A Hole in the Sky is told through the eyes of 16-year-old Hazel
Adam Serba/Alamy
A Hole in the Sky
Peter F. Hamilton, Angry Robot
I am a dyed-in-the-wool Peter F. Hamilton fan, so I was really looking forward to his new book, A Hole in the Sky, especially as I always love an ark ship story.
This ship is hundreds of years into its voyage, and its inhabitants have regressed to something like medieval peasantry, living in villages beneath the high-tech towers their ancestors inhabited. We learn about the issues they have faced – a problem with the first planet they were meant to land on, then a mutiny on board – which have left them in dire straits. At the age of 65, every individual must be recycled for the good of the ship. I loved every single thing about this set-up.
All this is told from the first-person perspective of Hazel, a 16-year-old girl. She is getting terrible headaches because there is a literal hole in the hull of the ship (hence the book’s title) and she quickly becomes embroiled in a dramatic chain of events. But there is also time for her to worry quite a lot about boys and clothes, which I found myself not quite buying. Would a girl or woman of any age worry about her outfit when the lives of everyone on her spaceship were at stake and she had a constant headache?
As you may already know, Hamilton is a genius who has made his name writing big sci-fi. My favourites (probably his Void and Night’s Dawn trilogies, plus his Commonwealth Saga duology) are wild, ludicrously inventive, complicated and mind-blowing. I don’t always totally understand them, but I love the ride.
I wasn’t so keen on Hamilton’s recent book Exodus: Archimedes Engine, tied to the upcoming video game Exodus, because I felt there were sequences included only for the game, rather than readers’ enjoyment, but I do appreciate that wasn’t aimed at me. I also get that a master writer might want new challenges. (The second in the series, for those not averse to video game tie-ins, is out later this year. The game arrives in 2027.)
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If I were a film or TV scout, I could imagine A Hole in the Sky transferring brilliantly to the screen
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All of which brings me back to A Hole in the Sky. I was halfway through when I noticed it was a bit, for want of a better word, childish. Investigating further, I found that the book first came out as an audio-only novel in 2021 – and that it is generally categorised as “young adult”, which means aimed at teenagers.
In an interview in 2020, Hamilton is quoted as saying: “Having a teenager as the main protagonist defines the publishing category, but I’m hopeful that it will appeal to readers of any age.” Personally, I think a young protagonist doesn’t rule out a book being aimed at adults. (I am writing this as someone who has written novels with teenage protagonists.) But will people of any age enjoy this particular book?
The set-up and the plot twists are fantastic, as you would expect from Hamilton. But I wish he had held off from what I think are meant to be “teenage” elements. When my hero is running for her life, I don’t need interludes in which she is thrilled to hold her boyfriend’s hand. I found myself wishing the main character was 65 and about to be recycled – that would have had some heft.
Maybe Hamilton will find a fresh audience with this. If I were a film or TV scout, for example, I could imagine it transferring brilliantly to the screen. A Hole in the Sky is part of a trilogy, with follow-ups due in June and December. As I wrote in my preview of 2026’s new sci-fi books, this rapid schedule is unusual, and I will be intrigued to see how it fares.
Emily also recommends…
Pandora’s Star
Peter F. Hamilton, Pan Macmillan
If you have never tried Hamilton’s classic works, there are many possible entrance points to the different universes he has created, but I suggest Pandora’s Star and its follow-up Judas Unchained (they make up the Commonwealth Saga duology) as a good route in. If you find the phrase “epic space opera” has a nice ring to it, these are probably for you.
Emily H. Wilson is a former editor of New Scientist and the author of the Sumerians trilogy, set in ancient Mesopotamia. The final novel in the series, Ninshubar, is out now. You can find her at emilyhwilson.com, or follow her on X @emilyhwilson and Instagram @emilyhwilson1
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