"Artifact Space" by Miles Cameron is an explosive nova in the sci-fi galaxy. Cameron weaves a cosmos teeming with bold concepts and advanced tech, his prose akin to the elegant complexity of quantum mechanics. The protagonist, a kickass starfarer, journeys through wormholes of intrigue and cosmic mysteries, her mettle shining brighter than any nebula. The spaceship dynamics are finely tuned, giving even the most dedicated spacefaring junkie their fix. Cameron's world-building exudes the precision of a master architect, while the intricate plotline propels readers through the star-riddled void at warp speed. "Artifact Space" is a genuine supernova in the constellation of sci-fi literature.

A superb novel, up there with the greats like Banks, Corey, Tchaikovsky, and Leckie. A page-turner from the very first line. Strongly recommended to anyone who enjoyed the 'Expanse' or 'Battlestar Galactica'

Miles Cameron is back again with a great little scifi that features artifacts ( of course) and a fair bit about weapons, as he is well known for.

I loved this read and can't wait to see what he does next.

Oh, what a enjoyable read this was!

The story follows our MC, Marca Nbaro as she fakes and forges her way out of a horrible life in a orphanage into into her dream job of heading out into space in a Greatship. Little did she realize that her new life would be exciting…just not the way she anticipated! The book takes us through her life and adventures as she is thrust into situations far above her competency with not just her life but that of everyone in the Greatship hanging in the balance.

First off is the prose. It is very engaging and so easy to digest. We get snookered into the intrigue and action from the get go and the book was unpredictable and kept me guessing all the way to the end. I certainly binge read this in phases and couldn’t really let go till the last page! The overall feel is that of fun, adventure and daredevilry which is right up my alley! In many ways this book reminded me of Jake Graton series by Stephen Coonts but set in space rather than Aircraft Carrier.

The worldbuilding is just special. We get treated to a futuristic world of space travel, trading with alien species mixed with some old world politicking and backstabbing. The book achieves a perfect balance between the strategic plot drivers with the tactical side of life within a Greatship. The Grestships are so big that they are a microcosm of martial (naval) society with a built in ecosystem of it’s own. I got introduced to the world with the same awe of Marca and the experience of adapting to life in space, life in Greatship and life in the role Marca faked her way into all are perfectly aligned to make this a truly immersive read.

As to characters, the big chunk of PoV is that of Marca as she navigates her way though the tumultuous events she’s gets thrown into repeatedly. It certainly is a thrilling ride as the plot fluctuates between the local events whilst easily tying into the macro plot. Though I immensely enjoyed Marca’s trials, at the end of the book, I felt she was a bit OP (overpowered). She gets thrown into situations requiring skills which are not her core competency but still navigates them with ease. At some point I was thinking of her a the sci-fi version of Kvothe! The plot surrounding these events also felt a bit manufactured as we repeatedly find Marca in events where she’s the only hope and savior and the entirety of the rest of crew are conveniently disabled. Though this was fun when reading, it certainly got a few mental eye rolls from me. Nothing to complain about though as it was still fun! The rest of the characters have all been done well and are unique and leave an good impression despite their lack of page time, which I really appreciated! My other peeve was that of the villain, which was telescoped quite blatantly.

The book neatly ties up the arc but still left me wanting more as I wanted to see more of the macro plot unravelling and things coming to a head with Marca’s past.

Highly recommended!

Loved the world building and the massive spaceships, but the plot gradually grinds to a halt until the very end of the book when..nothing is resolved because it is set up for a sequel. I want to read the sequel, but I'm annoyed as I thought it was standalone! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC

A month or so ago, The Inn hosted a conversation with Miles Cameron and John Gwynne about weapons in fiction. After hearing Miles talk about his upcoming book, Artifact Space… Yeah, I had to have it.

I mean… swordfights in space? Give it to me.

So what is Artifact Space about? Well, to simplify it down a lot, Marca Nbaro is a woman who escapes a state-run finishing school known as the “Orphanage” to become a midshipper on the Greatship Athens, a merchant vessel. She fakes her way aboard the Athens with forged papers, hoping to leave everything about her Orphanage life behind. And who can blame her? The Dominus who ran the orphanage was a real piece of work, and a lot of the trauma from this unfortunate backstory informs Nbaro’s characterisation and development as the story unfolds.

