For fans of fast-paced adventure and compelling characters, the military science fiction of Nebula Award—winning author Elizabeth Moon is the perfect choice.

The brilliantly unorthodox Kylara Vatta, black-sheep scion of Vatta Transport Ltd., one of the galaxy’s wealthiest merchant houses, is a heroine like no other, blessed with a killer instinct for business and for battle. Now, in the aftermath of cold-blooded assassinations that have left her parents dead and the Vatta shipping empire shattered, Kylara faces her greatest challenge yet.

There is a time for grief and a time for revenge. This is decidedly the latter. Placing her cousin Stella in command of the trading vessel Gary Tobai, Ky embarks aboard the captured pirate ship Fair Kaleen on a twofold mission: to salvage the family business and to punish those responsible for the killings . . . before they strike again.

Since the network providing instantaneous communication between star systems has been sabotaged, news is hard to come by and available information impossible to trust. But as she travels from system to system, with Stella a step behind, Ky pieces together the clues and discovers a conspiracy of terrifying scope, breathtaking audacity, and utter ruthlessness.

The only hope the independent systems and merchants have against this powerful enemy is to band together. Unfortunately, because she commands a ship known to belong to a notorious pirate–her own relative Osman Vatta, whom she killed for his part in her parents’ deaths–Ky is met with suspicion, if not outright hostility. Rumors swirl about her intent, her very identity. Soon even Stella begins to question her cousin’s decisions and her authority to make them.

Meanwhile, the conspiracy Ky hunts is hunting her in turn, with agents insinuated into every space station, every planetary government, every arm of the military, and every merchant house–including her own. Before she can take the fight to the enemy, Kylara must survive a deadly minefield of deception and betrayal.

From the Hardcover edition.

**

For fans of fast-paced adventure and compelling characters, the military science fiction of Nebula Award—winning author Elizabeth Moon is the perfect choice.

The brilliantly unorthodox Kylara Vatta, black-sheep scion of Vatta Transport Ltd., one of the galaxy’s wealthiest merchant houses, is a heroine like no other, blessed with a killer instinct for business and for battle. Now, in the aftermath of cold-blooded assassinations that have left her parents dead and the Vatta shipping empire shattered, Kylara faces her greatest challenge yet.

There is a time for grief and a time for revenge. This is decidedly the latter. Placing her cousin Stella in command of the trading vessel Gary Tobai, Ky embarks aboard the captured pirate ship Fair Kaleen on a twofold mission: to salvage the family business and to punish those responsible for the killings . . . before they strike again.

Since the network providing instantaneous communication between star systems has been sabotaged, news is hard to come by and available information impossible to trust. But as she travels from system to system, with Stella a step behind, Ky pieces together the clues and discovers a conspiracy of terrifying scope, breathtaking audacity, and utter ruthlessness.

The only hope the independent systems and merchants have against this powerful enemy is to band together. Unfortunately, because she commands a ship known to belong to a notorious pirate–her own relative Osman Vatta, whom she killed for his part in her parents’ deaths–Ky is met with suspicion, if not outright hostility. Rumors swirl about her intent, her very identity. Soon even Stella begins to question her cousin’s decisions and her authority to make them.

Meanwhile, the conspiracy Ky hunts is hunting her in turn, with agents insinuated into every space station, every planetary government, every arm of the military, and every merchant house–including her own. Before she can take the fight to the enemy, Kylara must survive a deadly minefield of deception and betrayal.

From the Hardcover edition.

**

From Publishers Weekly

Nebula Award–winner Moon's third Kylara Vatta novel is sadly more reminiscent of the uninspiring Trading in Danger (2003) than the inspired Marque and Reprisal (2004). Ky has more or less patched up her relationship with her cousin Stella—a good thing, since they're all that remains of the Vatta shipping empire—and finished off the most immediate danger, the renegade Osman Vatta. Ky now faces the much more nebulous threat of an interstellar piracy gang. As she travels from station to station seeking fellow pirate fighters, annoying local officials and repeatedly leaving Stella in the lurch, it's hard to stay interested. It doesn't help that the one genuinely stunning twist-of-fate climax is followed by six plodding chapters on an entirely different topic. Moon's strength is clearly in flash-bang-gee-whiz battles and skulking intrigue, both planetside and in space. It's too bad she so frequently drowns them in mundane details that provide realism at the expense of entertainment. (Mar.)
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From School Library Journal

Adult/High School–Just a year after being expelled from space academy, Kylara Vatta, the daughter of an interstellar shipping tycoon, is well on her way to making her fortune and is the veteran of two successful campaigns of space warfare. In Trading in Danger (2003) and Marque and Reprisal (2004, both Del Rey), she proved her mettle as a trader and won a ship of her own, only to lose most of her clan when unknown enemies attacked the Vatta corporation's headquarters. Now, Ky lays the groundwork for an interstellar military force as a first step toward destroying a large army of pirates, reestablishing safe trading and cargo transport for the law-abiding citizens of her galaxy, and ultimately rebuilding the Vatta empire. She continues to mature as she struggles with inner demons and learns to make the most of her emerging gifts for strategy and leadership. This volume has a transitional feel, telling how the new space navy gets off to a small and rocky start, but leaving the rest of Ky's quest to future books. While the battle strategies and dogfights are thrilling, the series is also a family dynasty saga, complete with eccentric but brilliant cousins and elders and quirky humor. It should appeal to fans of Anne McCaffrey's Rowan family SF saga (Ace) as well as to those of David Weber's Honor Harrington military SF series (Baen). Moon has created a richly imagined universe of different cultures, replete with intriguing characters and the sense of unlimited possibility that characterizes the most appealing science fiction.–Christine C. Menefee, formerly at Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.