Trading in Danger

Elizabeth Moon
Book 1 of Vatta's War series

Ky Vatta is a cadet in Spaceforce Academy, the system defense force for the Slotter Key system. And a member of the Vatta family, one of the largest and most respected interstellar shipping companies in the galaxy. Then she is kicked out of the Academy, and her father (Vatta Ltd. CEO) sends her as captain on a voyage with an old cargo hull on its way to the scrap yard, mostly to keep her out of the public eye for a year or so. Along the way, her life is turned on its head as the company, her family and her first voyage are all attacked. Now she is one of the only people in the family who can begin to sort things out.

This is in many ways a typical space opera. But there are a few things that make this quality sci-fi. Moon doesn't live only in space. There are great storylines on planet, with airplanes, and cars and trains and buildings that seem remarkably "normal". This fits a world where FTL travel happens, but not after hover cars, etc. Moon has created a world that doesn't ignore the realities of the vastness of space even with FTL travel. FTL jump points are out of the solar systems where they must be to avoid collisions with mass. So after jumps, insystem travel often takes weeks. And insystem communication still has lag (sometimes hours) based on the size of the systems. Which means that breaking FTL travel doesn't mean you have to break everything. And Moon has created a world where the protagonist is a woman, and there are strong women characters, but the world is not about strong women, it is about characters. Many are introduced and well into the story line before their gender is revealed. Quincy from engineering and Lee the pilot... male? female? we don't really know for quite some time because it really isn't relevant to the story.

I hope the whole series holds up
4 stars (out of 4)