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The infinite blackness of space provides ample room for all walks of life and all standards of business. Like in the age of exploration on Earth, many brave and intrepid souls can take to a life of sailing, importing, and exporting goods with varying degrees of legality. For Graciela Lucerne, this is the life she has always known: serving on her parents' ship as it worked the outer reaches of the heliosphere. Wanting to do things her way and make her name among the stars, she acquires a full education and works her way towards the rank of captain. With her crew of Tang the gorilla, Jack the canine, and Octopus the octopus, these rag-tag sentients run afoul and alongside the law and get their feet wet in a whole galaxy of experiences, building a reputation for their little ship, the LunaCola.
Setting up the events of the author's previous book, this installment relays the origin stories of the LunaCola and its rough and tumble team. Striking a balance between the parts of technical explanation and character-driven narrative that make up any good piece of science fiction, the author's allegories between space travel and the high seas define and inform the flavor of this entire story. At its heart, this is a tale of privateers, profiteers, and pirates moving goods from port to port, albeit set among the stars with strange technologies and behavioral habits. Readers unfamiliar with the author's earlier novel will fall right in step with this narrative of beginnings that brings the characters and their world together. Meanhile, fans will delight in learning the backstories behind characters they already know and love.