DarkShip Thieves

Who wants to be blessed with the name Athena Hera Sinistra? Quite the mouthful. And so much heritage to live up to. I mean seriously . . . Athena? Hera? AND Sinistra?

At any rate . . . This is an intriguing story with some fascinating ideas. The story begins with Thena sleeping as she travels with her father aboard his spaceship. She is awakened by a stealthy intruder and manages to knock him out. She recognizes him as one of her father’s ‘thugs’. As she quietly investigates the remainder of the ship, she discovers her father in the medical bay, knocked out. She hears more ‘thugs’ searching for her, so she makes it to a lifepod and separates from the ship, thinking she will escape to Circum Terra and return to rescue her show more father. Unfortunately, her plan is thwarted as she hears a broadcast, in her father’s voice, saying that she is drugged up and having hallucinations. So, instead of Circum Terra, she flees into the dangerous powertrees. Once there, she literally runs into a Darkship, thought to be a myth, harvesting powerpods. The pilot, one Christopher (Kit) Bartolomeu Klaavil, an Enhanced Life Form (ELF) called a cat, enhanced to see in very dark conditions. . . . See . . . the Darkships need people who can see in the dark to pilot them . . .

Ahem. At any rate, ELF Cat Klaavil has now rescued an earthworm. Neither person’s parent planet is likely to welcome both of them. The Terrans believe the Darkships to be a myth. Even if they were real, they would not be welcome on Circum Terra as ELFing is against the law with the penalty of death. And, the Edenites are terrified the Terrans will discover their existence and wipe them out. Therein, our story actually begins as Thena tries to make a way for herself amongst the population of a planet that does not truly trust her and tries to find a way to go home.

The story proposes some very interesting ideas and reaches some very interesting conclusions about our, as a planet, inevitable future. It discusses the idea of a few men (and make no argument, they ARE men) governing and controlling a much larger population and the results of doing so. Eden, on the other hand, is governed by very little actual government. It has few laws (not even traffic laws!) and is, instead, guided by ‘tradition’. (The descriptions of Thena’s rides in the air cars are absolutely priceless, especially to those of us who have taught teens to drive.)

In addition, the narrative explores the morality of ELF and ‘bio’ing – basically genetically manipulation to achieve the desired fetus – and how the general population may (or may not) react to such things. The populations of the two planets are on polar opposites of the ideas, and it is engrossing to see the author’s viewpoints and resolutions. It also fascinates because, well, unfortunately, I see too much validity here. It is nice to see an author bringing my conspiracy theories to life. :D

I really enjoyed this story. I found it a refreshingly different, if not unique, approach to a tale. I mean, seriously, there are very few new ideas under the sun, and it is always fun to see an author take some ideas and wrap them up in different paper. Thena is a very scrappy young lady is quite used to fighting her way through situations. Even though she argued incessantly with her father and his rules, she desperately desires to make sure he is ok. Kit has a stable life, yet still has secrets he is not willing to share. You can probably guess where this leads. And, you would be correct. However, the ride along the way is enjoyable and both characters are quite likeable. The conversations have just enough snark to entertain me. And, I really liked the idea of ‘Eden’. Ms. Hoyt’s development of the refuge was fascinating and set my mind a jumping. I always appreciate a narrative that makes me think, “What if . . .?”

I give this book 4 stars. I’m holding off reading the next book until I see a synopsis for book three because I am not completely convinced I like where the story is going. I really like this story and its characters and hope to continue once book three is released.

As a very brief afterword, I have to wonder, how *I*, an avid *dog* person, keeps reading books about cats . . . Kitty Katt, wereCats, Cat Kit Klaavil . . . I suppose none of these situations would be better served by a canine reference . . . but still . . . . show less

This is another book that I picked up for the Women of SciFi online book club. Despite reading a lot of science fiction I had not heard of this book and it’s doubtful I would have chosen it if it wasn’t on the reading list. The cover has beautiful artwork, but it doesn’t lead me to think the book is science fiction but instead screams fantasy. It’s not fantasy, it’s a space opera; there are no monsters, no one floating in space and for the most part everyone is wearing clothes. The book does span genres and while it definitely is scifi, it’s also a light romance and at times quirky and humorous.

Athena Hera Sinistra is on a routine trip with her father on his spaceship when an apparent mutiny takes place. She wakes in the show more middle of the night to find a stranger in her room. Outwitting the invaders she escapes in a lifepod seeking help. Unfortunately she heads right into the Powertree Ring, a dangerous area in space where the energy supply for Earth is produced. While trying to navigate the Powertrees she crashes into another ship hiding in the ring stealing power. The pilot of that ship, Kit, rescues her and brings her on board his ship. She soon finds out that he is from the colony of Eden, home to genetically enhanced descendents of earth that fled the planet years ago. Kit brings her back to Eden as a sort of half prisoner half guest. She wants to return to Earth and will do whatever it takes to accomplish that.

I enjoyed this book a lot. I had zero expectations when I started it. Initially I found Thena annoying but once Kit entered the story it took off for me. It was fast paced, entertaining and fun with lots of action. It had good guys, bad guys, lots of adventure and romance, and I even liked the ending. Thena’s early annoying behavior becomes more understandable once we learn more about her past. The mystery surrounding her and her family became predictable toward the end but it didn’t matter because I was having fun with this book. The romantic relationship between Thena and Kit works; they both grew into better people because of each other.

