Trading In Danger - Elizabeth Moon

Trading In Danger
Elizabeth Moon
Del Rey
Copyright: 2004
978-0345447616

The amazon.com product description:

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. . . .

I read Trading In Danger back when it first came out and loved it then. Loved it just as much on this read too. This is the first book in the Vatta's War series, followed by Marque and Reprisal, my current read (among many) and Engaging the Enemy.

From almost the first page, Trading in Danger was a book I had a hard time putting down. Even though I have read the book before, I found that I couldn't remember any of the details, making it almost like a first read again.

I've said this about Elizabeth Moon's writing before in my review of Remnant Population - she's really good with characterization. Each of the characters rings true in three dimensions and that was true again with Trading In Danger.

One great thing with re-reading a series like this years later: I don't have to wait until the next book comes out to continue the story. All of the books in the Vatta's War series are long since out in paperback and I've already bought books three and four. Now to find book five, Victory Conditions.

Definitely a series I'd recommend to fans of science fiction. I'd be willing to bet that if you like David Weber's Honor Harrington series, that you'd probably like the Vatta's War books too.