Book Review: Trading in Danger

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Trading in Danger     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Elizabeth Moon
Class/Genre:   Science Fiction   Military   Woman Main Character   Space Opera
Series: Vatta’s War # 1
Ballantine, Oct 2003, $24.95, 304 pp.

Ky Vatta wakes up as a senior cadet in the honor squad yet a couple of hours later she is asked to hand in her resignation because she broke a rule causing major fallout. She returns home and is given command of the Glennys Jones, an old FTL ship that is to be sold for scrap after it finishes its lasting trading venture.

When Ky reaches the planet Belinda, she discovers the government needs agricultural equipment that another trading ship failed to deliver. She decides to make an unscheduled stop at Sabine to obtain the equipment and with the profit she makes she hopes to buy the Glennys Jones and work for herself. She didn’t count on being in the middle of a war or mercenaries dictating her actions or stopping a mutiny but Ky is determined to surmount all obstacles or die trying.

This is the first installment in a brand new military science fiction series and it is absolutely outstanding. The heroine may be untested but she is a survivor and will do what is necessary to win. Readers will adore her and will want to read other books in this series. Elizabeth Moon is a talented storyteller who makes the audience believe that she is recording events that happened.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner