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DarkShip Thieves Paperback – January 5, 2010

by Sarah A. Hoyt (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 333 ratings
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Exciting Space Adventure by a New Star of Science Fiction and Fantasy.


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 stranger—who 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. . . .
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  1. Print length
    384 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Baen
  4. Publication date
    January 5, 2010
  5. Dimensions
    6.13 x 1 x 9.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1439133174
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1439133170
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Sarah A. Hoyt, under various names, is the author of over 30 books—she gets tangled up when she tries to count them and always misses a couple—in science fiction, fantasy, mystery, romance, and historical fiction. Her first published novel, Ill Met by Moonlight, was a finalist for the Mythopoeic Award. Darkship Thieves, the first novel of her popular Darkship Thieves series is a Prometheus Award Winner. She’s published over 100 short stories in magazines such as Analog, Asimov’s, and Weird Tales (and others, some no longer in existence), as well as an array of science fiction, fantasy, and mystery anthologies. Sarah was born and raised in Portugal and now lives in Colorado, near her two grown sons, with her husband and a varying clowder of cats. English is her third language, but she can swear fluently in seven. When not laying down words on the latest manuscript, she can be found refinishing furniture, walking, or studying history.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Baen; First Edition (January 5, 2010)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1439133174
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1439133170
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.6 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.13 x 1 x 9.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 333 ratings

About the author

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Sarah A. Hoyt

Sarah A. Hoyt

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Sarah A. Hoyt was born (and raised) in Portugal and now lives in Colorado with her husband, two sons, and a variable number of cats, depending on how many show up to beg on the door step.

In between lays the sort of resume that used to be de-rigueur for writers. She has never actually wrestled alligators, but she did at one point very briefly tie bows on bags of potpourri for a living. She has also washed dishes and ironed clothes for a living. Worst of all she was, for a long time, a multilingual scientific translator.

At some point, though, she got tired of making an honest living and started writing. She has over 40 -- the number keeps changing -- published novels, in science fiction, fantasy, mystery, historical mystery, historical fantasy and historical biography. Her short stories have been published in Analog, Asimov's, Amazing Stories (under a previous management), Weird tales, and a number of anthologies from DAW and Baen. Her space-opera novel Darkship Thieves was the 2011 Prometheus Award Winner, and at this moment the third novel in the series, A Few Good Men, is a finalist for the honor.

Sarah also won the Dragon Award for Uncharted (With Kevin J. Anderson.)

She also writes under the names Sarah D'Almeida and Elise Hyat.

To learn more about Sarah A. Hoyt and read samples of her work, visit http://sarahahoyt.com

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
333 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

JenMo
5.0 out of 5 stars Urban fantasy in space!
Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2010
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I heard about this book through the blog of Ilona Andrews [...], and as a huge fan of hers, and avid reader of a very entertaining blog, I decided to pick up Darkship Thieves. I was drawn to it, when the author said in the blog that she had set out to create a space opera, and it turned out to be a delightful mishmash of genres. I love scifi, I love urban fantasy, I love fantasy, I didn't think I could go wrong with this book, and I was more than pleased to be right.

The book starts out with Athena Sera, heir to the Sera fortune and her father's place in government, woken up in the middle of the night by some of the goons her father keeps on hand as muscle. Believing they are attempting some kind of coup, she fights them, and escapes her father's ship in a lifepod. Her only real means of escaping them is flying into the dangerous space trees that grow the energy pods earth uses for all it's energy needs.

If she bumps any overripe pod on the tree, she's as good as dead. However, instead of hitting a pod, she runs smack into a mythical "dark ship." The pirates of modern day, they steal pods from the trees. The darkship thieves are a part of human history that people would rather forget, when genetic engineering ran wild, until it ended in a horrible genecide of all genetically enhanced people on Earth. Except the rumors that some got away in a ship and began their own colony.

The book keeps a quick pace, as Athena runs from one disaster to the next. Her place in the world is altered, her views and beliefs shaken to the core, and love she never thought to truly experienced sneaks up on her. No matter what genre you want to place Darkship Thieves into, this book is a great read. I'll definately be purchasing more Sarah Hoyt novels in the future.
6 people found this helpful
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Kerry James
4.0 out of 5 stars Engaging and fun.
Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2013
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Hoyt blends a few different genres - space opera, classic sci-fi and a touch of Georgette Heyer..

Think.. Space opera from E.E Doc Smith meets gene engineering from S M Stirling or Andrew Swann, with a narrative voice from Simon Green or Heinlein. It works quite well.

Pro's:

* Interesting characters.
* Fast paced, though I found it lagged a little in the middle for me while Athena is at Eden until it picked up for a rollicking end.
* Fun concepts and a quick good read.

