Trading in Danger

Vatta's War, Book 1

By: Elizabeth Moon

Narrated by: Cynthia Holloway

Length: 13 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

The first of the acclaimed Vatta's War books, the exciting military science fiction series that features a swashbuckling spaceship-captain heroine who mixes commerce with combat.

©2004 Elizabeth Moon (P)2008 Tantor

I’m addicted

I fell into the Vatta series backwards (I started with Cold Welcome) and then circled back to this one to fill in the blanks. With apologies to to Ms Holloway, I prefer the narrator for Cold Welcome, if pressed. I’ve already got all the other books in my Audible que.

Great book bad narrator.

What made the experience of listening to Trading in Danger the most enjoyable?

This is a great book and as I have read the whole series already I can say the same for the rest of the series.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Cynthia Holloway?

The narrator had poor pronunciation, and over dramatized parts of the story. When it was not overly dramatic it lacked anything beyond a different inflection for various characters. If the narrator could overcome her poor pronunciation it would have been passable with the bland strait forward reading. Her pronunciation sticks out like a sore thumb and jars me out of the story.

Any additional comments?

Since I like this series of books so much I will probably still buy the rest of the series despite the same narrator being used throughout, but I must say it will be done grudgingly so.

Each book better than the last

The series continues and thankfully, each book is better than the last with characters I’ve come to respect!

Fun Story, Mediocre Narrator

The story is an entertaining, if a little bit underdeveloped, space opera, but the stilted performance hampers it and some words are outright mispronounced.

Great story in an interesting setting

This story is clearly written by an author with a military background. It demonstrates the difference between military and civilian reactions to stress and danger. Much thought went in to this book and it shows.

Great Series

I was reluctant to purchase this book for fear I really wasn't going to like this series at all. I was pleasantly surprised with it. The first book can be a little slow at times, but it was an overall good plot, and the books get increasingly better as the series progresses.

The story focuses on Kai, a young adult in her last year at her planets space academy. She has a run in with another student in the first few minutes and is forced to resign. As a member of a wealthy family that owns a vast interstellar shipping company, she is quickly given a Captains slot on a small, slow freighter. As the story unfolds, she begins a series of missions and jobs to make a much greater profit than her family expects, and to possibly save the ship from being scrapped at the end of her voyage. This includes being stuck in a system at war, and actually getting a chance to use some of her military training.

The first book, as I said, can be a little slow, but in the later books (when she starts getting weapons and faster ships) include full space battles and much more action.
Would definitely recommend this series, BUT, if you don't like the first book, listen to the second before you decide to drop the series altogether.

Not Moons best

If you just finished The Deed of Paksenarrion and bought this thinking it would be something similar just in a Science Fiction setting you are in for a disappointment.
It is too bad really. We already know Elizabeth Moon can write great books and personally I really wanted this series to be another amazing trip into another world. Unfortunately, its not. It's barely average. The narrator is stilted and mind grating, at least after just listening too Jennifer van Dyke or Stefan Rudnicki for tens of hours.
So listen to the sample first and treat the series as if you had never read anything by the author before, and if that really is the case you should pick up the Paksenarrion books instead.

Unfortunate choice of reader for a good story

I often listen to books provided by volunteer readers on a site that provides free audio books. You would expect that such readers would be less easy to listen to than a professional reader. The reader's voice was forced and tense. It made me tired just to listen. The story provides enough tension without adding the irritation of a poor performance.

Adventures in post-democracy Capitalism

Struggled to finish this one at times, but enjoyed it at the end. Not quite the space opera I was hoping for, but was rooting for the protagonist just the same.

The narrator though, dear lord, she was slow and the total opposite of fluid, like she was reciting Rime of the Ancient Mariner in front of her 8th grade English class. She certainly did nothing to enhance the story. And she narrates the 2nd book as well, which makes me hesitate.

pretty good

the story is great
the narrator is a bit flat
I recommend this as a good sci-fi book