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Arcana Imperii #3
Whalesong
Thor Stokel had always dreamed of being master of his own ship, and the Silver Star is a dream fast, sleek and powerful. But leaving the safety of his military career in the DHC behind to become an independent merchant fast becomes a nightmare of endless solo flights, paperwork, bad deals and customs disasters.
When he's imprisoned over the latest customs and paperwork mistake, Thor's luck finally starts to change. Incarceration leads to his first crewmate - and then a second. But it also leads to an increase in his something doesn't add up about his beautiful new ship, the AI is erratic, and he's increasingly sure that his crewmates are hiding something. And now he thinks the Silver Star is being followed . . .
Exhausted, isolated, and still just trying to make ends meet, Thor Storkel is either the most paranoid man in space . . . or he's a vital part of a galaxy-spanning conspiracy, that's going to depend on his being paranoid enough to survive it . . .
. . . And Marca N'baro still needs a whale . . .
When he's imprisoned over the latest customs and paperwork mistake, Thor's luck finally starts to change. Incarceration leads to his first crewmate - and then a second. But it also leads to an increase in his something doesn't add up about his beautiful new ship, the AI is erratic, and he's increasingly sure that his crewmates are hiding something. And now he thinks the Silver Star is being followed . . .
Exhausted, isolated, and still just trying to make ends meet, Thor Storkel is either the most paranoid man in space . . . or he's a vital part of a galaxy-spanning conspiracy, that's going to depend on his being paranoid enough to survive it . . .
. . . And Marca N'baro still needs a whale . . .
Kindle Edition
First published October 16, 2025
43 people are currently reading
350 people want to read
About the author
Miles Cameron
28 books2,758 followersMiles Cameron is an author, a re-enactor, an outdoors expert and a weapons specialist. He lives, works and writes in Toronto, where he lives with his family. This is his debut fantasy novel.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
December 3, 2025
I was pleased to see this one arrive for review – after all, this series has been one of my favourites in recent years. (The two books so far - Book 1, Artifact Space, and Book 2, Deep Black - have been in my ‘best of the year’ lists in both 2021 and 2024, for example.)
Whalesong, Book 3 of the Arcana Imperii series, follows on immediately from Deep Black (and therefore there are minor spoilers here in this review for Book 1, Artifact Space, and Book 2, Deep Black .)
Although Deep Black clearly tied things up with one story arc (the huge battle between the Directorate of Human Corporations (DHC) and the PTX, and Nbaro’s ascension in political power), Whalesong begins another story arc, as it follows on immediately from the end of Deep Black.
It also means that although Whalesong is the first part of a new story arc, it is not the story to begin with in this series – there are revelations here that will mean little if you haven’t followed what has gone before – but if you have, you will be rewarded.
We start Whalesong with Marca Nbaro & Horatio Dorcas adjusting to a life back at home base and also married life. Dorcas becomes obsessed with salvaging an alien Hin spaceship, now lifeless yet intact outside the Kuiper Belt of Ultra-Medulla and travelling out of the galaxy. We also have Nbaro arranging for a whale to be transported to communicate to the alien Starfish, as this was one of the alien’s requests in Deep Black.
My initial thought was that this would be the main plot of the novel, although this third book actually focusses away from our main characters to date, to focus on Thor Stokel, their friend and ex-colleague. Thor has retired from active duty and is now (thanks to some actions of Nbaro and the AI Morosini) the captain of the Silver Star, a refitted spaceship and is able to be a merchant spacer, trading across the galaxy.
This means that the next part of the novel is rather like a Heinlein-esque travelogue as Storkel travels from planet to planet - anyone who knows the classic computer game Elite will get the idea. Storkel also has to assemble a crew for his new spaceship. He employs Cawo Elmi-Mahmoud as a competent second-in-command and the enigmatic Badal-Mehra as an astrogator. When Marca ends up in hospital, Dorcas later joins the crew, as well as Feyyan Zhao as a weapons officer, despite Zhao being a person with connections to the PTX, (a competing group to the DHC.)
