Darkship Renegades is Sarah Hoyt's sequel to her Prometheus Award-winning novel, Darkship Thieves. In the first novel, she introduced a fairly libertarian society in the space habitat Eden, an asteroid hollowed out and populated by people who fled Earth, and who created a free society without central government. This society still had rules, or a system of ethics that governed interactions and managed justice and defense, and provided power and water. Eden stricly enforced rules when it came to outside contact, because everyone there feared what would happen if Earth discovered their existence. In Darkship Thieves, two Edenites were forced to visit Earth for medical attention, and Darkship Renegades opens as they try to return to Eden.

These two, Athena Sinistra and Kit Bartolomeu, have a complicated history, yet are fiercly loyal to each other. Athena, originally from Earth, married Kit; yet, as an outsider it raises suspicions when they arrive, months overdue, and they readily admit that they come from Earth. Behind the paranoia arises an opportunity for control, showing that even a society that treasures individual freedom is not immune to a take-over by individuals who push security and fear as a means to assert dominance. This includes pushing a particularly harsh method of interrogation to seek the truth and extent of Kit and Athena's visit to Earth, a method that triggers a deep-buried secret about Kit's identity to emerge.

In order to provde his innocence they must make one more trip to Earth, during which the buried personality inside Kit begins to assert more and more control. Athena and her crew must worry whether this new personality is a danger to them. On a more personal level Athena is faced with a relationship to a person who no longer is the man she married, who may never return.

Once on Earth, they are embroiled in a civil war, between the Good Men introduced in Darkship Thieves, and subjects and clones. Hints at this war began with Darkship Thieves, and comes to the forefront in the sequel. The two conflicts parallel each other: the explicit war on Earth and the behind-the-scenes coup d'etat on Eden, and Athena and Kit's group are in the midst of both.

While I found Darkship Thieves a fast-paced blend of romance and adventure, I thought that the sequel sagged somewhat. The conflict within Kit seems forced, and along with the issues on Eden and Earth, clutter and distract, and really appear to fade away with little final impact. Perhaps a more personal element was needed in a book that introduces two major societal conflicts. When the two main characters already have resolved their romance and married, how do you introduce conflict and tension without merely showing bickering grown-ups? Still, Hoyt's worlds and future history continue to fascinate as they evolve, and it will be interesting to read future installments, and see whether Eden and Earth re-unite.