The Captain's Daughter

Arkship Trilogy Series, Book 2

By: Peter F. Hamilton

Narrated by: Elizabeth Klett

Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

From critically acclaimed New York Times best-selling author Peter F. Hamilton comes The Captain's Daughter, Book 2 in his audio original Arkship trilogy.

With the help of a command AI, the hole in the Daedalus has been fixed by Hazel and her friends. But in the process, they have antagonized the Yi, the aliens who are actually controlling the Daedalus. After a daring escape from the Yi, Hazel and her friends now must convince the people of the Daedalus villages and the village leaders that the Yi exist - and that they must fight back in order to survive. This proves tricky, as those in power don't want their authority challenged.

In order to produce proof of their dire situation, Hazel and her friends have to return to the forward section of the Daedalus to find another surviving command AI so they can find where the Yi are hiding and what their goal is. What Hazel and her friends discover is the terrible secret of the Yi, and what they have been doing on board the Daedalus for the last five hundred years.

The Captain's Daughter is a thrilling continuation of the story that unfolded in A Hole in the Sky, Peter F. Hamilton's first YA novel, that will appeal to all his legions of fans.

©2021 Peter F. Hamilton (P)2022 Tantor

Not your typical PFH book.

The Captain's Daughter by Peter F. Hamilton is book #2 of the Arkship Trilogy. 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.

This remains very much a YA series, and it will never be my favorite from this writer. However, I found the aspects that annoyed me most in the first book, including the teenage angst and the # of references to the "Sweet Captain," to be less frequent or annoying. The narration by Elizabeth Klett fits the writing. This book remains about 3.5 stars, but this time I have rounded up and I look forward to the conclusion.

I loved the premise and enjoyed the fish out of water tale.

I loved the premise and enjoyed the fish out of water tale that had an engaging and exciting story that stayed light while managing to avoid feeling cheesy. The ending was good, but felt a little forced.

Good story, but flawed characters

The story itself is interesting, though it follows a familiar narrative (people in a controlled environment discovering their existence is a lie). I felt the first book had enough promise that I went ahead and listened to the second book, and will likely buy the third. Hamilton is very good at 'world building' and this is another good example of a plausible future.

However, as I listened to the story I became more and more annoyed by the main characters. I get that the protagonist is a teenage girl, but her personality and the divergence of the story into a love triangle become very annoying. For example, frequently in the story other characters will discuss how they are drawn to he energy and her character, but (and perhaps this is the reader's fault), at no point do we actually see a character that others would be drawn to.

It also begins to become just unbelievable for other reasons. First, there are frequent 'long conversations' in the middle of what are action sequences. For example, two of the main characters have a lengthy conversation about their feelings for each other while literally being chased by monsters. Second, you also have the nonsense that a group of untrained kids can succeed where highly trained professionals and hyper-intelligent AIs all failed (a la Red Dawn).

I will still likely listen to the final book in the series, but this is definitely NOT one of Hamilton's better books.

Better than book 1

This story is much better than Book 1. I enjoyed listening all the way through. The narrator is annoying (for me, anyway). As is Book 1, she sounds like 10-year-old Hermione Grainger lecturing Ron and Harry about sneaking into the restricted section of Hogwarts Library. However, because the story is interesting and well-told, the narration is tolerable.

Definitely not the authors best work.

PFH has some magnificent stories and is one of my favorite authors. This series has a great concept, but the characters are constantly saying and doing things that make no sense at all. There’s practically none of the wit and attention to detail that I love about PFH’s stories. This one seems phoned in and I won’t be continuing the series.

Another great book from PFH

Another great entry in the series and in PFH's bibliografy, but i do have to say that i am noticing a few cracks, not in the action, which is frantic, not in the details which are amazing as ever in Peter's books, but in the tone, kind of. The thing is, if you stop and digest what is happening on the Daedalus, it is quite horrific, and this exact thing was used as a plot point at the end, the gone overall is optimistic, even wonderus and it invokes wide eyed discovery at times. I love the tone, but there are moments where it doesn't fit, though the narrative does take a more somber tone. Yet, overall it becomes chipper again when acting on solutions to the crysis that the character hope will bring victory. And the lenght and the emotion of the sombre moments seem a bit glossed over, a bit too short and recovered too quickly for the gravity of the facts.

Fun journey

Fun journey so far. Still don’t know why they don’t use John more but overall fun listen

GIVE US THE THIRD BOOK... Less pity party.

If you play Steam games, you will know the plethora of “Alpha Early Release” games that never reach a final release. If you have found a game you really love, but the devs seemed to have abandoned it and it is one of thoe alphas, you will be stuck deeply desiring a completed product.

This book series is similar. I really want the third book to be finished and released soon.

That being side, this book is just a continuation of the first, picking up exactly where it left off. I normally like to get some development when I jump into the “end of the world” books (how did we get there, what happened), but this series fits it all together just fine.

The Captain’s Daughter is hopefully only linked to the Captain by blood. She really does whine a LOT. Seriously… a LOOOOOOT!

Not Hamilton’s best but…

Not Hamilton’s best but, I’m a 40 yr old man. The writing is great and the narrator is wonderful except her portrayal of the main character makes her sound kind of pitiful. Overall though the story was enjoyable and I look forward to reading or listening to the conclusion.

Great story and narration!

Loved every second of it. The main characters are very well fleshed out and feel quite real.