As is typical of this series so far, all of the main characters are interesting. Storkel himself is particularly noticeable, because knowing himself to be paranoid (a result of the battles in Deep Black and the drugs taken to cope with high-g manoeuvres) he questions everything – his ship, the AI, his colleagues and himself. This leads to difficult choices being made more challenging as he thinks or even overthinks every decision – for example, is the ship’s erratic AI working with him, or against him? Can it be trusted to do what it is asked to do?
Furthermore, as he delivers goods around the galaxy, Storkel finds that others want him dead, for reasons that evolve within the story. The last part of the book is a tense and exciting chase with everything to lose.
To counterpoint this, Dorcas, as seen in Deep Black, is this book’s Spock – often aloof, always questioning, his connections with the AI through a neural lace and his work to communicate with the alien Starfish in Deep Black which is paramount to this story.
With that in mind, then, Whalesong deftly juggles political intrigue, philosophical musings, and space battles at a ridiculously high speed, but using proper science and math. There’s espionage, deep cover exercises, loyalty and treachery involved, all filtered through Storkel’s increasing paranoia that keeps things moving and the reader questioning everything.
As befitting a story from a master plotter and storyteller, it is well done. I did feel that, as good as it was, the previous novel (Deep Black) sagged a little in the middle with its endless descriptions of space travel in an enclosed environment. I’m pleased to say that there’s no such issues for me here.
Although the story (as before in the first two books) is centred on a few characters, Miles is adept at also playing the long game. I liked the fact that although the story focussed on a relatively small group of characters, there are bigger issues at stake, although most of these are still unresolved. The last few chapters, as with Deep Black, bring us back to the bigger picture and set things up for the next book. There are clearly more revelations to follow – in fact, book four is due in 2026.
In summary, Whalesong continues to show the author’s strengths in characterisation, pace and plotting. It is a tight, fast-paced and shorter story that effectively builds on what has gone before, before leaving with a humdinger of a cliffhanger ending.
Whalesong, Book 3 of the Arcana Imperii series, follows on immediately from Deep Black (and therefore there are minor spoilers here in this review for Book 1, Artifact Space, and Book 2, Deep Black .)
Although Deep Black clearly tied things up with one story arc (the huge battle between the Directorate of Human Corporations (DHC) and the PTX, and Nbaro’s ascension in political power), Whalesong begins another story arc, as it follows on immediately from the end of Deep Black.
It also means that although Whalesong is the first part of a new story arc, it is not the story to begin with in this series – there are revelations here that will mean little if you haven’t followed what has gone before – but if you have, you will be rewarded.
We start Whalesong with Marca Nbaro & Horatio Dorcas adjusting to a life back at home base and also married life. Dorcas becomes obsessed with salvaging an alien Hin spaceship, now lifeless yet intact outside the Kuiper Belt of Ultra-Medulla and travelling out of the galaxy. We also have Nbaro arranging for a whale to be transported to communicate to the alien Starfish, as this was one of the alien’s requests in Deep Black.
My initial thought was that this would be the main plot of the novel, although this third book actually focusses away from our main characters to date, to focus on Thor Stokel, their friend and ex-colleague. Thor has retired from active duty and is now (thanks to some actions of Nbaro and the AI Morosini) the captain of the Silver Star, a refitted spaceship and is able to be a merchant spacer, trading across the galaxy.
This means that the next part of the novel is rather like a Heinlein-esque travelogue as Storkel travels from planet to planet - anyone who knows the classic computer game Elite will get the idea. Storkel also has to assemble a crew for his new spaceship. He employs Cawo Elmi-Mahmoud as a competent second-in-command and the enigmatic Badal-Mehra as an astrogator. When Marca ends up in hospital, Dorcas later joins the crew, as well as Feyyan Zhao as a weapons officer, despite Zhao being a person with connections to the PTX, (a competing group to the DHC.)
