iffer's review against another edition
3.0
Definitely enjoyable, if you enjoy space "stuff." I say "stuff," since I can't think of the genre to describe this, since it's not really military sci-fi or space opera. It's about a young girl coming into her own as the captain of a trading ship and managing her way through unanticipated adventures. It's not quite action-packed, since the tone is a bit sarcastic, and contains descriptions of paperwork and interstellar bureaucracy. I'd love this as a comic or ongoing TV show, or in this case, as a light audiobook listens.
jonathanfs's review against another edition
4.0
I totally judged this book by its cover; I did not think there was any way I would like it. Had a book club not assigned it, I probably never would have picked it up. Apart from the confusing pronoun order in the second sentence, this book was great. Ky was a fun lead to get to know, and she had believable internal struggles. The plot was pleasantly deep when dealing with things like shipping contracts in a way I did not expect to enjoy. I am glad to have happened upon this one.
gavreads's review
Description
Ky Vatta is kicked out of the military academy for what should have been a small act of kindness. For the daughter of a rich trading family it should mean nothing but disgrace. Instead she is offered a captaincy that will take her away from her troubles and set her on a new path.
Her orders from Vatta Trading are simple take her ship to the scrape yard and come back with a profit. But her instincts find more profit and trade along the way and this is how her trouble starts.
Comment
All novels are about journeys. Some are plot driven and some are character driven. I’ve always preferred character to plot. I need someone or something to engage in and someone else’s to see that journey through. Elizabeth Moon has shaped a world and a situation that allowed her to take us on Ky Vatta’s journey through Ky’s eyes.
Moon really gets to the heart of the character by showing more than directly telling us how she handles herself as her and the crew of the Glennys Jones are put in a situation that they never planned. She also intersects this with scenes from other places allowing us, the reader, to see the wider situation so we’re aware of the full extent of trouble that could be coming Ky’s way.
With such a large dangerous backdrop Moon stays tightly focused on the consequences for Ky and her crew. We never get to see the full extend of what they find themselves in and we don’t need to. It is only a backdrop to the changes that take place in Ky, her ship, and her crew and I’m hoping that it’s also creating the basis for their next adventure.
A story about a trading ship could be quite boring, or so I thought, as there are only so many times you can see a ship travelling from planet to planet. Good writers though can make anything interesting; actually they show us what is interesting about anything. At no point was did my mind wander. I wanted to know what could happen next and how Ky was going to get out of it. I found it very hard to put down, which is rare with me.
Summary
Perfectly balanced. Emotional and adventurous. Trading in Danger has one of the most touching and best endings I’ve had read in ages. And the adventure is only just beginning. I’m eager to see where Ky Vatta goes next.
10/10 (I just couldn’t think of anything I wanted done differently)
Ky Vatta is kicked out of the military academy for what should have been a small act of kindness. For the daughter of a rich trading family it should mean nothing but disgrace. Instead she is offered a captaincy that will take her away from her troubles and set her on a new path.
Her orders from Vatta Trading are simple take her ship to the scrape yard and come back with a profit. But her instincts find more profit and trade along the way and this is how her trouble starts.
Comment
All novels are about journeys. Some are plot driven and some are character driven. I’ve always preferred character to plot. I need someone or something to engage in and someone else’s to see that journey through. Elizabeth Moon has shaped a world and a situation that allowed her to take us on Ky Vatta’s journey through Ky’s eyes.
Moon really gets to the heart of the character by showing more than directly telling us how she handles herself as her and the crew of the Glennys Jones are put in a situation that they never planned. She also intersects this with scenes from other places allowing us, the reader, to see the wider situation so we’re aware of the full extent of trouble that could be coming Ky’s way.
With such a large dangerous backdrop Moon stays tightly focused on the consequences for Ky and her crew. We never get to see the full extend of what they find themselves in and we don’t need to. It is only a backdrop to the changes that take place in Ky, her ship, and her crew and I’m hoping that it’s also creating the basis for their next adventure.
A story about a trading ship could be quite boring, or so I thought, as there are only so many times you can see a ship travelling from planet to planet. Good writers though can make anything interesting; actually they show us what is interesting about anything. At no point was did my mind wander. I wanted to know what could happen next and how Ky was going to get out of it. I found it very hard to put down, which is rare with me.
Summary
Perfectly balanced. Emotional and adventurous. Trading in Danger has one of the most touching and best endings I’ve had read in ages. And the adventure is only just beginning. I’m eager to see where Ky Vatta goes next.
