My quick thoughts

Pretty enjoyable some of the underlying twists were predictable but still enjoyable and didn’t spoil my enjoyment, the narrator was okay, I suppose the vocal inflection was to reflect being brought up on the Brontë sisters, well my guess anyway

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Fun ride

A good continuation of the first book. Enjoyed the characters and the plot, one or two bits I saw coming, but over all a fun ride. Would recommend.

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advance notice to audible

suitable narrators for books over the last 3 months has dropped like a stone. selectors panel needs some arse kicking. I would much preferred to have read it myself

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Shockingly poor narration

Why this narrator was chosen I have no idea. Had to cringe my way through the book. The story could have been better but the narrator made it unnecessarily painful.

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Its More a young adult book but still enjoyable

Narrator was fine, story runs along at a fair pace. The aliens feel like the aliens from Pandora's Star with a little more thought put into them. If you've read a lot of the authors work then it will all feel quite familiar, a bit like comfy old slippers.

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Definitely Hamilton!

Different in style but this is pure Hamilton. Fantastic future culture and technology, terrifyingly hostile aliens, huge building-destroying fights with high energy weapons! I find myself desperate to listen to the final book.

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A good continuation of the story

The Captain’s Daughter is the second instalment in Peter F Hamilton’s Arkship Trilogy, currently released as audio exclusives, and following on directly from A Hole in the Sky.

Hazel, Fraser, and their friends and relatives have successfully repaired the Daedalus, and in doing so have exposed the alien Yi as the true commanders of the ship. With the Yi using the Electric Captain to control the population over the centuries since the mutiny, humanity fell into an agrarian society with a limited lifespan, being cycled once they reach a certain age or they became ill and unable to contribute to the work required to keep things going. Yet now things are different, and with the information given to her by a command AI, and the revelation that she is a direct descendant of the original Captain, Hazel must convince the other inhabitants of this truth. Not only this, but she must once again travel into Yi territory to find another AI that may be able to help them, and to discover more of what happened during the mutiny. What she discovers of the Yi’s history on the Daedalus, their motivation and presence, only reinforces that she must seek a way to regain control of the ship before it’s too late…

I said in my review of A Hole in the Sky that this isn’t your usual Hamilton, being more focused and on a smaller scale, and the same goes for The Captain’s Daughter – to an extent. Now that the revelation of the Yi has been made there are definite changes to the storytelling, giving more detail and looking into aspects of the Daedalus that weren’t necessarily apparent in A Hole in the Sky. Hamilton is definitely allowing his imagination to flex, and it’s nice to see this expansion in more of the detailed side that I enjoy reading. With more revealed of the Daedalus, it raises plenty of questions that aren’t always entirely answered – but hopefully will do in the concluding volume, Queens of an Alien Sun.

With the story told in the first person from Hazel’s point of view, we don’t always get to see everything that is happening. Yet this doesn’t adversely affect the story in any way, and some of the action sequences work very well done like this, conveying a real sense of fear and urgency that genuinely had me wondering which way things would pan out. We also learn a lot through discussion and revelations to her rather than infodumps, with some of these done very nicely, and left me eager to find out more. Suffice to say that there are revelations and events that really raise the game, and the stakes, for Hazel and the rest of humanity.

Narration is by Elizabeth Klett, and she does a good job once again. Admittedly, it took me a while to get into her style for A Hole in the Sky, but no such issues adjusting this time.

All-in-all The Captain’s Daughter picks up the story and runs with it, barely letting up throughout, and building on every aspect of A Hole in the Sky. Some great stuff here, and while there is the YA label attached to it, that’s more to do with the age of the protagonist, Hazel, than the actual nature and content of the story. I’ll very much be looking forward to the final book in the Arkship Trilogy, Queens of an Alien Sun.

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Narration slightly annoying

The entire book seems childish. Perhaps it is anyway, but the narrator makes the rambling and unimaginative story even more so. Yours, a huge Peter f fan.

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Famous Five in Space

More of the same and most enjoyable. I'm off to get book three - can't wait for a sale.

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Excellent

I honestly think this is Hamilton's best work since the Void Trilogy. After reading the bloated Great North Road and problematic Salvation sequence, this was a breath of fresh air.

Yes, it's aimed at younger readers, but so what? Shades of Niven and Orwell in here, I thought. Really well put together and thus far quite a brilliant if horrible story.

The narrator takes some getting used to, but once you've done that it's all good. Will probably read them again when the printed versions are released.

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