As is typical of this series so far, all of the main characters are interesting. Storkel himself is particularly noticeable, because knowing himself to be paranoid (a result of the battles in Deep Black and the drugs taken to cope with high-g manoeuvres) he questions everything – his ship, the AI, his colleagues and himself. This leads to difficult choices being made more challenging as he thinks or even overthinks every decision – for example, is the ship’s erratic AI working with him, or against him? Can it be trusted to do what it is asked to do?
Furthermore, as he delivers goods around the galaxy, Storkel finds that others want him dead, for reasons that evolve within the story. The last part of the book is a tense and exciting chase with everything to lose.
To counterpoint this, Dorcas, as seen in Deep Black, is this book’s Spock – often aloof, always questioning, his connections with the AI through a neural lace and his work to communicate with the alien Starfish in Deep Black which is paramount to this story.
With that in mind, then, Whalesong deftly juggles political intrigue, philosophical musings, and space battles at a ridiculously high speed, but using proper science and math. There’s espionage, deep cover exercises, loyalty and treachery involved, all filtered through Storkel’s increasing paranoia that keeps things moving and the reader questioning everything.
As befitting a story from a master plotter and storyteller, it is well done. I did feel that, as good as it was, the previous novel (Deep Black) sagged a little in the middle with its endless descriptions of space travel in an enclosed environment. I’m pleased to say that there’s no such issues for me here.
Although the story (as before in the first two books) is centred on a few characters, Miles is adept at also playing the long game. I liked the fact that although the story focussed on a relatively small group of characters, there are bigger issues at stake, although most of these are still unresolved. The last few chapters, as with Deep Black, bring us back to the bigger picture and set things up for the next book. There are clearly more revelations to follow – in fact, book four is due in 2026.
In summary, Whalesong continues to show the author’s strengths in characterisation, pace and plotting. It is a tight, fast-paced and shorter story that effectively builds on what has gone before, before leaving with a humdinger of a cliffhanger ending.
October 22, 2025
Pre-ordered the audiobook as soon soon as it went up, so have been looking forward to this. Fantastic continuation of the series. Great pacing and much peril. Cameron is such a perpulsive writer.
December 15, 2025
When I read Miles Cameron's Artifact Space back in 2021 I was very impressed - somehow, I've not kept up the author who, for me comes closest to Alastair Reynolds in writing intelligent, engaging space opera. As a result it was a delight to return to the Artifact Space universe with the third book in his Arcana Imperii series. (I've also added book 2 to my reading list).
Cameron shines by giving us both a complex political background and genuinely likeable central characters in the small crew of what initially seems to be a simple freighter but ends up being far more. Although not a direct parallel, for me Cameron gives the same warm feeling that fans get from the best of Star Trek, with the opportunity a novel provides to give significantly more depth. It was simply a joy to read.
My main complaint with Artifact Space was the length - thankfully this volume pulls back from the wrist busting 568 pages to a more modest 406, much to its benefit. The central character of the first book, Marca Nbaro, is more in the sidelines here and we get a new crew - in fact the only time I was a little irritated with the book was when the storyline flicked back to Nbaro, simply because I was so invested with the central crew, I didn't want to lose their story for a minute.
Another strength here is the use of AI characters - with some highly relevant thoughts about the dangers of putting AI in charge coming through in a subtle way. However, this never gets in the way of the very human, straightforward adventure of the story arc, with a couple of impressive space battles. This isn't a book trying to put across a message (thankfully) - it is just pure, engaging entertainment, which is not a bad thing.
My only other small moan is more technical. There is no mention of shields or the equivalent to protect ships - a lot of the damage in battles is done by conventional projectile weapons. But we also find out that it's possible to exit from artifact space, Cameron's hyperspace-like solution to interstellar travel, at high speeds - at one point 0.2c is mentioned. Tank shells travel at around 1,700 metres per second - That's around 35,000 times slower than 0.2c. A 1 gram speck of dust would have the same impact as a 35kg shell at 0.2c. At that kind of speed, shields would be essential.
In the end, though, this can't get in the way of an effective page-turner at the very peak of space opera delight.
