Darkship Renegades (Darkship Book 2) - Sarah A. Hoyt

Title: Darkship Renegades (Darkship Book 2)
Author: Sarah A. Hoyt
Genre: Science Fiction
Published: 2012
Formats: Paperback/Ebook

Available at:
Amazon
The Book Depository
Amazon UK

Review:
“Darkship Renegades” by Sarah A. Hoyt is the sequel to her entertaining space opera novel “Darkship Thieves” which I previously reviewed here. In this book Kit & Athena return from their adventures and find Eden now under the control of one man and themselves on trial as traitors. There only hope is to return to Earth again and try to understand the technology and science behind growing powertrees which could free Eden from relying on risky harvest runs to Earth. However, before they leave Kit is badly injured an in attempt to save him Doc Bartholomew undertakes a risky procedure. The results are not as expected and when Kit regains consciousness it becomes clear that he is no longer the same man. However, the mission must go on even if it means the Kit we all know maybe lost forever.

This is a very different book from the previous novel in that a lot of it is given over to philosophising over political, sociological and psychological issues rather than focusing just on action and adventure. Yes there are elements of action interspersed throughout the novel but nothing like the fast paced mayhem that we saw in “Darkship Thieves”. I actually found it quite nice to experience something a little different and more complex this time. At times I found myself truly fascinated and enjoying following the overall journey that the story was taking me on. However, I do need to add that at times the pace seemed a bit too slow due to Hoyt sometimes going a bit too far in her philosophising. If she had found a better way of toning these thoughtful moments down and merging them better into the action and adventure it would probably have been an excellent book rather than just an average one.

One of the biggest flaws I found in this book though was in regards to the characters; in “Darkship Thieves” the big appeal was the fearless strong willed heroine Thena and her relationship with the ever sarcastic Kit. However, in this book both these elements have been reduced with Thena seemingly ineffective at doing anything these days and Kit suffering from a medical condition which means he isn’t the same man anymore thus affecting their relationship. Honestly, after all the work done in the previous novel to build these characters up it was a bit frustrating to see this all undone.

Overall, I found “Darkship Renegades” to be a reasonably enjoyable story but it didn’t entertain me to the same level as the previous novel in the series. The changes to the characters were a bit frustrating and the philosophising can slow down the plot but there was still enough there to keep me interested. If you have read the first book you are still likely to get something out of reading this one.