Get Your Hands On A Hole In The Sky (Arkship Trilogy #1) Engineered By Peter F. Hamilton Presented In Brochure

never given a review before, it seems I have chosen a difficult one to start on.


This is not the typical Peter F, Hamilton story.

If you are expecting a long, complex, tale, told through the eyes of a dozen characters.
Come into this tale knowing he has another ride in store for you,

This is a YA novel told through a single view point,

It tells of Hazel, ayearold girl, aboard an ark ship that has been traveling overyears to a new home world.
She learns of a hole in the ship that is leaking atmosphere, and follows her as she attempts to close it.


This is a tale of a dystopian society and the morality of questioning obedience, Peter F. Hamilton, known for his "wide screen" no, that's not something I came up with on my own space operas, full of dozens of characters, menacing aliens, multiple viewpoints, and large scale space battles, and complex plots, has done something completely different.
He's written a YA novel, A HOLE IN THE SKY is the first volume, if you will, in the Arkship Trilogy, I say "if you
will" because the novel is released in audio form only, and quite frankly I'm not sure if the term volume still applies, although I suppose it does.


The fact that it is a YA novel is not the only departure for Hamilton.
Whereas his other novels are told from multiple viewpoints, A HOLE IN THE SKY is a first person narrative told in a linear fashion.
Hamilton is well known for his complex plots covering multiple characters in different settings, The characters and plotlines eventually converge, bringing together everything and
everyone into one climactic and scintillating event that typically leaves the reader wanting for more.
Not so with A HOLE IN THE SKY,

The novel takes place in the arkship Daedalus, As with most generationalhip stories, the Daedalus is searching for a new home after leaving the Earth.
The Daedalus is on its second search, leaving behind the first world that it found because of indigenous life forms.
It is thus on ayear journey to its second home,

People in the Daedalus live a very simple life, almost, but not quite a type of pretechnology life.
And while it's a simple life, mostly consisting of farming, there is some technology, most of which is in the control of the law enforcement team, known as the Regulators, and the medical team, which has some rudimentary technology.
The arkship is in this state because some time in
the past there was a rebellion, during which most of the technology was destroyed.
The captain held off the rebellion, but in the process uploaded herself into the computer systems to become "the Electric Captain", who occasionally appears on the video screens in each of the villages to give announcements and make pronouncements.
The people who live in the Daelalus live a simple life,
looking forward to the time that they land on their new home.


Because the ship is on what amounts to a second voyage, everything must be rationed and cycled, which includes the humans themselves.
At the age ofas I remember, I could be wrong at this point, all humans are cycled for the good of the remaining humans living on the Daedalus.
Our protagonist, Hazel, a late teenage girl participating in Cycling Day, is given a message by one of the
Cheaters those who run away to live past their Cycling Date.
She is told that the atmosphere is leaking out of the Daedalus, which is the cause of the headaches everyone is having.
After her brother suffers an accident that leaves him paralyzed, Hazel and her brother go off in search of the Cheaters.
While with the Cheaters she discovers that everything she has been told is a lie, and that
the residents of the Daedalus are in grave danger.


Yes, this is a YA novel, Yes, this is different from anything Hamilton has ever done, But you can see typical Hamilton stuff within this novel, Our protagonists are in grave danger from an alien threat while this may seem like a spoiler to some, in reality anyone who had

consumed a Hamilton novel knows that alien threats are the norm.
The Electric Captain is not really on their side again, not a surprise for anyone who has read any Hamilton prior to this.
And while there isn't some "wide screen scope" that Hamilton readers are used to, there is enough here that reminds the reader that this is really is a Hamilton novel.


Is it any good Well, I think so, As a rule, I don't read YA I've been putting off reading the Alastair Reynolds YA novels, but A HOLE IN THE SKY may get me started reading those.
, but as this was a Peter F, Hamilton book I couldn't resist giving it a try, Once I gave it a chance, I did enjoy it, I've been reading a few reviews from folks saying that they didn't like it because it was not what they're used to from Hamilton.
You know, that's okay. You don't have to like every book by an author whose works you love, Yes, it's different. But different doesn't have to mean it's bad, And A HOLE IN THE SKY is not bad, It's actually quite good.