I thought Nbaro was an interesting character, and I was certainly invested in her story, but there was also a sense of… distance… to her. Which may just be a characteristic of Cameron’s writing style, or may have been a deliberate authorial choice to indicate her attempts to hold everyone else at arm’s reach. She’s the kind of character that doesn’t want to become too invested in her new life and new friends for fear that they’ll be taken away from her. Which is… y’know, a valid concern given her circumstances. This is a trope that never fails to pull at my heartstrings, and I appreciated how it was navigated here. All the fears, all the internal contradictions, they all got time to breathe.

There was also a character subplot involving some sexual aversion on Nbaro’s part, stemming from an incident in her past. I had initially wondered if Nbaro might be asexual, but on reading to the end, I’m not sure that if would be an accurate description. On the subject of representation, there was some non-binary rep in the side character cast, with the androgyne gender identity being universally recognised in-world.

There was a surprising amount of world-building crammed into Artifact Space. Cameron didn’t just jump us forward a few hundred years and keep the same modern-day social structures and political systems in place. He plays with these things, and this made for some interesting reading. The importance of galactic trade has led the world to evolve into a kind of mercantile-socialist system, which I can only imagine was partly inspired by historic mercantile republics such as Venice or Genoa.

Something else I really enjoyed was how Cameron tied all these elements together. There was some real character moments where Nbaro worried that her past will catch up with her, or that she’d never be able to move on from it. The fact that she was on board illegally meant that there was an underlying sense of tension whenever she performed notably in her role or formed (very charming) friendships with her shipmates. This tension is only heightened when her past does catch up with her, and when the greatships come under an unprecedented, violent attack.

I found this to be a bit of a “slow” read, and a lot of that was probably due to the volume of information that was thrown my way. Some of this I found interesting: how the society is structured, how issues of class and merit are handled… that sort of thing. But there were also quite a few lengthy explanations of how things such as space travel or spaceships functioned, and admittedly I found those to feel slightly dry and (after a certain point) repetitive. Your mileage may vary here, though, as I have a very low tolerance for fictional tech explanations due to my day job. So while I personally felt that the pacing was a little wobbly due to the inclusion of these scenes, this may be a very subjective experience.

I enjoyed Artifact Space, and I would hazard a guess that any readers who enjoy historical fiction (or any existing Miles Cameron fans!) might find this to their liking. Despite the sci-fi setting, I feel like the “feeling” of this book is much closer to historical fiction. Artifact Space is detail-orientated, deliberate, methodical, and it doesn’t shy away from a sword fight. Those who have a very strong preference for more exuberant stories or for more “colourful”, charismatic main characters might find that this is a little dry. But for everyone else… there’s a lot here to like.

If you want a tense, human, sci-fi story about a woman carving out a life for herself in a world she was told she’d never belong in… this is the book for you.

Creo que ya he comentado en más de una ocasión lo interesantes que me resultan los vídeos de la serie Writing Fighting que el autor Miles Cameron va colgando con una regularidad pasmosa. Ya tenía pensado leer algo suyo antes de que comenzara con esta labor, pero no puedo negar que este aspecto tan pedagógico de su personalidad quizá terminó de decidirme, además de que Artifact Space es una novela de ciencia ficción, mi subgénero favorito.


Lo primero que hay que saber es que esta novela es la primera parte de una duología, algo que no he visto anunciado por ningún sitio y que me gustaría haber sabido con anterioridad, ya que cuando se iba acercando el final y veía que no daba tiempo a solucionar todas las subtramas pendientes me temía un remate a toda prisa y poco cuidadoso. No es el caso, porque como digo habrá en el futuro una nueva entrega, pero ya digo que es algo que me hubiera gustado saber de antemano.

Artifact Space es una novela de ciencia ficción militar, en la que prácticamente en todo momento la acción se situará en una grandiosa nave espacial, la Athens. Resulta curioso esta dualidad entre cuerpo militar y mercante de la armada de este universo, con una rígida estructura jerárquica pero a su vez con cierta cintura para permitir y alentar el comercio y el beneficio ante todo.

La protagonista de la novela es Marca Nbaro, huérfana descendiente de militares y criada por lo tanto en un Orfanato especial que le puede dar una puerta de entrada a la marina. El comienzo de la novela se centra en cómo consigue acceder a la Athens de una forma bastante accidentada, pero que nos permite conocer su personalidad y su voluntad inquebrantable.

