Finished: "Trading in Danger" by Elizabeth Moon

Finished: Trading in Danger by Elizabeth Moon, 2003, 9780345447609.

Blah. Not much action. I read the third book in this series and decided to try this out.

Ky Vatta is expelled from her planet's military academy. Ky had helped another student get in touch with a non-military priest and when the student accused the academy of unfairly treating his religion the priest went to the press. Ky had been one of the the academy's top two students but was kicked out anyway.

Ky heads back home. Ky's extended family are all involved in the family business, Vatta Transport. Vatta owns and operates transport spaceships around the galaxy. Ky's father appoints her captain of a ship intended for scrap. Ky ends up taking an additional contract during that voyage, runs low on money, needs major repairs to her ship, gets caught in a local war, is hired by mercenary contractor to transport civilians, overcomes a mutiny, clears out her accounts.

But, not much happens. There is just a succession of problems for Ky to deal with. She deals with being a young and inexperienced captain, running low on cash, having to fulfill contracts (a very big deal to her family), dealing with the passengers' mutiny.

This can compare to a couple of the Hervey novels by Allan Mallinson. There is a lot of detail and talk of everyday activities and problems of command. At least in Mallinson's novels Hervey did not just spend his time planning out cavalry movements and horse care; there were battles and fights to keep things interesting.

I like the idea of a well thought out setting - the planets and systems in Moon's books are well done - but if nothing happens why should I read the damn book?