Con's:
* The main plot twist is more than a nod to one of the throw-away concepts from Bujold's Miles series, meaning it jumped out as the likely answer fairly early on. That didn't detract much from the story and it's not unusual for the reader to have more hints than the characters.
* The transition between styles was occasionally a little jarring - the switch at the end to more 'beloved husband' dialogue in particular jumped at me (or at least reminded me of Doc Smith or James Schmitz's dialogue). It's possible some of said dialogue in character voice was mildly ironic and it just didn't land with me that way.

Overall - I liked it and will be buying the second in the series.
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james r
5.0 out of 5 stars I enjoyed this book
Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2023
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A good, and unique take on sci-fi.
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jill
5.0 out of 5 stars Reminiscent of Heinlein
Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2022
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Sarah writes a beautiful story, and draws you in from the start. I highly recommend not only this book, but the whole series.
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Cayt Landis
3.0 out of 5 stars A fun little romp
Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2015
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DarkShip Thieves stars Athena Hera Sinistra, the rich and unruly daughter of one of the leading Good Men on Earth. Athena never wanted to go to space. All she ever wanted to do was be free and ride around with her broomer gang. Unfortunately, her father had other plans and forced her to go on diplomatic missions with him. One night Athena wakes up in her cabin and realizes that someone is in her room. From there she escapes capture and flees in a lifeboat, ending up in the dangerous and mysterious Power Trees. She is “rescued” by a mythical DarkShip thief and there begins her journey of finding adventure and love.

The idea of this story is very intriguing. In Earth’s future, humans developed bio-engineering that created engineered people, Mules, who were far superior to the average human. They ruled Earth under an iron grip until a rebellion overthrew them and they fled into space. This happened so long ago that the only real proof of these people’s existence are recorded memories and myths. Of course, Athena stumbles upon an ancestor of these escaped people and is taken to their world. From there she learns the truth of the Mules and the real story behind her family and Earth’s history.

Unfortunately, the writing in this book did not live up to the idea. Athena is a bad-ass fighter who is faster than anyone alive. She’s never experienced fear and people cower from her wherever she goes. She’s escaped from or destroyed all institutes and schools that she has ever been forced into. She is rebellious and has a terrible temper. Beyond that there isn’t much to her. There’s not much reason given for her personality or for her history of violence. She is grating and rather obnoxious in her arrogance. She doesn’t grow as a character at all throughout the book. Once she meets the love interest, she does a nearly 180 and begins to calm down, want to settle down, and gets all lovey-dovey. This wasn’t really worked up to, though, and doesn’t feel like a realistic growth of character. Athena is very flat and one-dimensional.

The world building left a bit to be desired, I was most interested in the Mules and Earth’s history but we don’t learn much about that until the very end. The ending, without giving away the twists, was rushed and didn’t make all that much sense. I felt that the plot twists and big reveals could have worked if they’d been more gradual and explained a bit more.

There were good aspects to DarkShip Thieves. While I didn’t like Athena, I did enjoy Kit, the love interest. He felt like a real, fleshed out character. He had his shortcomings but they worked and they built up to a believable personality. Some of the side characters were interesting as well. The world that Athena is taken to after escaping her father’s ship is the best part of the book. After the Mules and their bio-engineered servants escaped Earth, they settled on an asteroid and, obviously, grew to develop a society that’s quite different from Earth. I loved the descriptions of the asteroid and how they lived there, what technology had become for their society, and how their beliefs differed from those back on Earth.

Overall, this book wasn’t bad. It just wasn’t that great. It was fun and action-packed. Unfortunately, it lacked the depth of story and character development that I was hoping for.

Visit my blog for this review and many more: http://www.cayt.com
19 people found this helpful
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R Dale
5.0 out of 5 stars This is the best of her novels I have read so far
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 2, 2015
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This is the best of her novels I have read so far, as good as her short science fiction. A believable character at the centre, a reasonable or at least convincing projection of the future both in technology and in politics. I am nearly finished, and loving this book.
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javelinx
5.0 out of 5 stars Space Opera in bester Tradition
Reviewed in Germany on December 1, 2010
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Athena Hera Sinistra ist die Tochter eines der mächtigsten Männer der Erde, allerdings beschränkt sich ihr Wert für ihren Vater offensichtlich darauf, sie an den Meistbietenden zu verheiraten, eigene Meinung überflüssig und höchst unerwünscht. Seit ihrer Kindheit rebelliert sie gegen seine überwältigende Autorität, trotz aller Internate, Irrenhäuser und anderer Institutionen, die sie gefügig machen sollten. Als ihre Jacht auf dem Rückweg von einem gesellschaftlichen Ereignis von Meuterern in ihre Gewalt gebracht zu werden droht, flüchtet Athena in einer Rettungskapsel - geradewegs in die Arme eines der gefürchtetsten Wesen: einem der Diebe, die von einer geheimen Kolonie aus in ihren "Darkships" unterwegs sind, um die Energiereserven der Erde, die auf Bäumen in einem Ring um die Erde "wachsen", auszurauben. Dies stellt allerdings nicht die einzige Bedrohung dar, der sich Athena stellen muß...