En el libro continuaremos con el relato del viaje de la Athens, de una forma en ocasiones dolorosamente rigurosa con los procedimientos específicos para navegación y combate en el espacio. Quizá estos puntillosos detalles del autor resulten un tanto excesivos, al menos por mi parte ha sido necesaria cierta disposición a ignorar tanta checklist y nombre en clave para poder seguir disfrutando de la historia, que por otra parte merece mucho la pena.

El universo creado por Miles Cameron es muy atractivo. La humanidad se ha expandido por muchos mundos pero de momento solo ha tenido contacto con una especie alienígena bajo condiciones muy estrictas y difíciles, que hace casi imposible la comunicación, pero permite el comercio. Cuando empieza la novela propiamente dicha es cuando conocemos la existencia de la tecnología alienígena sobre la que se sustenta prácticamente el avance de la civilización, algo codiciado por todos.

Sin querer extenderme mucho más en esta parte, hay que reconocer que el autor consigue mantener la tensión casi en todo momento con la amenaza latente de un sabotaje que de al traste con la misión y con las vidas de los tripulantes de la Athens.

El tratamiento de los personajes es exquisito por parte de Cameron. Sin quitar protagonismo a Marca, la rodea de un elenco de secundarios que se relacionan con ella pero que también viven sus vidas de las que tendremos ciertos atisbos, con lo que consigue dar mayor profundidad a la historia.

En definitiva, nos encontramos ante una novela de ciencia ficción militar muy recomendable.

Actual rating 2.5/5 stars.

This sci-fi was one that I was initially immersed in but then, unfortunately, found my early adoration start to wear off. And I can't accurately process why.

The world was well-built and unique and I liked how the ships were titled with Earth city names, as they held entire communities inside of them. I also loved the protagonist, who was brave, plucky, and smart but also impulsive, cheeky, and untrusting. Her prior experiences in the Orphanage had made her thus and the story opened with her entering a ship in a new role, under a disguise, and attempting to reunite with her former friend who has taken from her and sold into prostitution.

The events were consistently action-focused and maybe this was where my bond with the protagonist started to fail. She was both a little too good at some things and a little too prone to finding herself in stress-inducing situations. This relentless pace left me exhausted and I struggled to see the relevance of them all in the over-arching storyline.

This is definitely a me problem, as the numerous four- and five-star reviews can attest to, so maybe this is a case of the right book at the wrong time. Hopefully I can return to this in the future and hope to love it more.

So Christian can write fantasy, historical fiction, and now sci-fi, perfectly. This man is a genius! Fantastically brilliant character driven sci-fi with those details that fans of Cameron will continue to love and some of the best character work written that will attract hordes of new readers like bees to honey, or knights to armour!

Whew, this was an epic!

We follow Marca Nbaro through a space thriller set far in the future, There's too much to talk about without spoiling the storyline, but I really liked it. It took a while to get through, I found it very dense so something I read in between other lighter books.

If you're a fan of science fiction of the space travel ilk, then you'll probably like this.

This is one of my reading highlights of the year so far – and I can safely say that this one is definitely going to make my Outstanding Reads List of 2021. Marca is an engaging, sympathetic protagonist, who has had a tough time of it and makes a desperate break for a chance at a decent life. With help from someone else whose chances have already been ruined…

I also liked the world. The merchanting ship Athens and the dynamic with the crew and the wider world holds together in a credible, diverse world that I believed in. There is an upbeat vibe to this world, despite the dangers they undergo, which reminded me, at times, of Nathan Lowell’s enjoyable series The Golden Age of the Solar Clipper. What I especially enjoyed was learning about the onboard politics and rhythms, so that when the Athens is threatened, I very much cared. It was difficult to put the book down as I wanted them all to survive. And that concern and tension was sharpened when some of the crew don’t make it.

Overall, it was an engrossing memorable read that had me very sorry to reach the end – and hopeful that the second book in this series won’t take too long to hit the shelves. Very highly recommended to fans of well written space opera adventures. While I obtained an arc of Artifact Space from Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
10/10

Marca Nbaro has always wanted to go into space, and serve on one of the great ships. With fake papers in hand, she has conned her way on to the Greatship Athens, and left her troubled life behind. It’s cost her everything for this chance to go into space. She has sold or pawned everything from her old life, in hopes of a new one. With her thousands of hours of simulator practice and her dedication to succeed Nbaro couldn’t have picked a more dangerous time to fulfill her dreams of space travel.
The great ships are under attack from an alien enemy never seen before and trade is at risk especially the need for xenoglas.
In an epic quest to prevail Nbaro, her shipmates will have to use all their skill, training and comradeship to succeed, or this could spell the end for the great ships and everything she holds dear.
Miles Cameron has created a military space adventure like no other.
His creative universe is extraordinary and his characters are strong and endearing.
This is a novel written with great aplomb and probably the best sci-fi book I’ve ever read. Truly outstanding.

