Great first chapter, lots of character development. In just minutes I really came to care about our main character Marca Nbaro.

I didn’t want to put Artifact Space down. I stayed up late reading it and finished it the very next morning. And I loved the ending. A pet hate of mine is a series that ends on a cliffhanger. Cameron wrote a great book, with great pace and a whole story with a beginning, middle and end. I felt satisfied when I finished this book. There was enough resolution for me to go “awesome”, yet the same moment made me want to read book 2 - RIGHT NOW. I feel ok about this because if memory serves, I heard that Cameron has finished or nearly finished book 2, so hopefully I don’t have too long to wait. Book 2 will be a preorder for me.

I am more than happy to recommend this as a 5 star read. This ship is a merchant ship and I am happy to say that there was no heavy politics and the science was heavy enough for sci-fi fans, but not too heavy for those new to the genre.

An excellent and entertaining space opera.
I liked the style of writing and the excellent world building. The characters are fleshed out and interesting.
The author delivers a gripping story that I strongly recommend.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Artifact Space is the first part of what is expected to become a duology. The main protagonist is Marca Nbaro, a woman with a past. She grew up under harsh conditions in the Orphanage, where the Dominus ruled. Her lifelong dream is to serve on one of the nine greatships. These ships are huge as cities, travelling through the habited space as trade ships. With the help of some friends she manages to fake some of her identity and to get on board of the Athens, one of those ships, as a midshipper. While starting to make a career for herself, the news arrives that one of the other greatships, New York, was attacked and destroyed.

The book takes a quick start in the middle of an action scene that is not immediately very clear. You basically have to read through the chapter while storing the information for later reference, not knowing (yet) what exactly you are reading. The writing style however already gives away that this might become a rich book. Rich, both in character as in plot development. The story advances rapidly from then on. Marca proves to be a highly talented asset but a very insecure one. The combination of the two makes her a very likeable person. This book, which is closer to 600 than to 500 pages, focuses entirely on Marca, but because she is so sympathetic and interesting, this is perfectly fine. Marca often thinks one thing (added in italics) and says another, which not only provides a lot of insight in her character, but is also often funny.

Artifact Space is full of action and intrigue, with a lot of EVA flight, and an alien species with whom trade is conducted but with whom communication has failed so far. It also becomes clear soon that there are other people on the greatship who have their secrets, and that the Athens might be facing the same threat that destroyed the New York. This story line, wrapped up in some fast writing and great world building, makes you ingest this book at high speed. This is very well written, and might turn out to be one of the best scifi books of 2021.

It’s in general not a difficult book. There is one big story line but it is split up in substories which each develop rapidly and also come to a conclusion rather soon. This means in general that you don’t have to keep remembering that one character that appeared once on page two and becomes important on page four hundred when you have already forgotten about them. You could put the book aside and come back to it after one week, without many problems continuing the story. (But you will not want to put the book aside.) There is some techno-babble related to the many EVA flights that was not always easy to understand, but it wasn’t problematic. You kind of expect some of this when reading scifi ;-)

One point of criticism: there is a lot of repetition. This is the case with the overall handling of space flights for instance. There are lift off and docking procedures which are repeated almost every time Marca flies to a planet or station to deliver or pick up cargo. They contribute to increasing the pace of the actions but nevertheless become boring after the tenth time. Marca’s many combat training sessions are repeated a few times too many as well. Apart from that, if you are looking for some new great military scifi, this is definitely the novel to consider.

Thanks to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for providing an ARC.

"Artifact Space" is a fun read. There are some great characters, epic world-building, and some first class writing. If you like a book where the underdog is someone you can get fully behind, then this is definitely the book for you. The story itself feels very solid and it holds your attention well. A great space adventure that any sci-fi fan will appreciate.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

I’m going to be straight up on this one: I loved Artifact Space, Miles Cameron’s first foray into space opera. It has all the things I want in a book like that, including: cool technologies, a heroine we can empathise with, cheer on and feel for, and a complex universe filled with strange technologies and even stranger cultures.It also has a soupcon of the naval novel about it: stern chases, broadsides, underdogs rising through the ranks, dashing heroics, that sort of thing. Above all, it’s a fun book. It’s got a story that keeps you turning the pages, trying to figure out what’s going to happen next, and characters who make you care about the story, because they’re living it.