10/10 (I just couldn’t think of anything I wanted done differently)
warriorpickle's review against another edition
2.0
I, unfortunately, did not enjoy this book very much. It was a slow trod pretty much the whole way through with nothing to keep me going. The characters weren't bad, but weren't a whole lot of fun either. It is one of the most blah books that I've read in a while. I realize that I'm in the minority here, since it has an average rating of almost 4, but I just couldn't enjoy it. I won't be continuing this series.
majkia's review against another edition
4.0
Ky is tossed out of the Space Academy for embarrassing the service and returns home where her father gives her a small ship from his shipping company and sends her off on what is supposed to be a milk run to a few minor planets. Ky, smarting from her ouster, sees an opportunity to turn a boring run into something much better for herself, her ship and her family's company. And then suddenly she finds herself in the midst of a war.
I really enjoyed this book, It is a coming of age book, in that Ky is trying hard to be her own person and break out of assumptions everyone has made about her. She's intelligent, thinks, and considers her actions. But sometimes your choices are limiting and you have to choose the best of multiple bad choices.
Ky grows a lot during the course of the book, learns from her mistakes, and faces her demons.
Having been in the military myself, her training and her reactions to situations felt very real to me, so props for that especially. Looking forward to more of this series.
I really enjoyed this book, It is a coming of age book, in that Ky is trying hard to be her own person and break out of assumptions everyone has made about her. She's intelligent, thinks, and considers her actions. But sometimes your choices are limiting and you have to choose the best of multiple bad choices.
Ky grows a lot during the course of the book, learns from her mistakes, and faces her demons.
Having been in the military myself, her training and her reactions to situations felt very real to me, so props for that especially. Looking forward to more of this series.
nuevecuervos's review against another edition
4.0
Oh man. I wanted space opera, and I got a fantastic one. I loved Captain Ky's moxie and poise; there's not more than a trace of mention of romantic interest here; instead she gets a metric crapload of agency and beautiful, screwed up issues. It's a fun action adventure with a lot crammed in here, including my personal favorite thing in sci-fi: freedom from pages upon pages of pseudo-science wankery (a phrase that my son finds HILARIOUS as well as vaguely offensive, since he's a fan of authors spending ten pages telling you about how their fake science works, but too bad). FTL drives? Yep! In a sealed box. No one cares how they work. Interstellar Ansibles? Yes. Period. Good times. I have to deal with enough in the way of complicated science in the real world.
In all seriousness though, I really did enjoy quite a lot of the characters, and there's some excellent introspection on Ky's part as to why she still feels the sting of being labeled "a sucker for lost puppies" when in retrospect, she's really not a softie at all; she kind of enjoys and excels at a good fight, and frankly is a little concerned about whether spending the rest of her life as a sober-suited matron... err, as a space trader is going to make her insane. Equally frankly, all of the (completely believable) bureaucracy and paper-pushing bullshit she ends up having to deal with sort of makes that assessment not far from the realm of possibility.
No problem though, I'm pretty sure she's going to find ways to keep kicking ass. Totally looking forward to the next installment, popcorn in hand.
In all seriousness though, I really did enjoy quite a lot of the characters, and there's some excellent introspection on Ky's part as to why she still feels the sting of being labeled "a sucker for lost puppies" when in retrospect, she's really not a softie at all; she kind of enjoys and excels at a good fight, and frankly is a little concerned about whether spending the rest of her life as a sober-suited matron... err, as a space trader is going to make her insane. Equally frankly, all of the (completely believable) bureaucracy and paper-pushing bullshit she ends up having to deal with sort of makes that assessment not far from the realm of possibility.
No problem though, I'm pretty sure she's going to find ways to keep kicking ass. Totally looking forward to the next installment, popcorn in hand.
travelgirlut's review against another edition
3.0
A nice change from the space operas full of elaborate battles that I've been reading. This gives the perspective of the non-military side of futuristic space life. It wasn't a very deep book, just good old entertainment.
fastfinge's review against another edition
3.0
This review is going to be a demonstration of reviewer bias, I guess. When I reviewed _sheepfarmers daughter_, I wasn't particularly impressed because it[return]was typical fantasy, and that's not really my thing. However, this book is typical space opera, and that is my thing. I personally enjoyed it. Until reading[return]the review just below mine, I even thought the plot was a new one. Yes, I know, I know: I'm probably the only SF fan in the entire history of the universe[return]not to have read anything by Lois Mcmaster Bujold. Look, I've only been around for 18 years or so, and for the first 8 of those I wasn't really reading[return]all that much. I can't have read everything.