I'm a sucker for huge ships on long journeys and Artifact Space, well, it sucked me right in.

Orphan Marca Nbaro has always dreamed of travelling on one of the 9 merchant greatships that travel through human-occupied space to trade with aliens on its very edge. Somehow she blags herself aboard one as an officer and sets off for her new life, where anything is possible.

She makes new friends, trains and works hard. Though she doesn't entirely escape her past - there is always a whiff of scandal chasing her - she has a serious amount of luck on her side, too. She wins fights, escapes bombs, lands ships at unheard-of speeds... if she's nearing Mary Sue territory it doesn't matter because it's all so much fun. The writer doesn't shy away from the nitty gritty of life on a huge trading vessel either. Marca is always exhausted and always has more training to do. We're treated to the mundane parts of her life as well as the exciting bits. It all helps immerse you in the world, even if occasionally you might wish the plot points were coming up a bit faster.

Warning - you are left on a cliff. The ending leaves you very much with a feeling of 'come on, where is book 2, I need to know what happens next?!' But at the same time there is a sense of satisfaction from the characters achieving one particular goal.

I had a lot of fun with Marca Nbaro and her crewmates, and can't wait to return.

Here’s a writer who you may already know. Miles first made his name as a historical fiction writer as Christian Cameron before publishing fantasy with his Traitor Son series from 2012 – 17 as Miles Cameron. The first in the series – The Red Knight – was one of my books on the year back in 2012.

Nearly ten years on – and eight Fantasy books later – Miles has now turned to Space Opera. And it’s brilliant.

From the publisher: “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 . . .”

I’ve often said that a good story can take traditional tropes and give them a new angle, a new spin. This is what Miles does here, and does admirably. Artifact Space is everything I want in a Space Opera. There’s mile long spaceships, strange aliens, hand to hand combat, space stations, unknown planets, duelling swords, likeable characters, AI and a genuine sense of peril all wrapped up in a setting that reminded me of an updated Heinlein novel. (Those who know me will know what a compliment that is.)

Miles takes what is basically Star Trek’s idea of a Wagon Train to the Stars – the Greatships form a supply line for the rare xenoglas – and add to it all the things that made Star Trek work – likeable characters, strange planets and alien encounters.

To this we add a bigger sub-plot in that someone – or something - is destroying these greatships without warning or reason. The Athens could be next, which creates an ongoing tension throughout the novel.

What was most noticeable was how easy this one reads. Cameron deftly manages to tell the reader of Marca’s back story, a Future History, and a future society without ever feeling the need to info-dump. It’s like he’s been writing Space Opera for years.




Much of the book is about how Marca rises to the numerous challenges through the ranks of the Athens. At the beginning we find that Marca has been thrown out of cadet training because of the influence of a member of one of the great families. Nevertheless, she has managed to sneak on board the Athens with a false identity as a lowly ‘middie’. She spends much of the first part of the book feeling like an imposter and unworthy of her placing, but over time she manages to show potential and makes the most of the opportunities given to her whilst aboard the Greatship. The military structure that the Athens society works upon is clearly something Marca needs in her troubled life and she is determined to make the most of it, which to me echoes the Heinlein juveniles or something like David Weber’s Honor Harrington series.

The back story tells us over the book that there is more to this, of course. Whilst I did quibble with the remarkable speed at which Marca escalates up the career ladder, it is clear that Marca has shown promise before her unfortunate dismissal and she is using her abilities to reach her potential.  (I’m also fairly convinced that there is more to this than we’ve been told so far - a guiding hand, so far unseen, that is assisting her progress.) Though there are many characters here that Marca meets in her personal journey, Miles does well to make them separate and identifiable, which makes the loss of those along the way meaningful. At the same time. alien races are undoubtedly alien.

Though the book is clearly led by an emphasis on characters, there are other elements that also work well. No Space Opera worth reading can do space battles badly, and this one does them particularly well, whether in spacecraft or fighting hand-to hand on board the Greatships. Miles does well to explain how space battles can take place whilst taking into account the effects of relativity.