I’ll start as I mean to go on: this is a thoroughly entertaining space adventure, and one which left me eagerly awaiting its next instalment.

Part of the reason for that, is the universe. A universe where interstellar travel is real, and where long distance travel necessitates a larger ship Where a handful of arks, humanity’s trade fleet, sail the deep black, their crews together for years at a time, families under a tight naval tradition. It’s a universe of the mercantile, where one versatile, but alien, product, drives the engine of the economy. Where bones of dead cultures litter the graveyards of humanity’s resurgence, stepping over the shoulders of deceased alien giants. This is a universe with old, hidden grudges, where humanity is taking its place upon a broader stage, not yet unblinkered enough from its own expansion to see the dangers lurking around the edges of their still pool.

In many ways, it’s a neo-feudal world, too. Great families, with concessions based on alien technology, revel in untrammelled wealth and near-unbridled power. They buy, or expect, or influence their way onto the great ships that travel the gulf between populated stars, and in that work they learn, trade, make connections, and get very, very rich. Perhaps the common person crews the ships, but the families whose wealth shapes stellar politics, they practically own the ships. Still, there’s a sense of dependence and decay about it too, of wealth flowing in too quickly to be spent, but of a lack of innovation, a lack of need to do something different. The human polity may not be stagnant, but it may be constrained.

In any case, from the carmine-spotted floors of a service orphanage, to the simulated mind of a ship AI, to the darkness between the stars, to the ruins of alien worlds, and the rising of humanity around them, this is a universe of breathtaking scope. It’s detailed, vividly imagined, and beautifully crafted.

Marca Nbaro is the orphaned scion of one of the great families, now somewhat down on her luck. She’s a woman desparate to serve on one of the Greatships, to fall into the quiet family of the service, to do something better than slaving away in an orphanage - and never look back.

Marca is great. She’s fiery, wary of friendship and intimacy, careful with her trust - and at the same time, keen to be surprised. She believes everyone is basically awful, but wants to know otherwise. And watching her slowly come around to her crew, her bunkmates, her superiors and otherwise - well, it’s quite a journey, and a compellingly human one. Marca also serves as an excellent lens for the reader: she’s read about the Greatships, but never been on one, so her stumbling efforts to fit in, to be worth something, to understand, mirror the reader’s own steps in the world. It helps that Marca is genuine, forthright, and accepting of her own flaws; in a world that needs a heroine, she’s doing pretty well. Smart, competent, and driven, Marca is a fantastic protagonist, whose rich emotional life (often filled with expletives and concern about doing something wrong, and sometimes rather more positive) is an absolute joy on the page. Marca is someone I’m not going to forget in a hurry - and her friends, enemies, and something-in-between’s, are similar. Each has enough layers and complexity that we know them as a person, we invest in them, we care. Cameron has always written multifaceted, compelling characters, and that’s definitely the case here. I hope you love Marca as much as I did - she kicks arse.

The story I shan’t spoil, but it’s one part coming of age, one part conspiracy, one part space naval adventure, and absolutely all awesome. There’s aliens and space battles and ancient mysteries and secret cabals. There’s new worlds and romance and space fighters. There’s broadsides and submarine-sneaks, and double-crosses and power politics. There’s a larger picture that slowly comes into focus, and intimate, human moments that make you gask with their emotional intensity.

Overall...yeah, go pick this one up.

Rating: 9.5/10

Thanks to the publisher and author for an advance reading copy of Artifact Space for review consideration. This did not influence my thoughts or opinions.

Artifact Space is THE premiere epic space opera to have on your summer reading list. Cameron pulls no punches with razor-sharp prose, fast-paced storytelling, universe-scale world-building, and a cast of characters you can’t help but root for. Cameron fans and sci-fi fans alike are in for a real treat.