Cameron shines by giving us both a complex political background and genuinely likeable central characters in the small crew of what initially seems to be a simple freighter but ends up being far more. Although not a direct parallel, for me Cameron gives the same warm feeling that fans get from the best of Star Trek, with the opportunity a novel provides to give significantly more depth. It was simply a joy to read.
My main complaint with Artifact Space was the length - thankfully this volume pulls back from the wrist busting 568 pages to a more modest 406, much to its benefit. The central character of the first book, Marca Nbaro, is more in the sidelines here and we get a new crew - in fact the only time I was a little irritated with the book was when the storyline flicked back to Nbaro, simply because I was so invested with the central crew, I didn't want to lose their story for a minute.
Another strength here is the use of AI characters - with some highly relevant thoughts about the dangers of putting AI in charge coming through in a subtle way. However, this never gets in the way of the very human, straightforward adventure of the story arc, with a couple of impressive space battles. This isn't a book trying to put across a message (thankfully) - it is just pure, engaging entertainment, which is not a bad thing.
My only other small moan is more technical. There is no mention of shields or the equivalent to protect ships - a lot of the damage in battles is done by conventional projectile weapons. But we also find out that it's possible to exit from artifact space, Cameron's hyperspace-like solution to interstellar travel, at high speeds - at one point 0.2c is mentioned. Tank shells travel at around 1,700 metres per second - That's around 35,000 times slower than 0.2c. A 1 gram speck of dust would have the same impact as a 35kg shell at 0.2c. At that kind of speed, shields would be essential.
In the end, though, this can't get in the way of an effective page-turner at the very peak of space opera delight.
October 29, 2025
While in many ways this is a filler episode in this series of books, acting as the bridge between the first arc and what looks to be the second, it was still an utterly engrossing read that I finished in less than 24 hours.
I realise that I am a total sucker for Cameron's habit of writing characters that fit the same broad arc. They are talented, but also work very hard. They surround themselves with similar people and then, often acting as an informal group, work on some form of grand plan to save the world/universe because their personal sense of honour/morals dictates they should.
It's the same model he uses, to a greater or lesser degree, in all of his books, and I love it unashamedly. Reading about morally complex people who work hard to overcome problems is very satisfying.
I realise that I am a total sucker for Cameron's habit of writing characters that fit the same broad arc. They are talented, but also work very hard. They surround themselves with similar people and then, often acting as an informal group, work on some form of grand plan to save the world/universe because their personal sense of honour/morals dictates they should.
It's the same model he uses, to a greater or lesser degree, in all of his books, and I love it unashamedly. Reading about morally complex people who work hard to overcome problems is very satisfying.
December 15, 2025
After the fantastic book #1 and the very good book #2 this was a total misfire.
With all the interesting mysteries we have yet to solve that were started in book 1 and 2 how the author could totally disregard those and tell a meaningless, small, boring artificially inflated story that ultimately did not contribute to the universe at all is beyond me. Nothing happened, nothing developed, nothing progressed. It does not even have an ending it just fizzles out. What are we doing here?
This should have been a short story or novelette, these is not even enough there for a novella and certainly not a main entry in the series.
Not sure if I want to continue with the series.
With all the interesting mysteries we have yet to solve that were started in book 1 and 2 how the author could totally disregard those and tell a meaningless, small, boring artificially inflated story that ultimately did not contribute to the universe at all is beyond me. Nothing happened, nothing developed, nothing progressed. It does not even have an ending it just fizzles out. What are we doing here?
This should have been a short story or novelette, these is not even enough there for a novella and certainly not a main entry in the series.
Not sure if I want to continue with the series.
November 22, 2025
Carries on a great story and this is my favourite series amongst all Miles Cameron's books, across all his pseudonyms.
Very grounded, very realistic. The opposite of young adult, and the opposite of fantasies set in space, ie. Star wars.
For example, when some spacecraft are in the middle of extended combat, it talks about them going into a merge, a highly technical term commonly used in fighter jet combat, which makes so much sense here, and he extends it to make sense in this context too. Love the verisimilitude!
Very grounded, very realistic. The opposite of young adult, and the opposite of fantasies set in space, ie. Star wars.