Part of why I enjoyed this book is for what it wasn’t. A lot of the scifi coming out today is very depressing, gloomy, dystopian and often exists in a difficult to relate to world. Thena and Kit’s world was easy to understand and not too distant from something our world could become. A lot of this book reminded me of the older science fiction works of authors like Robert A. Heinlein. The author even dedicates this book to Heinlein who also wrote books with strong female lead characters like Athena.

I listened to the audio version. The narration was good although not excellent. I can’t really detail anything specifically wrong, but I know an excellent narration when I hear one. I would have no problem listening to another book by this narrator.

I would recommend Darkship Thieves to anyone who enjoys a light, fun read with a little romance and a strong female lead character. Even if you don’t read science fiction, give this one a chance. I was excited to find out there is a sequel coming out later this year called Darkship Renegade which I am looking forward to reading. show less

I picked up this book for two reasons: the cover, because, c'mon, isn't it awesome? And because the main character's name is Athena, which is my cat's name. Yes, I'm aware those are pretty lame reasons for reading a book, but it turned out well, because this was a very fun read! I generally prefer fantasy to science fiction, although I do like both. This novel leaned a bit more to fantasy than scifi in my opinion, with plenty of romance thrown in, too (that was somewhat unexpected, but it worked well in the plot). It was also quite funny, with a strong lead female character, always a plus with me. It's a very light, fast read, not something that stays with you too long, but fun and good for just those reasons. Recommended!

[Darkship Thieves] by [[Sarah A. Hoyt]] (479 pp.)

Billed as good space opera, this book was an easy, undemanding read that left me slightly flat. Add this to a growing list of female writers who have entered science fiction to write stories, often with very interesting world-building, that read like romances (Ann Aguirre, Linnea Sinclair, Catherine Asaro). Although I love a good character-driven relationship like those in Bujold, Moon, and Lee as part of the story, these others don't have the character development, or something, that lets me forget the relationship is central. Does that make sense?

Thena is the daughter of a Good Man, one of those who are rulers of areas of Earth. Escaping from an attack in her father's spaceship, she show more runs her lifeboat into a legendary darkship. The first part of the book deals with her adjustment (or not) to the world of these darkship thieves, while the second deals with her return to Earth and readjustment while finally (I beat her to it by at least 100 pages) figuring out what had been going on in the initial attack. Interesting concepts but given a fairly cursory treatment, other than what I thought was going to be a political treatise when she first was in the darkship. Overall, entertaining, a good genre novel, but doesn't rise above it. show less

Several hundred years ago the human race was experimenting with genetic engineering. History says that they designed smarter people to rule over them, but instead of helping humanity they were to cold and calculating and natural humans revolted and slaughtered most of them. Some supposedly escaped into space in their darkships never to be heard from again. Darkships are now almost more myth than history, but humans still fear anyone who may have been altered. Athena is the rebellious daughter of a member of the ruling class. While traveling with her father, she wakes up just before one of his bodyguards tries to sedate her. When she sees her father unconscious in the medical bay she ends up fleeing the ship in a lifepod. The bodyguards show more continue to chase her and tell the nearest space station that she is hallucinating and dangerous. Instead of trying to talk her way out of it at the space station, she flees into an energy pod forest in hopes of getting picked up by one of the workers she knows. Instead her lifepod bumps into a darkship. The pilot rescues her, but Athena is stunned to discover he has been genetically altered. The pilot, Kit, is a descendant of the humans that fled earth, but the history he has learned is rather different than what Athena has been taught. What they discover will shake the foundations of both their worlds.

I really enjoy space opera and this one kept me up late at night reading. It had all the elements I love about space opera romance, action, and intrigue. I was able to guess some of the plot lines, but others I didn't see coming. I really liked Kit's character and I really wanted to know what really happened with the mules. I knew the story Athena had learned wouldn't be accurate, and I liked how it was an eyewitness that straightened the story out and not just stories passed down. The romance was not overwhelming to the story and not graphic. I liked that because the romance in a space opera should flavor not be the main course in my opinion. My one big grip with the story is toward the end when all the action is coming together, there is too much description and not enough action. Every action Athena takes is explained and every setting is detailed and how that can help or hinder her is brought to our attention. This really bogged the action down and broke the flow of the story. show less

Georgette Heyer in the 24th century (or thereabouts).
A romance in the humorous tradition of the Regencies, but with space ships and bio-engineering.
The protagonist is engaging (and clearly an avatar for the author), and the romance and action are okay, but there isn't a lot of depth (nor is any intended).
Brief "historical" references put the time somewhere after the destruction of the USA (shout-outs to the Usaians are positive, but not tendentious).
Rating is PG13 for sexual allusions and nudity, some mild language.
(add detail notes later)

Athena Hera Sinistra awakes aboard her father's space ship with someone looming over her. She runs and assumes the ship is under mutiny. She takes a life pod and flees into forest of energy pods where she crashes into a black alien ship stealing pods. He captures her and takes her back to his home asteroid, Eden. The inhabitants are mostly human, although some like her captor, Kit, are ELFed (enhanced life formed) to run the darkships. As Athena learns about Kit, his family and where these people came from her whole idea of who and what she is comes into question. Lots of action, romance and mystery in this science fiction tale. Looking forward to the next in the series.