quiraang's review
5.0
I was pleased to receive an uncorrected proof.
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 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!
gothwin's review
3.0
Probably more like 3.5/5. I'm a bit torn on this one to be honest. It's a well written and very accessible space opera, and for the first third of the book I thought it would end up a 5/5. However, I found myself losing interest as the book progressed and it just felt too long. For my tastes there was a lot of filler material and I found myself wishing the book would get to the point.
ninjalawyer's review
4.0
An interesting main character and a great setting (merchant marines…IN SPACE!), but some poor editing and the fact that the book isn’t complete take it down a star.
The book is classic military sci-fi, but paced like a Harry Potter book. There are long segments where the main character just goes about her day onboard the massive ship she’s a midshipman on, similar to the classroom segments in Harry Potter. This does a good job setting up the world, but these segments repeat and repeat and repeat. And while they do, the overall plot doesn’t really advance. Probably half of these segments could have been dropped without any affect on the book.
The book’s also filled with typos, and it does a weird thing with dialogue where the author alternates using someone’s first name for one dialogue tag and then their last name for the next - it’s weird and really distracting.
Finally, the book is really just half a book. It just ends, essentially with a To Be Continued, without having resolved any plot threads or even revealed the main antagonist. I get that there will be a sequel, but most first books can stand on their own to a minimal extent, but this is really the plot equivalent of a one-legged stool.
The book is classic military sci-fi, but paced like a Harry Potter book. There are long segments where the main character just goes about her day onboard the massive ship she’s a midshipman on, similar to the classroom segments in Harry Potter. This does a good job setting up the world, but these segments repeat and repeat and repeat. And while they do, the overall plot doesn’t really advance. Probably half of these segments could have been dropped without any affect on the book.
The book’s also filled with typos, and it does a weird thing with dialogue where the author alternates using someone’s first name for one dialogue tag and then their last name for the next - it’s weird and really distracting.
Finally, the book is really just half a book. It just ends, essentially with a To Be Continued, without having resolved any plot threads or even revealed the main antagonist. I get that there will be a sequel, but most first books can stand on their own to a minimal extent, but this is really the plot equivalent of a one-legged stool.
ashlawson09's review
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
leonardoz's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
vabookworm703's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Artifact Space by Miles Cameron was a bit hit and miss for me, leaving me with an overall feeling of “meh.”
The premise of the story is quite interesting: humanity has colonized space, and in doing so established a trade route, culminating at Tradepoint – a weigh station (of sorts) where humans and an alien species (called Starfish by humans) trade the mysterious and value xenoglas for human items. Following in the tradition of the merchant marines, the “greatships” move goods and people along the trade route. The greatships are a critical cog in ensuring the survival of humanity and are thought to be nearly indestructible. But then the unimaginable happens, greatships are being destroyed. Marca Nbaro, the orphaned scion of one of the great patrician families looks to escape her less than pleasant life at the Orphanage and run away from her past, does so by faking her papers/background to join the crew of the greatship Athens.
Mr. Cameron’s world building is lovely, filled with lots of details (sometimes overwhelmingly so) about star systems, ship operations, environments, and traditions. I did appreciate the use of navy tradition and terminology – especially when the characters mention they don’t know why.
The writing style is simple and direct making this a rather easy read – especially in the sections with a ton of minute details regarding ship systems, star navigation, or history of “alien” artifacts. The pace vacillates between glacially slow and breakneck; however, I think it works in this context because it nicely illustrates life aboard the ship – long periods of boredom interspersed with frenetic activity.
Where the story lost me was in the characters, all of whom were flat and two dimensional. I found a lot of the interactions/reactions between the characters unrealistic, i.e., I found Nbaro especially annoying; she was such a Mary Sue . . . of course she instantly makes friends with everyone, of course all the men desire her, of course she’s the fastest at fighting, of course she is the only one to notice the threat to the Athens (twice!), of course she is smarter than everyone except the AI and one neuroenhanced individual, and so on. For someone who supposedly had such a traumatic past, she appears extremely well adjusted (even with the self-doubt talk, it wasn’t unreasonable considering she is in a new environment).
Spoiler
she murders a man in City and is rescued by the crew (this after being on board less than two weeks), the skipper learns that Nbaro faked her papers/background and just shrugs it off as no big deal.While the plot (even with some major holes) was entertaining and the world building top notch, the extreme unlikability of the main character (Nbaro) made Artifact Space a less than enjoyable read. The ending didn’t help either.
sammyramone's review against another edition
3.0
Good: Great worldbuilding and some Hornblower vibes.
Bad: overpowered main character, some boring parts, overall feeling of reading a draft rather then the finished book
Bad: overpowered main character, some boring parts, overall feeling of reading a draft rather then the finished book
signofhostile's review against another edition
2.0
DNF at 25%, not another 300 pages. Protagonist is bland everything is uninspired and the swords in space are just pfff.