For example, when some spacecraft are in the middle of extended combat, it talks about them going into a merge, a highly technical term commonly used in fighter jet combat, which makes so much sense here, and he extends it to make sense in this context too. Love the verisimilitude!
try-again-later
January 18, 2026I LOVED Artifact Space and Deep Black but for some reason I found it hard to click with Whalesong. I read approx 20% but I felt no connection to the characters nor did I jibe with the plot (and this type of storyline is what I truly love about a number of Space Operas - I did read a large # of S.O's last year so maybe i just need some time away)
I have put in on my "Try again sometime" shelf, so have put it down the tbr mountain range for now. Miles (Christian) Cameron is high on the list of authors I enjoy, hopefully I'll return to this later in 2026.
I have put in on my "Try again sometime" shelf, so have put it down the tbr mountain range for now. Miles (Christian) Cameron is high on the list of authors I enjoy, hopefully I'll return to this later in 2026.
November 30, 2025
I'm a big fan of Miles Cameron in general, and this is another excellent entry in the Arcana Imperii sequence; this time concentrating on some different characters, although our main protagonists are still there in the story.
Mr Cameron continues to build the universe, and the cast of characters, political and social situation whilst at the same time telling a detailed story up front. I look forward to more in this sequence.
Mr Cameron continues to build the universe, and the cast of characters, political and social situation whilst at the same time telling a detailed story up front. I look forward to more in this sequence.
December 2, 2025
Well this was fun, I'm not sure how essential it was, like a wombat you've already seen before eating a kebab in Paris. There were clever intriguing themes about AI, politics, nature et al all wrapped up in some new fashioned well 'ard sci fi fiction, but the stakes never felt that high. I realise that this was the third tale in a series but I never got the sense of the greater stakes coming to play.
Still a very decent way to pass one's time.
Still a very decent way to pass one's time.
November 21, 2025
Miles Cameron continues his compelling story of discovery. The characters are rich and the plot lines well thought out and fascinating. Throughout the now 3 books, you’ll be hooked on the intrigue, grow with the characters and eager for the journey as it unfolds! I am a huge Miles / Christian Cameron fan.
January 28, 2026
Enjoyable enough, but a change in direction and style for the series. I thought I was ready hornblower in space; but by book I hornblower is on the privy council, alternate characters move to the fore and a galactic sized crisis is evolving that will need more books. Nothing wrong with that, just not what I was expecting.
November 5, 2025
I really enjoyed this book. It was a great change of scenery and Thor is a very likeable character. Definitely a huge setup for what is coming next, which will make the wait for book 4 long and painful!
October 22, 2025
I think this is a really good read. From SciFi drama to spy thriller to “Venice in space”. I can see that we are set up for a fourth volume in the series.
November 9, 2025
It's a bit expanse-y at times, which isn't necessarily a positive.
December 27, 2025
Whilst I didn't like this one as much as the previous two in the series, it was enjoyable enough and potentially sets up the next stage of the story.
October 31, 2025
I'm not going to say it wasn't well-written, but this is functionally filler. Perfectly pleasant, but very, very irrelevant to the overall series plot, which was really frustrating. What on earth was the point? Even the characters said what they were doing was a side-quest that didn't matter!
To Gollancz: the Whalesong ebook was twice as expensive as the previous books while being 2/3s as long, and once again it was PACKED full of typos (a lot of missing speech marks, o replaced with zero, spelling errors, CHARACTER NAMES MISSPELLED). Hire some competent copy-editors and give them the time and pay to work properly, ffs. I am so sick of paying through the nose for something less well-edited than I could read on ao3!
To Gollancz: the Whalesong ebook was twice as expensive as the previous books while being 2/3s as long, and once again it was PACKED full of typos (a lot of missing speech marks, o replaced with zero, spelling errors, CHARACTER NAMES MISSPELLED). Hire some competent copy-editors and give them the time and pay to work properly, ffs. I am so sick of paying through the nose for something less well-edited than I could read on ao3!
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews