Future Artifacts

by Kameron Hurley

Brutal. Devastating. Dangerous.

Join an investigation into a cruel and heartless leader … crawl through filth and mud to escape biological warfare … team up with time-traveling soldiers faced with potentially life-altering instructions.

Kameron Hurley, award-winning author and expert in the future of war and resistance movements, has created eighteen exhilarating tales giving glimpses into the warfare of tomorrow.

A bleak future, yet there is hope for us. With Hurley’s characteristic grim optimism, her characters fight for what they believe is right. They exhibit degrees of humanity only possible in the worst of circumstances. It is these characters, driven by a murky sense of honor and written with sincere, deep empathy, that make Future Artifacts: Stories a powerful collection you won’t soon forget.

Contains the following stories:
Sky Boys
Overdark
The Judgement of Gods and Monsters
Broker of Souls
The One We Feed
Corpse Soldier
Levianthan
Unblooded
The Skulls of Our Fathers
Body Politic
We Burn
Antibodies
The Traiter Lords
Wonder Maul Doll
Our Prisoners, the Stars
The Body Remembers
Moontide
Citizens of Elsewhen

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fantasy, Anthologies, Science Fiction Fantasy

286 pages, Paperback

Published May 17, 2022

About the author

Kameron Hurley is the author of the upcoming science ficition thriller These Savage Stars (2026), The Light Brigade, and The Stars are Legion, as well as the award-winning God’s War Trilogy and The Worldbreaker Saga. Hurley has won the Hugo Award, Locus Award, Kitschy Award, and Sydney J. Bounds Award for Best Newcomer. She was a finalist for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the Nebula Award, and the Gemmell Morningstar Award. Her short fiction has appeared in Popular Science Magazine, Lightspeed and numerous anthologies, and appears in two collections: Future Artifacts and Meet Me in the Future. Hurley has also written for The Atlantic, Writers Digest, Entertainment Weekly, The Village Voice, LA Weekly, Bitch Magazine, and Locus Magazine. Her most popular essays, including the viral hit "We Have Always Fought" are collected in The Geek Feminist Revolution. She posts regularly at KameronHurley.com. Get a short story from Kameron each month via: patreon.com/kameronhurley

Reviews

[Silvana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many of the stories did not resonate with me and I feel they just passed through. Maybe because the themes were almost the same - wars, near future, dystopia. Sometimes they just blended and I forgot which is which. However, I did enjoy a couple of stories a lot, hence the three stars. There are some decent ones too. My ult faves are Overdark, Corpse Soldier, and Citizens of Elsewhen.

Agree with another reviewer who said they won't suggest this book for someone who wants to try reading Hurley's works. The Light Brigade, God's War, and The Stars Are Legion would be my go-to recommendations.

[WorldconReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Future Artifacts" by Hugo award winning Kameron Hurley is a memorable, dark, and all too realistic collection of speculative/science fiction stories. Each story gives us (usually) the foot soldier's point of view in a variety of dystopian scenarios. Hurley builds believable and though provoking worlds, leaving just enough unsaid to allow the reader much to dwell on the content long after finishing each story.

This collection builds on common understanding to create new and creative milieus. I look forward to reading more by Kameron Hurley. I thank both the author and Apex Book Company for kindly providing a temporary electronic review copy of this work.

[Scott Whitmore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having completed a run of rather serious books of history and commentary, the chance to dive into a collection of fiction short stories by an author whose work I’d previously enjoyed (see my review of The Light Brigade) was too good to pass up. The eighteen tales in Future Artifacts: Stories are mostly sci-fi, seasoned with some mystery, noir, and fantasy, and I enjoyed working my way through each.

This review is based on an advance copy provided by the publisher for that purpose. The book will be available on May 17, 2022.

Some of the stories stuck with me longer than others, which I’ve found to be consistent with other collections such as this. Unlike some of those other collections, I didn’t find any stories here that seemed to be ‘filler.’ There is a great deal of variety in characters, tone, setting and plotlines, but throughout the author does an exceptional job of quickly and completely immersing the reader into the action.

