The series is back on track with this book. Once again we can follow the steadfast Ishmael Horatio Wang in his almost-adventures across the Deep Dark. Will he face danger? Not quite. Will he struggle against enemies? Not really. Will he risk life and limb for amazing profits? Um, probably not. That's not very prudent.

Somehow this series still excites me despite having none of the characteristics of enjoyable genre fiction. I can't explain it and that's okay. ( )

Having solved his last ship's problems, he now gets another problem ship to fix - but at least this time he's the captain and doesn't have to work around authority. Lots of interesting characters. Little sex, mostly because he won't "screw around with crew" - which causes some problems itself. ( )

I'm going to be so sorry to see this series end, glad I have at least one more novel to go. ( )

The series is back on track with this book. Once again we can follow the steadfast Ishmael Horatio Wang in his almost-adventures across the Deep Dark. Will he face danger? Not quite. Will he struggle against enemies? Not really. Will he risk life and limb for amazing profits? Um, probably not. That's not very prudent.

Somehow this series still excites me despite having none of the characteristics of enjoyable genre fiction. I can't explain it and that's okay. ( )

Ishmael is now given the opportunity as a captain but it is for the worst ship in the company fleet. He must find a way to engage the crew and find a way to turn around the entire situation on his ship. In his usual charismatic way, he works to find common understanding with the elements of the crew that are belligerent and the downtrodden. Using a contest on cargo picking as a catalyst to spur interest and excitement with a couple members of the crew spills over to the rest of the crew in morale. Another very good read in this series. ( )

Better than the last book, but still too far from the original for me to recapture my love for the series.

All reviews say to pretend the next, and final, book doesn't exist, so I'm going to do that. ( )

The stakes take another leap as Ishmael advances in grade, now facing some challenges he has to admit he is not completely equipped to master. As always, the supporting cast is nicely depicted in a low-key way. There are a few conflict-laden settings which we haven't seen before in this series which do well to break up the routine which has been established.

Anyone who's made it this far into the saga should know pretty well whether this is the kind of storytelling they like or not. ( )

I didn't finish this episode. This particular combination of juvenile writing style and adult themes has worn out its welcome with me and I quit about 2/3 of the way through.

Perhaps it's that older Ishmael isn't as appealing as he was as a younger man and the supporting cast in this episode isn't as likable. Perhaps it's that I find the content extremely unbalanced when the upheaval caused by adultery in the life the protagonist gets less page space than a discussion of cleaning a coffee urn did a few volumes back.

Whatever the reason, I had picked up the first five as a group and gave them a good run, but 4½ of them is as much as I can manage. I won't be continuing on to Owner's Share. ( )