Am Anfang fällt es etwas schwer, in die Geschichte hineinzukommen; das Tempo ist ab der ersten Fluchtszene atemlos rasant, die Hintergründe sowohl der Meuterei als auch der Diebe und ihrer Geschichte enthüllen sich erst langsam, während Athena immer wieder auf eine Wand von Schweigen, Halbwahrheiten und Geheimnissen trifft.

Überragend ist ab der ersten Seite das Gefühl, ein Buch eines der "Großen" der SF zu lesen, wobei die Liste schnell länger wird - Heinlein, Asimov, McMaster Bujold sind die ersten, die einem einfallen. Jedoch ist der Plot mehr als eine Verbeugung an die Meister, vielmehr ein frisches, aktuelles Update mit wunderbaren Ideen und in Kino-Format und HD-Qualität. Manche Elemente haben Action-Qualitäten - eine Kampfszene erinnert an "Kill Bill" und einen Tarantino-Film, andere wirken wie Harry Potter auf Warp-Speed, wenn Athena und ihre Gang aus kriminellen High-Society-Sprößlingen auf getunten "Broomsticks" durch die Gegend düsen, wobei die kriminelle Subkultur ausgefeilt ist bis zu den Gangklamotten, einem geheimen Treffpunkt und anderen Details.
Der politische und gentechnologische Hintergrund der Handlung ist genauso detailliert ausgestaltet wie die Charakterisierung der beiden Hauptfiguren; Athena überragt die derzeit so gefragten Kickass-Heldinnen um Längen. Sie ist technologisch versiert, eine Überlebenskünstlerin mit einer fast antisozialen Einstellung jeglicher Autorität gegenüber, ihre Tour durch die Institutionen hat sie zutiefst mißtrauisch und unabhängig gemacht und schnell erwachsen werden lassen. Wer einmal ihren Respekt verdient hat, kann auf sie zählen- aber das dauert. Ihrem Retter (und Entführer) Kit gegenüber bringt sie wenig freundschaftliche Gefühle gegenüber, da ist es fast schon ein Reflex, zuerst mal zu versuchen, ihn zu töten, und später Fragen zu stellen. Daß dann auch romantische Elemente ins Spiel kommen, tut der rasanten Handlung keinen Abbruch und dominiert nicht den Hauptteil der Geschichte; an dem Zeitpunkt, wo normalerweise ein Happy End in Sicht wäre, läuft sich der Plot erst richtig warm und bietet ein Feuerwerk an Action, Verrat, niederen Motiven, und einer überraschenden Auflösung der Hintergründe des verwickelten Plots.

Von einer Autorin, die bisher keine SF veröffentlicht hat und von der nur wenige Werke auf dem Markt sind, ist dies ein überzeugendes Debüt, das man jemand mit viel Erfahrung eher zugetraut hätte. Hoffentlich schreibt sie weiter auf diesem hohen Niveau und bietet weiter glänzende Unterhaltung.
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かん
3.0 out of 5 stars 女の子の冒険物語
Reviewed in Japan on September 22, 2011
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ＳＦというよりファンタジーです。小惑星に住む一族の話。宇宙植物みたいなモノが太陽エネルギーで大きく育ってます。その実にはエネルギーが詰まっているのでそれを集めて、小惑星で生活してます。
当然、宇宙空間で実を収集するのはとても危険ですし、収集して持ち帰る途中には海賊が待ち構えてます。また、宇宙船も小惑星上で一族が住んでいる家も、生きていて、使う人にあわせて自己変更します。このような世界を背景にした女の子の冒険物語です。
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Ephiny
4.0 out of 5 stars Stick with it - worth the effort
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 21, 2017
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I have to admit I wasn't grabbed by this story from the first pages. The heroine comes across as bratty and unlikable, and yes, there's a rather cringe-worthy emphasis on her skimpy clothing and physical attributes. But stick with it - things get better. After that rocky start, we get detailed world-building, non-stop action, political intrigue, and plot twists and revelations coming thick and fast right up to the end. A surprisingly tender and complex romance, as well, which far exceeded the expectations set by the 'bodice ripper in space' style opening.

The main character did (eventually) grow on me as well - her unpromising start allows plenty of scope for her to grow in terms empathy and maturity, and we also get some enlightening insight into just why she's the way she is in the first place.

A strong start to a fascinating new space-opera series - I will be reading more.
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Steve
4.0 out of 5 stars Space Opera with lots of (violent) action
Reviewed in Germany on April 10, 2013
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Ok, the book is classic Space Opera. Fast paced action from the first page.
The main protagonist (or heroine) is a socially disturbed, spoilt, psychotic, mass murderess with a sweet, naive touch who, towards the end of the book, starts to develop the seeds of a conscience - and then takes out a few air-cars of totally innocent people to cover her escape from the 'bad guys'. Her instinctual reaction to any situation is Kill, Kill, Kill (capitals meant).
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