Artifact Space

By: Miles Cameron

Narrated by: Nneka Okoye

Length: 16 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

Out in the darkness of space, something is targeting the Greatships.

With their vast cargo holds and a crew that could fill a city, the Greatships are the lifeblood of human-occupied space, transporting an unimaginable volume - and value - of goods from City, the greatest human orbital, all the way to Tradepoint at the other, to trade for xenoglas with an unknowable alien species.

It has always been Marca Nbaro's dream to achieve the near-impossible: escape her upbringing and venture into space.

All it took, to make her way onto the crew of the Greatship Athens, was thousands of hours in simulators, dedication and pawning or selling every scrap of her old life in order to forge a new one. But though she's made her way onboard with faked papers, leaving her old life - and scandals - behind isn't so easy.

She may have just combined all the dangers of her former life, with all the perils of the new....

©2021 Miles Cameron (P)2021 Orion Publishing Group Limited

Masterful in every detail: story & performance

This book came to life for me from the early pages. The narrator speaks the thoughts and actions of the protagonist and becomes her. The world of military culture, honed in the forge of medieval sword craft epic, is perfectly laid out as we are led into battle and find ourselves at the doorstep to an interspecies, pan-galactic saga of gritty detail and epic scope without ever losing touch with characters we care about.

It isn't made clear until the very ending that this is the first in a series. That's my only gripe. The next book even has a title — but you have to listen until the end to find out what it is!

Great book, well worth the ride, with a payoff that will keep me tapping in. Found on a fluke — liked the title. Extra, extra shout out to the narrator: she deserves a long career as well.

Amazing story

Absolutely loved this book. The World Building is just fantastic. Can’t wait for the sequel!

Fantastic

This is my first read from this author and I thoroughly thoroughly enjoyed it. End to end intrigue and action A great ride. My only disappointment was that it ended so I look forward to the next book

Surprisingly good

Really interesting story with some nice twists an turns. I really appreciated the main character and the plot. Good narration as well. Can’t wait for the next in the series.

Sweeping space opera with empathetic characters

Narration was superb and perfectly matched the central character. Felt really invested in the characters and it stung whenever bad things happened to them. Really looking forward to next book, hopefully with same reader.

Incredible!

Best sf written in years. Can not wait for the next volume! Cameron has established himself as a powerhouse in the genre.

Exactly What You are Looking For

It’s a little difficult for me to review Miles Cameron’s books because I know the author and consider him a friend. So, spoiler free: Artifact Space is excellent far-future space science fiction. He has absolute command over the workings of a starship in a way that you will not read elsewhere. And it is empowering, like the way Patrick O’Brien writes about fighting ships in the age of sail. He doesn’t hold your hand, but you know you are in the hands of an author who has complete knowledge of how these things work.

A few notes:
1. Detail flows and is relevant. You learn how something works so you don’t have to deal with it later. Plus, Cameron has a navy background yet doesn’t feel he needs to inject jargon to prove his space navy chops. The chops are there. Plus, the tech he takes on in his universe have rules and these rules persist. That’s key.
2. Cameron has an interesting and original take on how interstellar economies work. When you have an author who actually appreciates mercantilism, capitalism, socialism, fair trade and applies them to a detailed and well-crafted universe you jump up and down that somebody has even addressed economics in science fiction. (Although he is wrong about capitalism.)
3. As a read, it is beautiful. It hits my spots for reasonableness and elegance of description and language. Cameron is a pro.
4. (for the Audible version) Nneka Okoye is my new favorite reader. I adore her accent and she just subtly alters her voice to define different characters. She nails the sci-fi elements. Perfection.
5. My one issue is with the main character point of view in this complicated story. In the course of a year our heroine becomes: an orphan, an escaped urchin, a streetwise operator, a murderer, the most junior officer on a starship with 5,000 people, a fighter pilot, an intelligence officer, an aide to the ship’s master, a commander of that ship in an emergency, a space marine, an expert swordsman (swordsperson), and the key component of every action that happens in the story. Oh, and she’s also a hidden princess. Which is what happens when you have one POV character. She has to be everywhere.

Fortunately, we like her. You will be rewarded by your read (or listen to, don’t miss the joy of Okoye’s voice) of Artifact Space. Cameron knows what he is doing.

A lot to love

The first act is a bit dense in the exposition. It’s an entrance to a distinct sci-if universe and it can make you feel just as overwhelmed as Marka, but if you make it past the shake-down cruise, you’re in for an odyssey. Some of the twists you’ll see coming, others you won’t. The ending is a little anticlimactic, but it should lead to a good follow up in the next novel.

This is what science fiction should aspire to.

I liked the story overall. I just thought that the writer from time to time had characters praising the main protagonist too often. I rolled my eyes after the 15 time someone gushed over how great she was. I liked the how space travel was explained and the hardship of going through different G's on board a ship going incredibly fast. I liked the how there was so many angles to the enemies attack on the Athens and how truly terrifying it would be to deal with conflicts with future tech. Emp's, hacking, bio weapons, nukes etc... Overall I thought the performance was good but it took me sometime to get used to the narration due to how fast and low she spoke at times.

Fantastic, but wish I knew it wasn't a standalone

The book ends on a pretty solid cliffhanger, and I generally don't listen to books in a series until the series is completed. It says at the end of the book that the story will be concluded in the second chapter, so if you are like me and don't like leaving and then trying to pick up who knows when, you might hold off. Nothing is really resolved in this book.

That being said, it's fantastic. Great characters with actual development, sci-fi battles without being a space opera, and a pleasing and engaging reader. I was already wishing there WOULD be a second book before I was halfway done, so I guess I will be getting my wish.

I just hope I can remember to come back when that day comes.