One slight warning, though - the ending is a real cliff-hanger moment, which will either annoy or make you want to read the next book straight away. Sadly, it is not out until next year, I understand.

Summing up then, Artifact Space made my inner Spacer beam. It starts fast but held my attention throughout, bringing new ideas to traditional SF. This is a paean to all the old SFnal tropes of old but with a brand spanking new upgrade.  I couldn’t put it down. Simply brilliant and easily one of my books of the year.

Science fiction readers who see a title like Artifact Space are likely to be put in mind of British space opera writer Alastair Reynolds. And while Miles Cameron’s first foray into science fiction does call back to Reynold’s Revelation Space series, Cameron, best known for fantasy and historical novels (written as Christian Cameron), pulls on a range of science fiction traditions including space opera, military and mercantile science fiction to deliver something fresh.
Artifact Space opens with a bang - Marca Nbaro is on the run from the Orphanage. She uses her last credit, earned from pawning a family heirloom, to hack her way onto one of the four Greatships, giant starships which carry trade between far flung star systems and most importantly, trade with an alien species for an incredibly valuable commodity known as xenoglass. Having slightly faked her credentials, Nbaro joins the crew of the Greatship Athens as a midshipman, and ends up in one of the pilot crews. But even before the Athens can leave on its multiyear journey news arrives of the destruction of one of the other Greatships and later a second, placing higher value and higher risk on the voyage of the Athens.
Nbaro needs to grow into her role as a midshipman, sloughing off the instincts and reflexes that she developed in the Orphanage. But that experience also gives her an edge, and a work ethic and way of thinking that impresses her peers. And, unlike her lonely childhood experience, Nbaro finds help from her fellow crewmates, her commander and ultimately the ship’s artificial intelligence, which knows of her deceit but is happy to help her so long as she serves the ship.
Cameron has clearly learned well from his predecessors and Artifact Space, while drawing on well established tropes, quickly establishes itself as a unique story. In doing so, Cameron manages to pull off a combination of military tactics and page turning actions scenes, exotic locations, commercial negotiations (at one point Nbaro and her roommate become interstellar coffee traders) and political skulduggery. The conspiracy that drives the plot emerges slowly and leads to a couple of climactic battles which it turns out, are only the beginning of a much bigger conflict and the ending is left hanging, waiting on a second, and concluding, volume to this engaging series.

Thank you very much to Gollancz, Miles Cameron and Will O Mullane for providing me a review copy, and to allow me to kickstart this wonderful blog tour. Please be warned this review contains some minor spoilers, and you read at your own behest. I was unable to shorten the summarization of the story because it is a huge plot. I could tell you word to word what the plot is in simple words, but that would be betraying the deeper conflict hidden inside this story. The minor spoilers mostly remain to a political viewpoint, so you will not be too affected by it, as it is often inspired by real world events.

Artifact Space is gritty, hard sci-fi that will keep you turning page after page. It has a fascinating plot, a simple breakdown of the main character where instead of becoming involved in high tech-military style arcs as is in common in sci-fi, it immerses you into the perspective of a character inhabiting a cargo ship. This book already needs to be its own TV series in many respects, for creating a world like this is commendable, and it isn’t easy to create one. This book reminds me of a Memory Called Peace in so many ways. For me, I took down notes to make sure I didn’t get lost, as some sci-fi novels demand it and I would have certainly wanted a dramatis personae and glossary because it would have helped in some parts of understanding these new fascinating cultures. The addition of the map of Athens, however, was very helpful indeed.

This is a deep story filled with so many intriguing plots and none of the characters in this book is boring. Each character fulfils a purpose, a motive, and a plot. Every side character feels expanded and three-dimensional, not two-dimensional. Everyone has a backstory. Everyone is running from their past. It often brought the vivid battle descriptions to life, and the amount of times Nbaro ends up getting in trouble is often mind-boggling. This is Star Trek Discovery, the Expanse and the Outer Worlds all assembled together. This is what I would compare it to. It’s a very engaging world. There’s never a boring moment, but perhaps the technical details of the story take over the pacing of the narrative arc that I was going for. Many characters appear then some of them don’t appear as often as I would have liked to see them be. That said, sometimes it veered off into a more realistic, gritty sci-fi mode, and it veered off into more world-building tidbits here and there. So I would have wanted more focus on the story rather than reading some parts about the ship’s details in my humble opinion. It was welcome, however. The book could have cut some scenes short, and some scenes needed better pacing.

