She Treads Softly: A Hole in The Sky

Wednesday, December 24, 2025

A Hole in The Sky

A Hole in The Sky by Peter F. Hamilton
1/20/26; 400 pages
Angry Robot
Arkship Trilogy #1

A Hole in The Sky by Peter F. Hamilton is a very highly recommended science fiction novel and is the first book in a new space opera trilogy.

The Daedalus is a generation ship that has been traveling for 500 years searching for a new world after the last world visited was rejected. Almost seventeen-year-old Hazel has been chosen to be the flower girl on Cycling Day, the day when residents over the age of 65 are recycled (killed) to make room for the new generations. On this day three cheaters, people who hid an avoided recycling, have been captured and are going to be part of the ceremony. One of the Cheaters, an older woman, whispers to Hazel that the habitat in the Daedalus has been damaged and is running out of air.

When Hazel's fourteen-year-old brother Frazer, has an accident and is paralyzed, he is unable to work and so he is schedules to be recycled. Hazel sneaks him out one night and the two find the hidden Cheaters. Hazel discovers that the people on the Daedalus have been lied to for years and that something else is afoot on the ship. Hazel sets off to help repair the air leak on the ship while continuing to learn more and more about what is really going on aboard the ship.

The well-written narrative is mainly told through dialogue, which makes sense because A Hole in The Sky was originally released as an audiobook in 2021. There are plenty of surprises and twists as Hazel sets off on her heroic quest to save the Daedalus while also learning about the past of the ship along with her own history. Sure you have to suspend some disbelief, but the action, new revelations, the foe they must battle, and the story made this easy to do and I quite enjoyed the journey.

This was originally released as YA entertainment, so some of the hard science fiction elements adult readers might expect aren't all there. However, the story is compelling and there are still plenty of elements to interest adult readers and intrigue those new to science fiction. It held my complete attention throughout. The only downside is that it is part of a trilogy and I'm ready for the rest of the story.

A Hole in The Sky is a wonderful choice for those readers new to science fiction as well as everyone who already enjoy it. Thanks to Angry Robot for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

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John Updike's six rules for reviewing:

1. Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.

2. Give him enough direct quotation--at least one extended passage--of the book's prose so the review's reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.

3. Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy precis.

4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending.

5. If the book is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author's oeuvre or elsewhere. Try to understand the failure. Sure it's his and not yours?

To these concrete five might be added a vaguer sixth, having to do with maintaining a chemical purity in the reaction between product and appraiser.....Review the book, not the reputation.... Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys in reading, and all our discriminations should curve toward that end.