Deep Black (SF) - Miles Cameron ***(*)

The sequel to Artifact Space is another wrist-busting, high class space opera, again featuring a sort of Star Trek future but where the ships are primarily merchant/military instead of exploration/military. I gave the original book 5 stars, but I've marked this one down, partly because I've already read the third in the sequence, Whalesong, and that one is significantly better.

There's still a lot to like about Deep Black. Its action sequences are engaging. There's lots of impressive detail about the ships and life on them - and a far more realistic impression of the less exciting rest of life onboard than you get from most space opera. And there is a lot more on the difficulties of communicating with aliens, which is cleverly handled. But like its predecessor it is too long, and there is just far too much of the detail of daily life for central character Marca Nbaro as she goes about her daily routine. Routine gets a little dull.

To add to the negatives, the writing here feels a little rushed - it may be that after the success of Artifact Space Cameron was pushed to get the sequel out. The writing style feels more pedestrian than either of the other two books and occasionally could do with some improvement.

If you want to read the sequence - and I highly recommend doing so - then it is essential to read this book (though if I had read the series in the right order I might never have gone on to Whalesong, which would have been a shame). It does bring with it the flaws of the first book with a little more baggage, making it less appealing standalone - but this isn't a title you'd want to read in isolation.

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