Let’s summarise the story in a nutshell to the best of my recollection: A Greatship called the New York is destroyed by an unknown force. And these greatships transport goods from City, but they also trade in Xenoglas taking it all the way to the mysterious Alien race dubbed the Starfish, at the Tradepoint at the other end of the universe, which is quite extreme really, but time works differently in this world. This causes the Earth cultures, or shall we say, the DHC which is more or less a company rather than a direct institution that controls the colonies which have branched off into their separate counterparts, to have a financial crash. As a result, the colonies distrust each other, and xenoglass becomes very expensive. People lose jobs, economic mismanagement, you name it. Nbaro finds herself in Athens having to deal with this pain, never mind the fact Nbaro’s life before boarding the Athens, was terrible in every sense of the word within the Orphanage that she spent her early years in. She did, however, expose a corrupt part of the Dominion, which had gotten two men from New London to chase her and practically get rid of her. She survived that. However, she then fakes her papers, gets a hacker to do all the details, and she is often in fear that her fake life will one day shatter. Shatter beyond repair. If you think this is all the story, let me be clear. This is barely scratching the surface. There is a far deeper story hidden here. Much deeper. And more mysterious than ever before.

I have to give it to her though; she escaped from her miserable life beforehand, and she is venturing beyond into space. She trains with the pilots and is rapidly meeting figures of power aboard the Athens that she would never have been able to do had she not faked her papers in the first place, and all this happens as she learns to navigate, fight and gain the trust of her crew. Plus, there’s a lot of bargaining going on in this ship. A lot of technical details on the ship, the ability to do business with merchants are such examples These anxieties add tension and fear, and I am impressed by Cameron’s ability to pair real-life consequences directly affecting the main character and her journey on the Athens. If New York can be destroyed, then Athens can also be destroyed by this unknown force. The mystery is, of course, who is destroying the ships? And what does that hold for the future of humanity? There are more unknown parallels here, but we get to see aliens! And alien ruins!

There is so much more to this book that I don’t want to spoil anymore. Interesting characters, a well thought out world that isn’t easy to write. I must applaud the author for not only coming up with such a staggering concept but also writing this is no easy feat. This must have taken years of hard work, and my respect for Miles Cameron has increased. He writes excellent historical fiction based on the Wars of the Diadochi, and to see him making the jump to sci-fi is wonderful. I admit I was a little disappointed not to recognize some references from his Diadochi novels, which I would have wanted to see some Easter eggs here and there. Perhaps I missed it. Overall, this is worth reading. This really needs a Netflix/Amazon Prime TV show adaptation because frankly, it’s like the Expanse. I liked it. It’s a solid 10/10 from me. There is tons of mysteries in this world to explore, and the sheer immense scope of this very ambitious sci-fi novel will amaze you.

Artifact Space by Miles Cameron is a story about new midshipper Marca Nbaro, who has managed to secure a place on the Greatship Athens. Athens is a massive space-faring vessel and 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.

Marca Nbaro's dream to achieve the near-impossible: escape her upbringing and venture into space has been achieved. All it took, to make her way onto the crew of the Greatship Athens was thousands of hours in simulators, dedication, and pawning and selling every scrap of her old life to forge a new one. But though Marca has made her way on board with faked papers, leaving her old life - and scandals - behind wasn’t so easy.

When we are introduced to Marca, we quickly begin to realise she’s had a troubled past, which is gradually and expertly revealed throughout the story. A story that is full of detail and a great mix of tension, action and consequences. We find out the things Marca has had to do to get a position on the Athens and more importantly, why. Some decisions that Marca makes frequently leave her vulnerable to those out to exact vengeance. Marca also finds friends aboard the ship, and a growing sense of purpose, even as the near-calamitous situations she winds up in reveals her strengths, we witness this unfolding. It was this part of the story that was fascinating to read about the growth of Marca and how she dealt with adversity!

There is a great diverse range of characters filled throughout this story, as you should expect in modern SF. Characters who feel very realised, dealing with real emotive situations, all handled very well. The world Miles has created feels very unique and this is its selling point. It is very much like Miles Cameron’s fantasy series Traitor Son Cycle. The level of detail just draws into the story and grips you.

The writing and prose have a nice flow to them, feeling very natural and not forced. There is a definite influence from Miles’s time in the navy and this shows through Nbaro. I don’t normally read SF but Miles Cameron has delivered another superb, quality series, just like his fantasy and historical novels. I feel this is an author at the top of his writing powers, I feel truly privilege to have read such a good book. If you have never read SF, then this series is a great starting point, and it's surely going to become a unique SF classic.

