The Solar Queen
by Andre Norton

Description:
Following the career of young Dane Thorson, who starts as an assistant to the cargo master, Sargasso of Space and Plague Ship are adventures that take the independent free-trader ship Solar Queen to exotic planets. Norton captures, with great excitement and interest, the camaraderie of the diverse crew and the way they pull together their wits and instincts to work through tight spots and beat seemingly impossible odds. Through these two novels, Dane Thorson grows into his job, the reader is treated to vintage space opera with a sense of wonder about the mysteries that face humankind out in the galaxy beyond Earth.

As Dane Thorson and his crewmates deal with the special problems of a small interstellar cargo ship, readers will be glued to their seats, wondering how these plucky, determined spacefarers can get themselves through the nasty scrapes that dog the spaceways.