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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780345447616
ISBN number: 0345447611
Label: Del Rey
Manufacturer: Del Rey
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 384
Printing Date: August 31, 2004
Publishing house: Del Rey
Release Date: August 31, 2004
Sale Popularity Level: 269071
Studio: Del Rey
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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. . . .
From the Hardcover edition.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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I finished this book and thought, despite its flaws, that if you like this sort of thing then you'll like this. It turns out I do like this sort of thing.
I'll get the main flaw out of the way first: I haven't read Elizabeth Moon before and I noticed something in her style that may or may not be unique to this book. Every time something happens to the main character, Kylara, there are several subsequent scenes in which she relays what just happened to other characters who weren't there. The problem is that the reader *was* there, and we don't need to hear the repetitions. This is particularly obvious in the last quarter of the book, when Kylara is being debriefed and retells her story to half a dozen officials. We get to hear every conversation but it's almost the same story over and over again.
The very first quarter of the book boils down to a shopping trip, and Kylara is concerned with her budget throughout. This might seem overly pedantic to some readers but - well, yes, I like this sort of thing (when it relates to spaceships, anyway). (There is what appears to be a gaffe at the end where Kylara tells us she absolutely cannot afford something and then in the subsequent chapter suddenly she has it, with no explanation. I read it three times and couldn't figure it out.)
The story doesn't concern galaxy-changing events but it's a satisfying drama about a young woman trying to get by when events around her spiral out of control, and trying to live up to her family's name while exerting her independence. This might not be earth-shattering stuff but it takes place in a believable, gritty sci-fi universe and that's enough for me. I look forward to reading the sequels.
Rated by buyers 
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As you can tell from many of the other reviews, the author did not exactly knock this one out of the park. I had a similar luke warm feeling about the main character and the somewhat contrived plot of the book. Yet the ending hooked me just enough to try the subsequent book in the series, and having just finished the 4th book, I've found the series getting better with each volume. I still wish that everyone who meets Ky would not declare that young women are suckers for handsome men and assume her judgment is compromised, but maybe I am missing something that is more humorous from the perspective of female readers.
Rated by buyers 
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This was the very first Elizabeth Moon book I have read, and it probably will be the last. I am not sure how this one got published. Glad I borrowed it from the library.
I didn't see a purpose to the book. The events were not particularly interesting. No plot twists. Not an event-driven book. Characters were barely 1 dimensional, and other than Ky were not at all explored--and Ky was not particularly explored. I found the attitudes of her mother and aunt to be current, even though this is supposedly set in the future. So, not a character-driven book. Technology was pretty much standard with nothing new. Not a technology-driven book.
Reminded me of Harlequin Romance Novel without the romance.
Rated by buyers 
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Unless you are between the ages of 11 and 14, this book is godawful, cardboard, and by rote.
Rated by buyers -
For a reader, male or female, who's looking for a good SF adventure yarn, this fits the bill. Bonus points for having a well-developed heroine who evolves over the course of the book, and I suspect will develop more over the course of the series. I'm not chomping at the bit to read the rest of the series though, because while this was written well with a solid character, nothing about the world really stood out to me and had me begging for more. Oh, there are little things that caught my interest, things that I think will develop over the course of the series, but I can wait to read those for when my bookshelves are a little emptier, and I'm looking to kick back with a good adventure yarn. Still, as an example of women writing space opera/adventure with female protags, this is a good one, and worth the read.
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