Artifact by Gregory Benford

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I really loved Benford's books Timescape and Cosm, but this is not one of his better ones. It's more thriller adventure than scifi, and boy does it need some editing! Large chunks of the first half, wherein our main characters Claire and John lug the titled object back to MIT Boston from Greece, could easily be excised without harm. The story and characterisations really border on being racist, American imperialist and sexist too. It's like Benford decided he'd have a go at writing a shitty airport novel in the style of Dan Brown and others of his ilk. But, being Benford, there is actually some good writing here, and of course there's always some very good science too. Read it, like I did, if you're looking for some realistic science detail as research for your own scifi novel. Otherwise, forget it and head straight to Timescape or (especially) Cosm. Both great books.



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