My thanks to both Gollancz and Netgalley for the free e-arc. All opinions expressed are my own. #ArtifactSpace #NetGalley

'Artifact Space’ is an action packed space opera with a multitude of subplots. The author’s debut science fiction novel, it has a confidence and scope that make it feel like it belongs to a master of the genre. With the constant action and sheer number of characters and threads, it can feel very confusing, and there are times when the flow is lost entirely due to the novel’s breakneck pace, but overall it’s an enjoyable addition to the space adventure genre.

Marca Nbaro has always dreamed of escaping the orphanage she grew up in and venturing into space – but thanks to her whistleblowing and a minor scandal, she’s barred from serving. Undeterred, she pools her entire life savings into simulators, hackers, and forgeries, bluffing her way into a position as a Midder on the Greatship Athens. However, leaving behind her old life isn’t so easy – and between the ever-present threat of blackmail, acting like she has a clue what she’s doing, navigating the microcosm and culture of Greatship life, and an unexpected threat to the Athens, Marca starts to realise she might have traded her dangerous life for one even more perilous. As the Athens sets off on a two-year round trip to make humanity’s most important trade – obtaining xenoglas from the only other sentient alien species they’ve ever made contact with – Marca is trapped to deal with whatever the universe decides to throw at her next.

Marca Nbaro makes a brilliant protagonist. Unusually for a novel of this length, she’s the single point-of-view character, but her perspective is an engaging one. With a horrible, traumatic background, she definitely has elements of PTSD – but she also has incredible grit and determination and a tendency to react to danger by throwing herself headlong into it. She trusts no-one, reacting warily to simple things like touch, and her lack of willingness to ever admit to weakness constantly gets her into trouble – but she’s intelligent and gutsy and easy to root for. It’s also wonderful seeing how, as the novel goes on, she starts to come out of her shell – never fully, but a huge step from where she starts. Her growing friendship with her roommate, Thea, is lovely, as is the way her respect of her colleagues starts to resemble friendship too. There’s a romance, but it’s very slow and subtle – in keeping with Marca’s triggers and defensiveness – and feels beautifully organic.

The side characters are numerous – so numerous it takes a significant amount of time to figure out who everyone is, and sometimes names are thrown in and its a challenge to remember who they are – but there are some real gems. Mpono is one of the highlights – an androgyne, which appears to be a third gender marker somewhat equivalent to the non-binary spectrum, Mpono is confident, talented, and takes absolutely no nonsense. They’re tough, but as Marca starts to get to know them, it also becomes clear that they also have a wicked sense of humour and really care about their friends.

The plot is constantly moving, never given a moment of rest. The overarching plot revolves around a threat to the Greatships of mysterious origin, but there are numerous subplots – Marca’s lies to get on the ship in the first place, the politics of life on the Athens, and a secret to do with the aliens they’re travelling to meet. The subplots are less woven in and more thrown into a soup, with events constantly occurring that may or may not affect the overall story. This makes the story chaotic, but somehow works – everything becomes quite unpredictable, and whilst it can be hard to keep track of everything there’s still a compulsive readability to the story.

The world-building happens organically throughout. The reader is thrown in the deep end, picking up tidbits as they go along – sometimes from Marca learning about them, and sometimes inferring from context. Its a novel that best suits a reader familiar with the science fiction genre, as many of the basics are genre staples that would be harder for a new reader to infer. Its essentially set in a version of the future where Earth, or Old Terra, has been mostly destroyed, but humanity has instead expanded throughout the universe thanks to technological advancement and a form of faster-than-light travel known as Insertion. There are several different factions, each based on Earth’s geography – an African faction, a US faction, a Chinese faction – each of which has home planets and their own space force for war and trade. The factions are allied, but not entirely – the friction between them is a major subplot. The use of familiar names works well, and its nice to read a space opera that doesn’t assume the entire Earth allied as one organisation when it conquered space.

Overall, ‘Artifact Space’ is an exceptionally fast-paced and creative novel, highly readable with an excellent cast of characters. Its scope is huge, and the sheer amount happening is regularly confusing, but despite this its easy to enjoy. Recommended for fans of space adventures and novels with non-stop action.

