I rather enjoyed Winning Colors; not quite as much as I did Hunting Party, but more than I did Sporting Chance. I still give it 5 stars - just a lesser 5 stars than I gave Hunting Party.

I really enjoyed how much Elizabeth Moon developed the galaxy, giving a sense that people exist in the galaxy outside of the aristocracy (and those in their employ) and the military. The Familias Regnant is struggling to hold together, showing real consequences from the previous book. Another thing I enjoyed was the fact that the lead characters are older people, especially older women; books with such lead characters do not frequently cross my path in sci-fi.

There was less talk about horses in this book as well, but it was still there. I imagine that this will be a constant throughout The Serrano Legacy, or at least in the books with Heris Serrano and Cecelia de Marktos as leading characters. I don’t find the horse stuff overly interesting, but I do appreciate the consistency and how it is a point of difference between Heris & Cecelia.

The weakest part of the book was in its scene transitions. There were times where I would have to reread paragraphs to try to figure out if I just missed the change or if it really just shifted without notice. Each time, it just shifted without notice.

Though it wasn’t the point of the book, it would have been interesting to discuss the ethics and consequences of rejuvenation; especially in a society where only the rich can afford it while the rest of us have to face mortality. Cecelia was initially against becoming a Rejuvenant, and now that she is one, she doesn’t plan on undergoing the life-extension procedure again; however, Heris is not a Rejuvenant, and though she is younger than Cecelia, she is physically older. Not only would exploring the class divide with rejuvenation, but also exploring the divide between those who would and would not seek immortality would be interesting.

I don’t think I would become a Rejuvenant (if I could ever afford it). But that’s for a different post.

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