I want to give this entire series 5 stars even though I probably won’t give any of its individual instalments that rating. Does that make sense? Vatta’s War is just such a fun and compelling space opera with a strong central character, and Elizabeth Moon is a great storyteller. I say this while simultaneously admitting that, even though I really, really enjoyed reading Engaging the Enemy, I don’t think it’s actually all that good of a book.Yeah, this is going to be one of those reviews. Buckle u...

short review of the series (huge novel split into 5) under Trading in dangerhttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

While I would like to say I have no complaints about the series, I do, but definitely not for the overall arch of the tale. It's bold as brass space opera, trying to get enough resources and allies to fight a pirate fleet, dealing with others' incompetence, and squeaking by with your own verve.In other words, this is a tale for a crowd of SF fans looking for that particular fighting flavor. Once more onto the open seas! Oh, wait, I mean, space lanes! :)As for the small stuff -- and there is smal...

This instalment both takes a breath for Ky and Stella to deal with their emotions and the magnitude of their family’s and their personal losses, and for Ky to begin exhorting various captains to band together with her so they can all fight the pirates menacing various systems.Ky and Stella come across a Vatta ship run by a sleaze of a captain, who attempts to overthrow and kill everyone on board the Garry Tobigh. Through Ky’s quick thinking and her martial training, she and Stella, regain a ship...

Whoops! I got so busy finishing up the books that I forgot to review this one. It's good! There's nothing superb or life changing about it, just an excellent space opera that grabs my interest a bit more with each book, so read them in order. The first stood alone, but had enough unfinished threads that I wanted to read the second, but I put it off. This one also wraps up its main point well enough, but now I'm so invested in the characters & how their situations will play out that I can't stop

OK, now I'm a little annoyed at myself for starting the series. The books are getting worse as Moon tries to describe space battles without having any clue of the distances involved. The main character at one point worries about ship positioning errors of 1000 meters at a distance of light minutes because otherwise it might be accidentally hit by friendly fire from a beam weapon.Hah.And all the other weaknesses I've noted in reviews of the earlier books of the series are still present. Of course...

THIS RATING AND REVIEW ARE FOR THE AUDIO EDITION I (TRIED TO) LISTEN(ED) TO ONLY. I WILL MAKE A FEW COMMENTS ABOUT THE BOOK BUT THE RATING IS ABOUT THIS AUDIO VERSION.Some of you may know that Elizabeth Moon wrote one of my all time favorite series including a trilogy I think of as one novel. So I hate that I've never been able to like her space operas. I mean I've tried and the first in this series was pretty good but I just haven't been able to get involved.HOWEVER I got the audio version of t...

Elizabeth Moon's [then] current space-opera series is really hitting its stride in this outing, which kept me up until the wee hours. Protagonist Ky Vatta is starting to get a handle on the bad guys who massacred most of her family on their homeworld, Slotter's Key. She's also getting comfortable with commanding the armed merchantman she recaptured from a rogue Vatta cousin -- the rogue leads her to the apparent mastermind behind the attack, and the newly-unified pirate fleet that's starting to

Longer, more involved and more intricate than the two preceding volumes, Trading in Danger and Marque and Reprisal, in the story of Kylara Vatta and her supporting cast of comrades, villains, and bit players. The military aspects of the story ring more true than in a lot of fiction, no doubt because the author, Elizabeth Moon, served in the Marine Corps. Her academic background in history helps with the grand politics and strategy that form the background and drive the story, too.Excellent chara...

Reread..

“Engaging the Enemy (Vatta’s War #3)” continues the military scifi adventure story of Ky Vatta, her friends & family, and her shipmates as Ky and cousin Stella work to rebuild Vatta Enterprises, and to find the enemies who have created interstellar death and destruction.The amount of detail in the book continues to be amazing, and those details continue to make the world of Vatta feel very real. It was particularly funny as Ky and Raf read through one planet’s written rules for fornication.“Enga...

Ahoy there me mateys! This here be a combined review of the second and third books of the Vatta's War series. While I try to post no spoilers, if ye haven’t read the first book and ye keep reading this log then ye have been forewarned and continue at yer own peril . . .Well book one could have been a standalone but I am extremely glad it wasn't! The second book quickly brings about a major, surprising change for the main character, Ky Vatta, and her family. It was mind-boggling but brilliant. It...

Kylara Vatta has finally made it to Lastaway, safely delivered her original cargo, and is on her way to her next trading port when she suddenly finds herself in charge of much more than the command of Fair Kaleen and her crew. There is little doubt someone or someones are out to get Vatta Transport, Ltd, but now other trading companies are under attack as well. Ky’s novice Captain skills are put to the test again as she tries to avoid trouble and postpone her grief. Corleigh has been hit hard an...

4.5*Great instalment! By now, I am used to Moon’s style of narration, one that focuses on the intricacies of this universe. Also, each 'station’ seems to have, often, very disparate cultural rules and mores, some totally bizarre, and yet fascinating. I never thought bureaucracy would make me this stressed and anxious, nearly more than the battle scenes, but they do here. As for Ky, she grows in her confidence and her role, and I cannot wait to see what she does next.

"If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs . . . you'll be a Man, my son!" wrote Rudyard Kipling. Well, Kylara kept her head and saved her crew, but it wasn't as if she had much help. Moon's tried and true plot device of "Everything I done and not done has [given us trouble]" is getting long of tooth. Similarly everyone continually having concerns but delaying communicating them with others is getting too obvious as a plot device, too. That said, the quality of Moon's storyt...

very good 3rd book in the series. The characters and plot grow nicely and logically. Good entertaining read. Recommended

The previous Vatta's War books both took me a mere 3 days to read, but this one took me 12 days. The quarantine struggle is real!!Ultimately: This one's probably 2.5 stars, in ways that Kara's review touches on nicely. As always, I actually really like the possibly-banal details of interstellar trading, managing profits, vetting new recruits, putting together a new crew. I forever love the logistics of space opera and military sci fi! I love it!! Ky trying to figure out what her next steps are,

1) I'm doing a reread of the series, shouldn't I be able to think of 'stuff' to slide into these review boxes after I'm done? Heck, I've been writing reviews for almost everything for at least 1 or 3 years now, even if it's a little as 'I loathe Jonathan' (Don't recall if that's the character's name, but that's the entirety of a review I wrote this year). But alas, not having as much luck doing reviews recently. I keep taking days, weeks to get around to them.2) I'm in the middle of the last boo...

3.5 stars. Although I may come back and round up instead of down. Right now the -0.5 is because I listened to it and the narrator wasn't very good. I kept rephrasing things in my brain using different emphasis.I really like this series, and am anxious to get to the next book, but this one was not my favorite. I think the title is a bit misleading - there wasn't a lot of Engaging the enemy in this book - mostly a lot of recovering from book 2 and preparing for book 3. Things I liked: Ky as a lead...