The first thing that you notice when you start reading Artifact Space, is that Miles Cameron doesn’t bother with any kind of build-up. There’s no introduction. It’s a case of throwing you into the story as we follow (which we don’t know at this point) the main character Marca Nbara. Miles Cameron writes this so well, that you are as disorientated as the main character when this happens, but by goodness, it’s exciting and certainly grabs you by the nether regions and drags you straight in the book.

I have to say that I was surprised by this book. I don’t know why, but I think that I had some preconceived ideas with Miles Cameron’s writing. I think I expected it to be that type of science fiction that I don’t understand. However, it most certainly is not like that. I was so surprised at how brilliantly personable the characters are. How fast the action is and how accessible I found his writing style. It seemed to click straight away and I gobbled this book up.

Now, when it comes to the story, I was immediately engrossed in this tale of Marca Nbaro. She is a person who has a really bad case of imposter syndrome (and with good reason, which you will see why), but despite the reasons that she has done what she has done to join the crew of the Athens, she most certainly does not believe that she fits in amongst the crew. She is a person of depth that you immediately relate to and fall on her side. She definitely has that underdog aspect about her that you just can’t help rooting for.

There are loads of things to like about Artifact Space, and one of these being the massive, sword-shaped spaceships (or greatships), which whilst being interstellar spaceships seem to remind you of the great naval ships of the British Navy of the 17th/18th Century.

Another aspect of the book that I found interesting and that drew me in was the socio-political aspect of both the world that we are initially introduced to in the beginning, and also to the socio-political system on the ship. The consortium that the ship is owned by, reminds me of the East India Company and its mercantile expansive principles. In the way that they would move to different countries, cultures etc, whilst having their own private army.

I think throughout this review, it is pretty obvious that I liked this book. It surprised me no end. It’s accessible and doesn’t bog you down with sci fi techno babble. It is a cracking adventure story that is full of well-rounded characters that you cannot help rooting for.

Artifact Space blew my mind. I am relatively new to science fiction, having always preferred fantasy, and I was worried I wouldn’t be able to appreciate this book, especially when seeing other reviews that compare it to some of the older, classic sci-fi. But while I am sure some elements and references went straight over my head, I needn’t have been concerned. Miles Cameron’s fist science fiction novel has shot up through the ranks to become one of my favourite reads of the year. I simply couldn’t put it down; whenever I was reading, the rest of the world fell away and it would take quite a bit to pull me back out. And even when I wasn’t reading, the story had me in its grip.

Marca Nbaro, the main character, is someone who is endearing, though it took me a few pages to figure that out. We’re introduced to her in what is a high tension moment – she’s hiding from someone, and she is trying to sneak her way onto the Greatship Athens, for reasons initially unclear. Very quickly, though, I was invested in her struggle, and incredibly fascinated by the world she inhabits. Nbaro is from City, the greatest orbital in Human Space, and grew up in the Orphanage, run for the children of those who die on duty. City seems to be modelled on Venice, and has the original piazza San Marco relocated on it, which is incredibly cool, and only one of the many details that made me fall in love with the book.

And there are so many details, which I could go on and on about – the androgynous people, the sword shaped Greatships, the complex societal structure, the references within society to things from our earth, that nobody really understands anymore (such as James Bond and rock, paper, scissors), the sword fighting in space, the holographic tattoos… what a world! Anyway, back to Nbaro – she succeeds in getting onto the Athens, and we discover she was prevented from graduating and joining the force because of something that happened at the Orphanage, but that she has great talent and is even descended from one of the early captains of the Greatship Athens.

From the premise, I expected Nbaro’s story to be one of clandestine movements and fear of discovery, and it is for a while, but I think I was just as surprised as Nbaro to find that the cast of characters she encounters aboard her new home are loveable, supportive, and impressed by Nbaro’s quick thinking. Our protagonist quickly rises in people’s esteem, and I loved watching her grow and come into her own. All of Cameron’s characters have a vivacity to them, and though there were quite a few to keep track of, I loved them all, with their complexities, quirks, and energy.

In fact, this entire book has a very particular energy – it’s like an undercurrent throughout, making even the quiet moments thrum, and making the action scenes arrive suddenly and with great power. Part of this, I think, comes from the mystery of who in the vastness of space is targeting the human Greatships, with Athens seeming to be the next target – Nbaro (and the reader) never knows when a quiet, boring watch might turn into an emergency situation. There were so many threads to unravel during the course of the story, and while some questions were answered, I now wait impatiently for the second book to find out more, and you can be sure Artifact Space will be occupying my thoughts for some time to come.