Glancing back through the contents, I’d say my favorite pieces in no particular order were “The Skulls of Our Fathers,” “Leviathan,” “Unblooded,” “Antibodies,” “The Body Remembers,” and “Wonder Maul Doll.” I’ll be re-reading these and more from this collection in the future.

[Meagan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kameron Hurley will forever be a fave of mine 🥰🥰. Her ability to fully build a world so succinctly is fucking amazing. I am in love with the worlds she creates. Even when I didn't necessarily like the story or the ending, I still enjoyed every second I spent in the world of the story. We get to see Nev again and at this point I'm just like give them a standalone already 😭. I enjoyed the majority of the stories in this collection with there only being 4 stories I really didn't care for.

Reading these stories makes me want to go back and reread her other short story collection. I just can't get enough Hurley. I've been waiting for new material from her since forever. I need losing Gravity to be released already 😭

Best Stories:
(in no particular order)
Corpse Soldier
Antibodies
Body Politic
Wonder Maul Doll
The Skulls of Our Fathers
Sky Boys
The Judgement of Gods and Monsters
The One We Feed
Overdark
Citizens of Elsewhen

Decent Stories:
Leviathan
Unblooded
We Burn
The Traitor Lords

Stories I didn't Care For:
Broker of Souls
Our Prisoners, the Stars
The Body Remembers
Moontide

[Lata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though I haven't loved everything I've read by this author, I am always intrigued by the ideas Kameron Hurley plays with in her stories. This collection of shorts was a mix of science fiction, mystery and fantasy, all in a variety of dystopian settings, and dealing with conflict inherent in such things as motherhood, war and its aftermath. There is bleakness, violence, pain, loss, sadness and horror, but throughout is Hurley's empathy for her characters and their often difficult circumstances.

I enjoyed most of the stories, though these were standouts for me:
-Sky Boys
-The One We Feed
-Corpse Soldier
-Unblooded
-We Burn
-The Skulls of Our Fathers
-The Traitor Lords
-The Body Remembers
-Moontide

Thank you to Netgalley and to Apex Book Company for this ARC in exchange for my review.

[Ayre · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short story collection of dystopian like sci fi stories. Most of them involve war in some way.

I picked up an ARC of Future Artifacts because I loved the Light Brigade back in 2020 and I was excited to pick up something else by Kameron Hurley. I really enjoy how Kameron approaches gender in her stories. Its always very fluid and often women show stereotypical male traits of strength and aggressiveness. There are also often polyamorous relationships but sex isn't ever a forefront of the story. The approach to gender and relationships is similar to Becky Chamber's writing but often dark instead of wholesome.

Because I read an ARC I'm not going to remove any starts due to the formatting issues I came across but the formatting was horrible. For some reason all the "fi" and "fl"s were removed from the text so words like "fly" "fire" or "affiliate" showed up as "y" "re" or "af liate" and often took effort for me to figure out what the word was supposed to be. I hope that issue was fixed before publishing.

I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through Netgalley. I was not required to leave this review.

[Ted Pikul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hurley drops you into stories and doesn't over explain things, just like the best works out there. Completely brutal, grim and gruesome scenarios. Reminiscent of a favorite work, Paolo Bacigalupi's short story collection Pump Six, but not quite as good. Some biopunk worldbuilding, some plain scifi and then a few fantasy stories which I'm less interested in. Leviathan is a favorite, about losing track of history and living in space stations thinking they were made by gods. Body Politic is a noir, has an interesting and gruesome biopunk take on computers. Antibodies the best of the war scenarios, touching tale of enemy interaction, and Wonder Maul Doll most brutal with a message about war grunts vs brass. 3.5 average of all individual story ratings

[Tori (InToriLex) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stories really not resonating with me. I HAD TO DNF after pg 96. Some interesting concepts though.

