A Hole in the Sky

We all come of age at some point in our lives. If we are lucky enough this will be as part of a loving household and we come out of it not too messed up, but not everyone is lucky. In the real world it can be tough enough, but take this dysfunction and place it is space, things can get real bad. Hazel’s life is good, she lives in a nice village and has been chosen to be this year’s flower girl, but the massive air leak that only she seems to care about could become a real headache. Then nausea, and then death.

Hazel, on the cusp of adulthood, has always wanted more from life than her simple village, but the people of the generational ship all live by a strict code. Everyone must prove useful. Those who are not are recycled to provide for future generations, this includes everyone over 65, and Hazel’s brother after he has an accident. Hazel refuses to conform and instead sets out with her brother to hide but also investigate the strange shimmers in the sky and why everyone on the ship is becoming increasingly lightheaded.

Generational ships are a classic science fiction concept and one that I enjoy immensely. They are the type of science that you can really get your teeth into as an author. A Hole in the Sky by Peter F Hamilton has that science. A huge rotating ship that went through a civil war centuries earlier, breaking the technology and sending the people back to a feudal society. Hazel is one of only a few people who question why society must recycle and wants for more.

Hazel is your classic coming of age character, one that you have read similar a hundred times before if you are an avid reader of fantasy or science fiction. Having a younger protagonist does make the book feel for a younger audience, her wants and passions skew to that age. Many of her allies are also in their late teens and early 20s. It did have hints of The Hunger Games to it.

It is the science that pushes the book older. There is some hard science in the book, but it is not told in a hard way. This is a very accessible book, made to be readable, not for the science nerds to delve deep into. With that, you get good characterisation and a fast pace. A lot happens to Hazel in a short space of time. Her development also develops the plot and world building. We learn more about the generational ship as she does.

As an older reader, I enjoyed the characters, but it was the other elements that piqued my interest more. Concepts such as AI and possible alien technology begin to thread themselves into the story. There is a mystery at the centre of this trilogy about what exactly happened when they landed on their first planned planet and later internal war.

There is a lot to unpack here and gives the book a deeper narrative than just a coming of age tale. However, the coming of age of Hazel at the centre of the book also works well to make this an accessible tale, this is a generational ship novel that is accessible to anyone and would make a good entry point for someone new to the genre or wanting a fast read, but with some science on the side to get their teeth into.