‘Apparently, once upon a time, cooking with gas was very…’ His eyes met hers. ‘Honestly, I don’t know. Half our jargon is from the old United States Navy and the other half is from the ancient British Royal Navy, and there’s a bunch of early spaceflight operations and some even from Old Terran trucking. Navies are the most conservative linguists anywhere – we preserve even the meaningless terms for hundreds of years.’

Nbaro smiled. ‘Like by and large.’

His eyes kindled, a fellow enthusiast. ‘Exactly.’

Weird to say as Miles and I have been social media pals for what feels like forever, but this is actually the first book of his that I have read. I have heard numerous amazing things about his Traitor Son Cycle and most recently Masters & Mages, and of course all of the historical fiction he writes under Christian Cameron, but just have not had the chance to take a stab (pun intended).

To say it took me some time to get used to Cameron’s writing style is a bit of an understatement, but once I figured out the flow and texture of his prose, this book flew by. The prose is very punchy and in your face; it doesn’t allow you much time to get your footing until you are thrown against a wall or having to parry for your life. I think that is part of what made this read so special. The author doesn’t waste time droning on and on with info dumps. Everything in the story serves a purpose and it is your job as the reader to keep up. Not saying things aren’t explained, but much like in grade school, the teacher is only going to say it once and then you are on your own.

Marca Nbaro is such an intriguing character. The way in which she navigates her way onto the Athens (very illegally), attempts to keep a low profile while also rising up the ranks by being a badass, and is always there to lend a hand to her crewmates is such a refreshing take in a genre (military science fiction) that is generally filled with gritty, war-soaked alcoholics looking for some kind of redemption or ‘last hurrah’. She is a character that is easily likeable; one who you quickly become enamored with as you learn about her past and the reason behind throwing everything and kitchen sink at getting onboard the Athens.

The book reads like a season of a TV show, which is a bit of a breathe of fresh air from a singular on-going battle or trip across the universe. Chapters feel like episodes where you can either read one and set it aside, or binge the entire thing to your heart’s content. Gives you sort of a reason to continue as chapters sometimes end on cliffhangers and, well, you just have to know what happens next.

All in all, this is an extraordinary piece of science fiction that will end up on my ‘Best Of’ list for 2021.

A flawed but lovable science fiction epic.

Marca Nbaro escapes a difficult upbringing to realise her dream of becoming an officer on one of humanity's great merchant ships. Will her past catch up with her? Can her ship and crew overcome the uncertain future?

Despite being a slightly cliched protagonist (an orphan of "noble" descent with a traumatic childhood), Nbaro is quite compelling. She learns to overcome her anxiety, make friends, and trust others. All the while her internal monologue gives us insight into her struggle.

The story is underpinned by a large and diverse cast of characters, but with few exceptions (notably Drake, Mpono, Dorcas, and Truekner), they are generally underdeveloped and only serve to propel the narrative.

The star of this book is the great world building. After Earth's biomes were massively damaged in the "Age of Chaos", humanity spread to other star systems, forming many prosperous colonies supported by trade. Politics has largely moved to a post-capitalistic mercantile model.

One of the most valuable commodities is the mysterious and versatile xenoglas, which is exclusively supplied by the 'Starfish'. Humanity has been unable to communicate with this alien race, but has nonetheless managed to establish sustainable trade with them. Xenoglas is the main business of the greatships: star-faring vessels with huge cargo holds and crews numbering in the thousands.

Most of the story takes place in the Athens, which is one nine greatships in existence. The Athens is described in all its exquisite brass, glass and fresco details.

Unfortunately, other descriptions are less developed or even confusing. I couldn't really picture City, where the story starts. Action sequences are fast-paced and exciting, but some are given confusing descriptions that make hard to tell what's happening.

Another idiosyncrasy of this book is the amount of mundane stuff happening. There are many repeated sequences interspersed with the rest of the story where Marca is training, going on watch, or delivering cargo. I think a good 100 pages could have been edited out and the overall pace and story would have been better for it.

Besides some of the bigger questions, the book inexplicably concludes with quite a few small loose ends. But overall, this was an enjoyable read, and I'm looking forward to the sequel.

