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The Serrano Legacy #4, part 2 of 2
Once A Hero, Part 2
Esmay Suiza wasn't a member of a great Navy family like the Serranos. She'd had to make her way on grit alone, which meant it wasn't likely she'd ever make admiral and ""hoist her own flag."" Well, that was fine with her: all Esmay wanted was a secure berth where she could be part of something greater than herself, and otherwise just live her life in peace. But what we want or think we want from life and what we get are seldom the sameand one day Esmay found herself in the middle of a space battle, and the senior surviving officer in a mutiny against a traitorous captain. Suddenly she has no choice: she must take command and winand thereby become both the youngest and lowest-ranking member of Fleet ever to win a major battle. While Esmay may not want to be a hero, it looks like she just can't help it, because Once A Hero.... (Part 2 of 2)
- GenresAudiobookScience Fiction
Audio CD
First published January 1, 2009
18 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Moon
137 books2,622 followersElizabeth Moon was born March 7, 1945, and grew up in McAllen, Texas, graduating from McAllen High School in 1963. She has a B.A. in History from Rice University (1968) and another in Biology from the University of Texas at Austin (1975) with graduate work in Biology at the University of Texas, San Antonio.
She served in the USMC from 1968 to 1971, first at MCB Quantico and then at HQMC. She married Richard Moon, a Rice classmate and Army officer, in 1969; they moved to the small central Texas town where they still live in 1979. They have one son, born in 1983.
She started writing stories and poems as a small child; attempted first book (an illustrated biography of the family dog) at age six. Started writing science fiction in high school, but considered writing merely a sideline. First got serious about writing (as in, submitting things and actually getting money...) in the 1980s. Made first fiction sale at age forty--"Bargains" to Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword & Sorceress III and "ABCs in Zero G" to Analog. Her first novel, Sheepfarmer's Daughter, sold in 1987 and came out in 1988; it won the Compton Crook Award in 1989. Remnant Population was a Hugo nominee in 1997, and The Speed of Dark was a finalist for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and won the Nebula in 2004.
She served in the USMC from 1968 to 1971, first at MCB Quantico and then at HQMC. She married Richard Moon, a Rice classmate and Army officer, in 1969; they moved to the small central Texas town where they still live in 1979. They have one son, born in 1983.
She started writing stories and poems as a small child; attempted first book (an illustrated biography of the family dog) at age six. Started writing science fiction in high school, but considered writing merely a sideline. First got serious about writing (as in, submitting things and actually getting money...) in the 1980s. Made first fiction sale at age forty--"Bargains" to Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword & Sorceress III and "ABCs in Zero G" to Analog. Her first novel, Sheepfarmer's Daughter, sold in 1987 and came out in 1988; it won the Compton Crook Award in 1989. Remnant Population was a Hugo nominee in 1997, and The Speed of Dark was a finalist for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and won the Nebula in 2004.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 13, 2023
High octane, space opera, military SF
Military SF is something I had never experienced before experiencing the GraphicAudio performance of the Vatta series by this author. She does a fantastic job creating compelling, kick-ass heroines. Esmay is a highly sympathetic, fascinatingly complex protagonist.
The technical aspects of spaceships included in military SF can be a bit overwhelming at times, but it's a sign of how excellent this author is, that even someone like me, who tends to stay far far away from technocratic SF, was completely drawn into the story. Mainly because, among all the IT bits, the story remains heavily character-centric in it's focus.
This novel was written in the '90s and could definitely do these days with a trigger warning, as untreated PTSD from rape is a significant aspect of the overall trajectory of Esmay's internal journey across the breadth of this story.
As a huge fan of the romance genre, I am happy to report that, unlike in the Vatta series, Esmay, as the heroine of this 4-novel arc within the Serrano series, is actually allowed to fall in love and form a committed romantic relationship. Although this author apparently never includes sex scenes. She doesn't even show kissing on stage.
I experience this novel as an audioplay from GraphicAudio. It was, in fact because I saw this offered on Hoopla as a performance by GA that I listened to it at all, since I adore GA in general, and definitely enjoyed the GA performance of the Vatta series. As always, the GA performance for this novel is stellar.
Military SF is something I had never experienced before experiencing the GraphicAudio performance of the Vatta series by this author. She does a fantastic job creating compelling, kick-ass heroines. Esmay is a highly sympathetic, fascinatingly complex protagonist.
The technical aspects of spaceships included in military SF can be a bit overwhelming at times, but it's a sign of how excellent this author is, that even someone like me, who tends to stay far far away from technocratic SF, was completely drawn into the story. Mainly because, among all the IT bits, the story remains heavily character-centric in it's focus.
This novel was written in the '90s and could definitely do these days with a trigger warning, as untreated PTSD from rape is a significant aspect of the overall trajectory of Esmay's internal journey across the breadth of this story.
As a huge fan of the romance genre, I am happy to report that, unlike in the Vatta series, Esmay, as the heroine of this 4-novel arc within the Serrano series, is actually allowed to fall in love and form a committed romantic relationship. Although this author apparently never includes sex scenes. She doesn't even show kissing on stage.
I experience this novel as an audioplay from GraphicAudio. It was, in fact because I saw this offered on Hoopla as a performance by GA that I listened to it at all, since I adore GA in general, and definitely enjoyed the GA performance of the Vatta series. As always, the GA performance for this novel is stellar.
January 13, 2018
4 stars.
This second part more than made up for the sluggish first part. Esmay is reassigned to a huge maintenance ship and was the first to notice that some of the people they rescued from a crippled fighter don't feel right. But by then it's too late and the invaders have dispersed to different areas of the ship and even managed to take control. The ensuring action to re-take the ship and to fight the Blood Horde ships was definitely exciting.
The aftermath has Esmay taking counseling for her childhood experience and also a budding romance with a young Barin Serrano. It'll be interesting to see how that will work out as she's higher ranked and also older.
This second part more than made up for the sluggish first part. Esmay is reassigned to a huge maintenance ship and was the first to notice that some of the people they rescued from a crippled fighter don't feel right. But by then it's too late and the invaders have dispersed to different areas of the ship and even managed to take control. The ensuring action to re-take the ship and to fight the Blood Horde ships was definitely exciting.
The aftermath has Esmay taking counseling for her childhood experience and also a budding romance with a young Barin Serrano. It'll be interesting to see how that will work out as she's higher ranked and also older.
August 28, 2022
As with the other Graphic Audio books, this is part 2 of a audio dramatization of the popular novel, in this case, "Once a Hero" by Elizabeth Moon. It is well done and follows the original novel reasonably well. I enjoyed it.
dnf_2009
November 10, 2015Just not interested. What I liked was Heris and Cecilia. Now that the series has moved on from them, I'm done.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews