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feanor451's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
nate_reads's review against another edition
medium-paced
2.0
I remember seeing this series on the shelf all the time when I would go to the book store. It caught my enough that I remembered it to put on my TBR. I didn't know anything other sci-fi and military going into this. I definitely was expecting more than what I got with this. It started off well enough at the military academy with our main character Kylara Vatta. However everything quickly shifts to space truckers with a war in the background. I enjoyed the first part of this but as I got farther into this book it began to hold my attention less and less. One thing that I felt this book did really well was to ground the science fiction. There is a lot of focus on business transactions, contracts, and people relying on their implants to function. I did like the world that Elizabeth Moon has crafted here but I wasn't really a fan of her characters. I didn't find Kylara to be a particularly compelling character I didn't really care about her problems or situations. There is a great part where the book picks up with something that happens on the ship it was intense and then its just resolved. The ending of this book felt very anticlimactic, at the moment I don't know if I would want to read the next book in the series.
tobypilgrim's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
abigcoffeedragon's review against another edition
3.0
This was not a horrible book, but it was also kind of anti-climatic.
PROS - I had the Grphic Audio version which was fun to listen to
- This is classified as a Space Opera, though I would say that this is also very Logistics Heavy, which for me is fun, because I have Loggie Experience
CONS - the intense action scenes number to about 3, the 1st being medium, the 2nd raising the stakes, and the 3rd felt wedged in to meet rule of three
- the Model and the fruitcakes, though not Deus Ex Machina (more like Chekov's Band-aids and Chekov's Wallet) felt un-natural as well. How would someone know that Ky needed cerain parts for her engine BEFORE she left? Why would her aunt hide something in a fruitcake that she knew Ky had thrown away uneaten before? Felt too convenient for my tastes.
Overall, while not a horrible book, it had too many things I did not like to continue, but the Logistical parts were fun for me.
PROS - I had the Grphic Audio version which was fun to listen to
- This is classified as a Space Opera, though I would say that this is also very Logistics Heavy, which for me is fun, because I have Loggie Experience
CONS - the intense action scenes number to about 3, the 1st being medium, the 2nd raising the stakes, and the 3rd felt wedged in to meet rule of three
- the Model and the fruitcakes, though not Deus Ex Machina (more like Chekov's Band-aids and Chekov's Wallet) felt un-natural as well. How would someone know that Ky needed cerain parts for her engine BEFORE she left? Why would her aunt hide something in a fruitcake that she knew Ky had thrown away uneaten before? Felt too convenient for my tastes.
Overall, while not a horrible book, it had too many things I did not like to continue, but the Logistical parts were fun for me.
calbowen's review against another edition
3.0
This was not a horrible book, but it was also kind of anti-climatic.
PROS - I had the Grphic Audio version which was fun to listen to
- This is classified as a Space Opera, though I would say that this is also very Logistics Heavy, which for me is fun, because I have Loggie Experience
CONS - the intense action scenes number to about 3, the 1st being medium, the 2nd raising the stakes, and the 3rd felt wedged in to meet rule of three
- the Model and the fruitcakes, though not Deus Ex Machina (more like Chekov's Band-aids and Chekov's Wallet) felt un-natural as well. How would someone know that Ky needed cerain parts for her engine BEFORE she left? Why would her aunt hide something in a fruitcake that she knew Ky had thrown away uneaten before? Felt too convenient for my tastes.
Overall, while not a horrible book, it had too many things I did not like to continue, but the Logistical parts were fun for me.
PROS - I had the Grphic Audio version which was fun to listen to
- This is classified as a Space Opera, though I would say that this is also very Logistics Heavy, which for me is fun, because I have Loggie Experience
CONS - the intense action scenes number to about 3, the 1st being medium, the 2nd raising the stakes, and the 3rd felt wedged in to meet rule of three
- the Model and the fruitcakes, though not Deus Ex Machina (more like Chekov's Band-aids and Chekov's Wallet) felt un-natural as well. How would someone know that Ky needed cerain parts for her engine BEFORE she left? Why would her aunt hide something in a fruitcake that she knew Ky had thrown away uneaten before? Felt too convenient for my tastes.
Overall, while not a horrible book, it had too many things I did not like to continue, but the Logistical parts were fun for me.
kirkland433's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Ok, I really ended up enjoying this book, even through parts I struggled through.
I think the weak part of this book is that we explained so much but didn't actually explain anything. I like got paragraphs on paragraphs on things that are happening around the characters, that at times felt excessive, but no explanation of the things around us. Did the people look like people? What are all these monetary terms and political terms? What did everything actually mean or look like? I got none of that which then lead me to work to try to figure things out which was hard.
Besides that, I really liked the world and the characters. I think Ky is a great lead. She has so much going on and proves that she is capable in all situations. The crew and their support of her was great. The ongoing conflict and the interactions with all the deferring entities was interesting. It was all fun... even when Aunt Gracie tried to make me cry at the end.
Oh... fuck Captain Fulman and Hal.
Anyways, I enjoyed this journey and would be intrigued to read more.
