feelings, including feelings of longing for another woman. And then the mysterious deaths begin.

 

Meanwhile in the present day, a horror film director has recruited Hollywood’s top “celesbian” and a relatively unknown girl to play the leads in an on-location film about the spooky “happenings” from over a century ago. Not an entirely safe idea. This dual-timeline story does a pleasant job of harmonizing the voices of gothic historical and Twitter/Instagram-savvy contemporary fiction.

 

Plain Bad Heroines is more gothic suspense than outright horror, so it’s great for readers who want to be a little scared without going too far. There is a strong sense of place and even a map at the start of the book, which are elements I love. It also has ink illustrations by Sara Lautman, reminiscent of Edward Gorey. And footnotes! Lots of footnotes that mix humor and historical notes. What I’m saying is that it’s an especially pleasurable book to hold and read from a book construction point of view.

 

I recommend Plain Bad Heroines to readers who like spooky New England, Truman Capote, spiritualism, greenhouses, queer history, and stories where the story touches on literature both inside and outside of the fictional world. emily m. danforth received her Ph.D in English-Creative Writing from University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and lives in Rhode Island.

 

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try House of Leaves by Mark J. Danielewski or Wilder Girls by Rory Power.]

[ official Plain Bad Heroines and emily m danforth web site ]

 

Recommended by Garren H.
Bennett Martin Public Library – Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Mending Life by Nina and Sonya Montenegro

Mending Life: A Handbook for Repairing Clothes and Hearts
by Nina and Sonya Montenegro (646.2 Mon)

 

“There’s nothing broken that can’t be fixed.”

 

Concerned with the fast fashion trends, where the cost to the consumer may be cheap but the cost to the laborer can be dear, the sisters Nina and Sonya Montenegro have stitched together a book of quotes, instructions, and illustrations; their aim being aim to help anyone revive their treasured textiles.

 

This book discusses how to choose needles, fibers, and techniques for best results. The methods are covered sensibly and practically, easily accessible to anyone interested in learning basic techniques of mending, including sashiko, swiss darning, patching. You can find information to help mend down jackets, linen dresser scarves, favorite sweaters, even old “broken” socks. They encourage the reader to give mending a try.

 

Repairs add history and personality to your favorite pieces and honors the work of those who made the garment. It’s a natural process that happens around us all the time, and through mending your own items, you connect the past to the future.

 

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Joyful Mending by Noriko Misumi, Mending Matters: Stitch, Patch, and Repair Your Favorite Denim & More by Katrina Rodabaugh, Visible Mending: Artful Stitchery to Repair and Refresh Your Favorite Things by Jenny Wilding Cardon or Stitch Stories: Personal Places, Spaces and Traces in Textile Art by Cas Holmes.]

[ official Mending Life web site ] | [ official Nina Montenegro web site ] [ official Sonya Montenegro web site ]

 

Recommended by Carrie K.
Bennett Martin Public Library – Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!