Trading in Danger
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4.5 • 143 Ratings
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- $3.99
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- $3.99
Publisher Description
"Filled with fast-paced action and well-conceived characters.”—Booklist
Kylara Vatta is the only daughter in a family full of sons, and her father’s only child to buck tradition by choosing a military career instead of joining the family business. For Ky, it’s no contest: Even running the prestigious Vatta Transport Ltd. shipping concern can’t hold a candle to shipping out as an officer aboard an interstellar cruiser. It’s adventure, not commerce, that stirs her soul. And despite her family’s misgivings, there can be no doubt that a Vatta in the service will prove a valuable asset. But with a single error in judgment, it all comes crumbling down.
Expelled from the Academy in disgrace–and returning home to her humiliated family, a storm of high-profile media coverage, and the gaping void of her own future–Ky is ready to face the inevitable onslaught of anger, disappointment, even pity. But soon after opportunity’s door slams shut, Ky finds herself with a ticket to ride– and a shot at redemption–as captain of a Vatta Transport ship.
It’s a simple assignment: escorting one of the Vatta fleet’s oldest ships on its final voyage . . . to the scrapyard. But keeping it simple has never been Ky’s style. And even though her father has provided a crew of seasoned veterans to baby-sit the fledgling captain on her maiden milk run, they can’t stop Ky from turning the routine mission into a risky venture–in the name of turning a profit for Vatta Transport, of course.
By snapping up a lucrative delivery contract defaulted on by a rival company, and using part of the proceeds to upgrade her condemned vehicle, Ky aims to prove she’s got more going for her than just her family’s famous name. But business will soon have to take a backseat to bravery, when Ky’s change of plans sails her and the crew straight into the middle of a colonial war. For all her commercial savvy, it’s her military training and born-soldier’s instincts that Ky will need to call on in the face of deadly combat, dangerous mercenaries, and violent mutiny. . . .
“Compelling . . . a superior novel . . . Trading in Danger [has] originality and intelligence.”—SciFi
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Noted for her strong heroines and interstellar naval adventures, Moon (Against the Odds) stumbles in the first of a new series featuring Kylara Vatta, whose "generous impulses" often get her into trouble. Ky, a favored daughter of a wealthy, interstellar shipping family, gets thrown ignominiously out of the Space Academy because she aided a fellow cadet who used her gullibility to dishonor the service. In consolation, her father gives her an antiquated cargo ship, the Glennys Jones, to command. He assumes she'll find a way to make enough profit to keep from having to junk the old tub. But after Ky figures out an angle on buying and selling some tractors, she inadvertently ends up running afoul of an interplanetary civil war. Following another generous impulse, Ky takes some stranded crewmen aboard. They return the favor by nearly getting her killed when mercenaries board her ship. Everyone, from her ship's seasoned crew to random strangers, annoyingly remarks on 21-year-old Kylara's youth and "exceptional" poise. With unusually slow pacing for a space adventure (lacking either the drama or the romance of opera), Moon presents several tableaux that are summarily dropped such as polo that never gets played, a ship's model with secret instructions that Kylara refuses to decipher and an absentee boyfriend any of which might have added some spice to this bland adventure.
Customer Reviews
Excellent as usual.
Elizabeth Moon is an outstanding writer, certainly on par with Anne McCaffery. I have many of her books and look forward to reading more.
Not Bad
The main character is interesting and well-written. Started a bit slow for me, but I’m glad I stuck with it!
Trading in Danger
Coming-of-age story with strong, female main character, who confronts challenges and makes genuinely life-changing decisions, achieving a new perspective, against a backdrop of interstellar politics, trade, piracy and military action. Sympathetic heroine. Enjoyable read. Great details that imply a broad backstory. Straightforward plot follows a clear internal logic and wraps up nicely. The main weakness is a lack of fleshed-out supporting characters. A few more chapters could have followed other characters, providing more human interest and intersecting, secondary story arcs. This is why I gave it three stars, instead of four, because the writing and dialog are polished.