I think the weak part of this book is that we explained so much but didn't actually explain anything. I like got paragraphs on paragraphs on things that are happening around the characters, that at times felt excessive, but no explanation of the things around us. Did the people look like people? What are all these monetary terms and political terms? What did everything actually mean or look like? I got none of that which then lead me to work to try to figure things out which was hard.
Besides that, I really liked the world and the characters. I think Ky is a great lead. She has so much going on and proves that she is capable in all situations. The crew and their support of her was great. The ongoing conflict and the interactions with all the deferring entities was interesting. It was all fun... even when Aunt Gracie tried to make me cry at the end.
Oh... fuck Captain Fulman and Hal.
Anyways, I enjoyed this journey and would be intrigued to read more.
trin's review against another edition
3.0
Military space actiony stuff, which sadly pales in comparison to [a: Lois McMaster Bujold|16094|Lois McMaster Bujold|http://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1377313786p2/16094.jpg], who (besides stuff like Star Wars, I guess) provided my first exposure to that genre. The problem, I think, is that there are really no (developed, memorable) characters in Trading in Danger besides the protagonist, Kylara Vatta, which means there’s no one for her to bounce off of. It made the whole story seem very narrow. I also found the denouement rather clunky and dull. I wouldn’t be adverse to reading the next book in this series if I were, say, stuck in an airport somewhere, but I’m certainly not rushing out to find it, either.
cecile87's review against another edition
3.0
I’d started with Cold Welcome, the first of the Vatta’s Peace series which comes sometime after this series. I’d been drawn in by the book cover: An image of an olive-skinned woman, oozing determination, the lead in a sci-fi survival story. It left me exhausted and a little disappointed at the end. The author had other plans than giving me, the reader, some satisfaction and completeness. There was, after all, a part two which I won’t read—too much politics.
So, a few years later, I’d decided to pick up the first of the Vatta’s War series.
I confess, I skipped all the drama starting after she and her plans to do some trading was curtailed by a war starting between to human-filled planets.
I picked up the story after all that passed and she was back to pursuing her scheduled plans.
Even then, there were soooo many hurdles, obstacles. I know, these kinds of issues are what stories are made of. But I looked ahead in the series, and there is no relief—not from Ky’s enemies, not even from her extended family.
I’m going to stop at this one, which has a satisfying ending.
And kudos (?) to the publisher for not wimping out and assuming whites wouldn’t pick up a book with someone other than the standard issue blonde on the cover. I’m a woman of color and purchased that last book in paperback. This edition I purchased through kindle. Expendable income is clutched in many a dark fist. And, I suspect the same for enlightened non-POC.
So, a few years later, I’d decided to pick up the first of the Vatta’s War series.
I confess, I skipped all the drama starting after she and her plans to do some trading was curtailed by a war starting between to human-filled planets.
I picked up the story after all that passed and she was back to pursuing her scheduled plans.
Even then, there were soooo many hurdles, obstacles. I know, these kinds of issues are what stories are made of. But I looked ahead in the series, and there is no relief—not from Ky’s enemies, not even from her extended family.
I’m going to stop at this one, which has a satisfying ending.
And kudos (?) to the publisher for not wimping out and assuming whites wouldn’t pick up a book with someone other than the standard issue blonde on the cover. I’m a woman of color and purchased that last book in paperback. This edition I purchased through kindle. Expendable income is clutched in many a dark fist. And, I suspect the same for enlightened non-POC.
nonesensed's review against another edition
3.0
Subtly kicked out of the military academy she'd dreamed of graduating top of the class at for a long time, Kylara "Ky" Vatta is set adrift, emotionally and career-wise. Being an heir to the massive Vatta transport and trade empire, she's not exactly helpless or destitute, but she has little choice in the solution her family brings her: becoming captain (almost in-name-only) of a ship destined for the scrapheap. Take a year long trip to sell the old ship for scraps and return when the scandal of her sudden dropout has died down. But Ky is a Vatta through and through - and Vattas are terrible at sticking to a pre-planned route when there's possible profit to be made.
A very decent book, with more focus on plot than characters. That's not to say that the characters are flat or one dimensional. No, they have plenty of emotional moments speckled throughout the book, but they're not the main focus of the story. This is a story about war, trade and politics, told from the POV of one person caught up in it all. A book in the science fiction/war genre, this book leans more toward war/politics/trade aka if you switched the space ships for sea ships, the story would be much the same.
That happens to not really be my thing, so I won't continue this series, but there's nothing "wrong" with it. It's well-written and it deals with its subject matter well, so if that sounds like your thing, try this book out!
A very decent book, with more focus on plot than characters. That's not to say that the characters are flat or one dimensional. No, they have plenty of emotional moments speckled throughout the book, but they're not the main focus of the story. This is a story about war, trade and politics, told from the POV of one person caught up in it all. A book in the science fiction/war genre, this book leans more toward war/politics/trade aka if you switched the space ships for sea ships, the story would be much the same.
That happens to not really be my thing, so I won't continue this series, but there's nothing "wrong" with it. It's well-written and it deals with its subject matter well, so if that sounds like your thing, try this book out!
elsazetterljung's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75