This is a great adventure space opera with fascinating and lovable characters. Cameron takes his time to tell the story, develop the cast and takes us on a long journey that is interspersed with ship life and battles. I really enjoyed this and cannot wait for the sequel.

Our hero Nbaro is a delightful character, who not only is an underdog but also develops as a damaged human to someone with love and friendship in her life. As a subtext of the story, it is really very powerful.

One of the inanimate characters is the Athens, greatship herself. Almost like the Titanic in a way, the operation of this enormous ship helps us to understand how Nbaro is just one cog in the machine.

I would add that I thought this would be a story of scavengers looking for artifacts in space but the title references something else entirely.

Worldbuilding at its best.
A strong adventure in space set in such a real universe that seems to pull you inside and make you live every moment of it.

You follow Marca Nbaro's journey from the orphanage onto one of humanity's great ships as it travels towards an alien species to trade for the precious xenoglass. Along the trip, Marca has to work, study and protect the great ship that becomes her life and family.

This book is very well told and studied. I felt I learned how to travel the stars and how to pilot and fight in zero-g.

However, as much as I appreciated the book it became tiresome for me after around 80%. The length of the story and the details of the ship after such a length started to bore me and I wanted it to end.
I enjoy big reads but this one felt like it could have taken 10-15% out and would have been a better read.

Ill say it outright: theres a very real chance this will be the best book ill read this year. Wow.

I’m a massive fan of everything Miles/Christian Cameron writes. But im not such a big fan of sci-fi. So I had a little trepidation going into this one. But I really should have worried. From the very first page until the last, this book is a tour de force.

As ever with a Cameron book, the prose is beautiful. He weaves a majestic story page after page after page. The action when it comes is rapid and enthralling. In between these scenes he creates an incredible futuristic world, full of amazingly diverse characters.

The cast is brilliant, as good as any he’s every created before. They become so real, and each and every loss hits hard.

I could sit here and wax lyrical about this book all day, but I believe the best thing to say is just go buy this book! Its so much more than an epic sci-fi story. It’s a phenomenal piece of writing.

Book 2 is already sitting atop my virtual TBR pile.

I have been a fan of space operas for many years and this is one of the best that I have ever read. It's on a par with some of my favourite authors; Iain M Banks, Alistair Reynolds, John Scalzi.

Enter the world of Marca Nbara as she flees the Orphanage to become a junior officer aboard the massive, hundreds of years old, Greatship, Athens.

A roller-coaster journey across the Galaxy on a routine trading mission, that suddenly becomes fraught with danger and enemies.

Miles Cameron has created a unique, believable, universe. Great characters and their relationships are core to making this story enthralling.

I can't say more without giving too much away. Bring on the next volume of the story.
Just buy it!

I LOVED this book! Every single page was highly interesting, and just about a role model for what I enjoy in a book. The protagonist Marca is a scared, traumatized, socially awkward new officer on a huge merchant ship. We see her struggle to overcome her instinctive bias against people with power and money, and try to trust some of the good people she finds herself surrounded with. There is an optimistic Star Trek feel to this, in the focus on morality, humanity, and everyone presenting their best self all the time. The ship master even says "make it so". Maybe that's a typical Navy phrase. There are other military terms sprinkled throughout, and the book in general is highly militaristic, being that it takes place almost entirely on a ship with a very military-like command structure and they are under attack. The science is strong, but not overwhelmingly into abstract physics. I agree with Marca, who reminisces on losing interest when the physics get religious. There is faster than light travel, one or two mentions of Cherenkov radiation, a bit of relativistic time bubbles, and the complexity of space navigation, but all in an extremely plausible and interesting way. There is great technology, and a nice glimpse without getting too heavy-handed into a possible socioeconomic culture of the future. The supporting characters are terrific, developed just enough to feel real. It's a bit unrealistic how Marca is deputized as a secret service agent, but it makes for a great story so go with it! This is a terrific book that is tied together very well in the end and could be considered whole on it's own, but boy do I ever want the sequel!