The other thing that should be discussed is the narrator, Elizabeth Katt is not John Lee, the usual narrator for Hamilton's audio books, But that's okay. I don't think Lee should have been the narrator for this YA effort, Is Katt the right narrator for this She certainly seems to be okay for it, I definitely had no problem with her narration, A different narrator for a different type of
book is certainly called for, Many of those same reviewers I mentioned earlier didn't like her narration, I think it's because they are used to something else from Hamilton, including the narrator, I think it's important to keep an open mind on these things, In any event, I think both the story and the narrator worked, at least for me, I think it will work for most folks if they just give it a chance, I was a little leery at the start of this book, Not sure about the narrator and the story just wasnt adding up to what I expected from Hamilton.
Then BAM and I was hooked till the end when John showed up,
Bookcannot come soon enough, Full Synopsis
From New York Times bestselling author Peter F, Hamilton comes his first audio original, A Hole in the Sky, Bookin the Arkship Trilogy,

Sixteenyear old Hazel lives in the Daedalus, ahip that is flying in search of a new world.
The ship has been traveling for five hundred years, searching for a world to settle in after having to abandon its last world.
Everyone on board Daedalus lives a very simple existence in farming villages, The age of machines supplying their needs was lost during a mutiny five hundred years ago, The captain regained control of the ship after a huge struggle, Now, with finite resources, everything in the habitat is Cycled, including humans, who essentially are suicided at sixtyfive so they don't deplete the biosphere's resources.


Hazel encounters the Cheaters, people who refused to Cycle, who tell her the Daedalus has been damaged and its atmosphere is leaking away.
When her brother has a paralyzing accident which condemns him to be Cycled since he can no longer be productive, Hazel runs off with him to join the Cheaters.
While with the Cheaters, she discovers that much of what has been told to the people living on Daedalus for the last five hundred years is untrue, and that the ship is under the control of Aliens called the Yi.
Soon, Hazel is in a thrilling race to help repair the ship and help the people of the Daedalus escape the Yi.
A surprising audio book from Peter Hamilton which very definitely should be labelled as Young Adult', It's extremely disappointing when you expect a great story from such an accomplished author to quickly realise this.
The storyline is relatively simple, but the narrator is so clipped, British, and precise she becomes extremely irritating.
It's as if the book is being spoken by a bunch of hyperenthusiastic teenagers, It's all so chirpy and positive it often reminded me of the Enid Blyton 'Famous Five' series from my early youth, it's so sweetly happy, 'girly' and gungho.
I could go on, but I'd just end up sounding like a deeply cynical human being, I love cynicism, and I'm good at it

Suffice it to say that if you're a moderately intelligent, even half grownup reader, move quickly on.
My single hope is that Peter Hamilton's future output bears no relation to this, A hole in the sky
By Peter f Hamilton and Elizabeth klett

This is an amazing story.
. showing how propaganda can affect generations, The story of space colonization and personal trust of government,
I like the audible version that brings you into the story,
The character development is amazing, I like the strong femal heroine,
The characters have universal appeal, I would give it/stars, I think teens would give it a solidstars,

This is an adventure in an ark ship travelling through interstellar space for a new planet near a distant star.
All are distant, but they skipped the first star since the one habitable planet was already occupied by a near sentient life form.
Hundreds of years before the time of this story there was a mutiny by a group that wanted to return to that star and claim that planet for themselves rather than drag out the voyage, but the mutineers lost control.
Not all is as it seems though, It is believed that so much of the ship was destroyed during the "mutiny" that the people who survived have returned to a handtomouth existence growing their own food.
These survivors must also "recycle" themselves when they are no longer productive, They are given a drug to stop their heart, set on a platform and dropped into the beyond or whatever.


The conflict begins when Hazel's rambunctious younger brother falls and injures his spinal cord, He is judged too injured to support himself, so he will be "recycled," no appeal, Hazel takes her brother into the hills to live with "The Cheaters", the people who run away before their recycle date.
Supposedly, they steal food from the rest of the community, but when Hazel finds "the Cheaters" she also finds that everything she was taught was wrong.
In fact, the ship has been taken over by aliens, She also seems to be the only one who can activate some of the old technology including the medical machines that might be able to cure her brother.


The goals for this book are to save her brother from death, cure him if she can and awaken the ship's old Artificial Intelligences.
There are several AI's covering various sections of the ship and they have different tasks and thus they are helpful in different ways.


Any problems with this story Well, . . it all seems to hinge on a couple of young teenagers while the adults act like mindless idiots.
This is to be expected in a novel aimed at teens, It has a juvenile feel to it, Also, Hazel acts too timid, It is natural to avoid responsibility, but it went on too long, It took a lot of guts to give up her entire future to save her brother, so where did that brave Hazel go when she discovered the tools to make it all happen Eventually she has no choice, but to take the lead.


Any modesty issues No sex is described, It is only implied and socially acceptable, Birth control is not only ubiquitous, it is openly encouraged by parents and society in general, The author doesn't make a big deal about it, but it does exist, I don't recall any vulgar language, but it has been a few days since I read this book.


Normally the author writes very long books, Part one ends well.

I already read the sequel, "sitelinkThe Captain's Daughter", It picks up more or less where this book leaves off and adds additional background information here and there for those joining the series in the middle.
As always, joining a series in the middle loses some of the impact of the story, so I recommend reading bookfirst.
If you like book, you will also like book,

I'll probably read this book again as part of rereading the series,
.