The fourth book in the Vattas War series from Nebula Award-winner Moon continues the action-packed militaristic story of Kylara Vatta, who must bring a ragtag group of traders together into a cohesive force who must strike back at their foes.

With the Vatta's War series, award-winning author Elizabeth Moon has claimed a place alongside such preeminent writers of military science fiction as David Weber and Lois McMaster Bujold. Now Moon is back and so is her butt-kicking, take-no-prisoners heroine, Kylara Vatta. Once the black-sheep scion of a prosperous merchant family, Kylara now leads a motley space force dedicated to the defeat of a rapacious pirate empire led by the mysterious Gammis Turek. After orchestrating a galaxy-wide failure of the communications network owned and maintained by the powerful ISC corporation, Turek and his marauders strike swiftly and without mercy. First they shatter Vatta Transport. Then they overrun entire star systems, growing stronger and bolder. No one is safe from the pirate fleet. But while they continue to move forward with their diabolical plan, they have made two critical mistakes. Their first mistake was killing Kylara Vatta's family. Their second mistake was leaving her alive. Now Kylara is going to make them pay. But with a fleet consisting of only three ships including her flagship, the Vanguard, a souped-up merchant cruiser Kylara needs allies, and fast. Because even though she possesses the same coveted communication technology as the enemy, she has nowhere near their numbers or firepower. Meanwhile, as Kylara's cousin Stella tries to bring together the shattered pieces of the family trading empire, new treachery is unfolding at ISC headquarters, where undercover agent Rafael Dunbarger, estranged son of the corporation's CEO, is trying to learn why the damaged network is not be ing repaired. What he discovers will send shock waves across the galaxy and crashing into Kylara's newly christened Space Defense Force at the worst possible moment.

Publisher:

DEL REY BOOKS

ISBN:

9780345491602

Publication date:

January 2008

Length:

175mm

Width:

105mm

Thickness:

26mm

Weight:

186g

Pages:

372

PRAISE FOR ELIZABETH MOON
TRADING IN DANGER
Bound to appeal to fans of David Weber's Honor Harrington series, this sf adventure is filled with fast-paced action and well-conceived characters.
-Booklist
Compelling . . . a superior novel . . . Trading in Danger [has] originality and intelligence.
-SciFi.com
MARQUE AND REPRISAL
Excellent plotting and characters support the utterly realistic action sequences: swift, jolting, [and] merciless.
-Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
The intrigue-filled plot lends a marque of distinction.
-Entertainment Weekly
ENGAGING THE ENEMY
This is the kind of space opera I love best: complicated, fast-paced, full of nifty sfnal tropes that have interesting consequences.
-SF Site
Marvelously compelling . . . consummate military-adventure science fiction.
-SciFi.com

From the Hardcover edition.