"Great world builder"

He has lived on the spaceship Gobelyn's Market all his life going wherever the trading takes him but he knew at an early age that he was an unwanted child. His mother and ship's captain Iza Gobelyn wanted to abort him and the only reason she did not is because her husband talked her out of it. When the ship goes in to dry dock for repairs, Jethri is told that he has been transferred to another ship.

Since he doesn't want to go on the ship his mother chose for him, he is happy that when he does a favor for Liaden Master trader Norn Ven 'Deelin, she insists he be an apprentice aboard the Elthorial, He is the first Terran to be apprenticed by a Liaden and he incurs the enmity of those Liadens who feel threatened by him and wish to see him fail. His friends and family, both Terran and Liaden, go to extreme measures to make sure that Jethri is left in peace to trade on behalf of the people who adopted him.

BALANCE OF TRADE takes place in the early days of space trading when Liaden and Terran preferred to ignore the other's existence. The protagonist's innocence and naiveté endears him to his to the audience who hope he gets his heart's desire. Sharon Lee and Steve Miller are great world builders; so much so that readers find themselves actually believing the Liaden Universe actually exists.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted January 10, 2004

Summary

Set in the early space-trading days of the Liaden Universe®, the story of how an ordinary Terran became the pivot point in galactic clash of cultures, and how the more he tried to be just like his father, the less the universe seemed inclined to help. More than that: by trying to survive he became living proof that... ...A Little Knowledge is A Dangerous Thing. Assistant Trader Jethri Gobelyn was an honest, hardworking young man who knew: *a lot about living onboard his family's space-going trade ship Gobelyn's Market *something about trade, finance, and risk-taking *a little bit about Liadens It was, oddly enough, the little bit he knew about Liadens that seemed like it might be enough to make his family's fortune, and his own, too. In short order, however, Jethri Gobelyn was about to find out a lot more about Liadens... ...like how far they might go to protect their name and reputation. Like the myriad of things one might say— intentionally or not—with a single bow. Like what it would take to make a Liaden trade-ship crew trash a bar. Like how hard it is to say "I'm sorry!" in Liaden. Pretty soon it was clear that as little as he knew about Liadens, he knew far less about himself. With his very existence a threat to the balance of trade, Jethri Gobelyn needed to learn fast, or else help destroy all he held dear.