Darkship Thieves

By: Sarah A. Hoyt

Narrated by: Kymberly Dakin

Athena Hera Sinistra never wanted to go to space. Never wanted see the eerie glow of the Powerpods. Never wanted to visit Circum Terra. Never had any interest in finding out the truth about the DarkShips. You always get what you don't ask for. Which must have been why she woke up in the dark of shipnight, within the greater night of space in her father's space cruiser, knowing that there was a stranger in her room. In a short time, after taking out the strangerwho turned out to be one of her father's bodyguards up to no good, she was hurtling away from the ship in a lifeboat to get help. But what she got instead would be the adventure of a lifetime - if she managed to survive.

©2010 Sarah A Hoyt (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Loved It!

Any additional comments?

Really enjoyed this book. The story is great and the narrator is really good. Winner all around. On to the next in the series!

A Heinleinian woman

You have to love a heroine named Athena Hera Sinistra. By the end of the first chapter, we've learned that our 19-year-old protagonist is the terror of everyone she's ever crossed paths with, capable of beating up professional mercenaries singlehandedly, and has a rack that makes men stop to stare in the middle of a crisis. A little Mary Sue-ish? Well, some of her preternatural abilities are explained later in the book, but yes, we've got some serious Heinleinian wish fulfillment going on here.

"Heinleinian" is not necessarily a bad thing. Darkship Thieves reads a lot like an homage to Heinlein's classic space operas, with hyper-competent, rather ruthless but ultimately moral protagonists sharing pithy words of wisdom and vaguely libertarian sentiments while kicking bad guys in the crotch.

Athena Hera Sinistra is the daughter of a Patrician, one of the "Goodmen" who rule Earth as an oligarchy. Spoiled, tempestuous, brilliant, beautiful, and dangerous, and with some series Daddy Issues, she finds herself seemingly being kidnapped aboard her own father's space yacht by his mercenary goons. She escapes, doing plenty of damage in the process, and runs into the "Energy Tree" that someone centuries ago created to float beyond Earth orbit and grow "power pods" which are harvested for Earth's energy needs.

Okay, the science is a little dodgy.

Athena gets picked up by one of the legendary "Darkship Thieves," who steal power pods and flee back to their secret base in the outer solar system. Carried off by the superhuman genetically-enhanced cat-man, Athena begins what is of course an inevitable kiss-kiss-slap romance with our futuristic space highwayman. She learns about their advanced asteroid, "Eden," run along vaguely anarcho-libertarian principles, and begins to become integrated into their society. Then her boy gets captured while making another power pod run, and she has to go back to Earth for a confrontation with Daddy Dearest, in which we learn all kinds of deep dark secrets about Earth's real history and Daddy's sinister plans for his little girl, and an entire gang of space biker allies is introduced in the final act.

Darkship Thieves was a fun romp. The writing is just okay and the story was, as I said, largely rehashed Heinlein, with a stronger romantic element, but if you like classic SF, this is a fairly well-executed tribute.

A fun romp that sucks you in and holds on tight

Sarah Hoyt’s Darkship Thieves is a fun romp that sucks you in and holds on tight. I started out reading a bound copy I purchased from the author, but liked it so much I sprang for the audiobook so I could listen during my commute.

If you’re a fan of Heinlein, you’ll enjoy this book. It is part Friday, part I Shall Fear No Evil, and part excellent world building and storytelling. Hoyt’s attention to details in her settings and characters comes through in three dimensional Technicolor, and I found myself sitting in the car to listen to the end of a chapter more than once. The story has space opera, intrigue, and future history, all of which kept my attention.

Kymberly Dakin was an excellent choice to give voice to the main character, who narrates the entire book. She did an impressive job of conveying the world and characters that Mrs. Hoyt created.

Because this is the first book in a series, the author had to spend quite a bit of time describing the word in which it happens. Some readers will find this to be a bit of a drag on the plot, but the world that Hoyt builds is intricate and well filled out. Otherwise, the plot moves along at a good clip.

Like I said, this reminds me a lot of Heinlein’s later works, and so the story is probably a bit too adult for readers under 15 or so. There is some language, but it’s not gratuitous.

I’ve packed the sequel, Darkship Renegades, for a business trip, and I can’t wait to get started. I think that once you give Darkship Thieves a try, you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.

Science Fiction Romance

First off, the performance by Kimberly Dakin was excellent, I felt it captured the voice of Athena incredibly well.

And that voice is also my key caveat with the book. The middle section was very tough for me to get through. I was drawn into the book by the initial sections doing solid world building, the glimpses into the future history of Earth and developments within the solar systems, laying promise for the rest of the book. I also found the early Athena to be a bit of an acquired taste but after a few chapters got into it all.

And then I was dropped into a Harlequin romance! It was only my hope to get some answers about the future history and developments there that kept me going through the middle of the novel. I thought the third "act" was mostly a good return to the initial form, although possibly a bit rushed in the denouement.

Solid enough 'ending' to make this an acceptable stand-alone book but clearly also a setup for a sequel.

I enjoyed the book

It was a good book, and enjoyed it. The main character had a lot of spice and was destructive in her thoughts, which I liked.

Good space opera.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Any friend who is looking for a just plain fun story will love this.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Athena. Her voyage of self-discovery that moves through the story is compelling.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Absolutely. It drove me nuts to have to pause the IPOD in order to go to work, but I had to go to work to buy more audiobooks

Any additional comments?

Dakin's reading is excellent. Just enough emotion carries through without trying to out-perform the story.

Fun original sci-fi

While not perfect, Dark Ship Thieves is a refreshing fun and original sci-fi with a charming female protagonist and great reader.

Darkship thieves

I absolutally loved it. Lots of excitement, action/adventure and I loved the ending - the story concluded well - though I could see where it was going ahead of time, there was still a surprise at the end that really made it moving (which I didn't see coming). I'm not going to say anymore on the end, so I don't spoil it. This book is for anyone who loves scifi's and adventure (and of course romance). It's something I would listen to again.

Fun

It was just a really fun book , I kept looking forward to driving around and listening to it

A Must For any SciFi Fan

What made the experience of listening to Darkship Thieves the most enjoyable?

Exciting story Line and Kimberly Dakin Brought it to Life

What other book might you compare Darkship Thieves to and why?

Star Wars Good Story Telling

Which scene was your favorite?

I Loved It All

Any additional comments?

I Could not Stop Listening
I was Up All Night