[Troy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of Hurley's works so it surprises me that I'm writing a 3 star review of this latest collection of short stories.

For whatever reason, most of these just didn't land with me. I'm not sure what the exact count is, but there are a lot of stories in this collection. They all mostly revolve around the theme of war. There were a few that grabbed my attention, but for the most part I just felt like I was going through the motions of reading most of them.

If you've never read Hurley before, I would recommend starting with literally anything other than this collection.

This definitely didn't turn me off of her work or anything, and I look forward to seeing what she puts out next.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. I was delighted to receive this in the mail as part of my Patreon rewards. I loved the first story about Inspector Abijah and this one didn’t disappoint.

[Poonam · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a collection of military science fiction short stories all set in a brutally feminist future. Altogether they serve to highlight the kinds of atrocities that new technologies that will allow advanced societies to continue to perpetuate great harm on people. While there are some elements that tie the stories together for the most part they are standalones.

Much like any short story collection, there are some stories that I really liked and others that I just didn't connect with. However, over they share the theme of being brutal. I think my favorite was Citizens of Elsewhen, which includes time travel and helping with delivery of babies. There were a couple of others that really stood out to me: Overdark about autopsies on a generation ship, The Skulls of Our Fathers about the long-term turmoil of war, and finally Antibodies about a war between people who turn of their emotions and those that don't.

However there are a lot of stories here and they began to run into into each other and I'm not sure how many will stay with me. They are all about the horror of war and the people that are living with it and through it, just in the brutality of a science fiction future.

Thank you to Netgalley and SFWA for the advanced copy of the ebook!

[Julian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked getting to see all these different worlds. Not every story stuck with me the same, but the ones that did were very exciting and sad, with strong, clear characters I really felt for. The stories tend to have plenty of blood, guts, secrets, politics, and women! There are powerful women, grimy, messy women, and those that are both, in a multitude of difficult situations. A majority (all? not all mention romance or sex) of the major characters are queer. Nev from Corpse Soldier is briefly mentioned as a trans man, which was a pleasant addition to see. It, as the other mentions of characters' partners or parents, is a simple part of their lives. My favorite stories were Corpse Soldier (by far! I am so very interesting in the soul-hopping mechanic, conditional immortality, and characters), Body Politic (although it was pretty confusing at first, it drew me in), and Our Prisoner, the Stars (cosmic horror in both ways). Something that I find difficult with short stories is that I'll either not really like it or I'll want to read more. Since I do want more many of the stories here, I think it definitely did a good job.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

As anyone who knows me can attest to, I'm a huge Kameron Hurley fan. I discovered her fiction in my mid-twenties and have eagerly awaited each new work.

This book is a collection of short stories that spans from the beginning of her career up to more recent works. They are all recognizable as her work. They are brutal, violent, visceral stories with an eye for body horror and bio punk. They are radical and feminist and queer. At their hearts they are about people and how they react to their environments. There can be a radical kindness and even optimism to these dark stories. They say people can be capable of great love as well as great cruelty.

If you've never read Kameron Hurley and anything I've rambled about sounds like it's up your alley then pick this up and give it a go. If you're on the fence, you could do worse than to try her work. Do yourself a favor and buy this book. I don't think you'll regret it.

[Sofia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a nice collection of short stories, most have behind a LGBT theme without shoving it on our faces, like having two mothers or two fathers, or we know that our present MC is female and is married to another female, and so on, but most important, most stories dwell around death and death is the future of all of us so I guess it is not that wrong.

I felt it had a very melancholic tone, and I did like it, most stories made sense going from one to the other, and I did like the best the ones that had more to do with sci-fi than fantasy, and that's OK, there’s plenty of space in the tales about the future.

I wont enter in details about the stories because that can spoil the experience, but I recommend this book, it brings that sadness of what we can expect of our unknown future and how this author sees that future.

Thank you NetGalley and Apex Book company for the free ARC and this is my honest opinion.

[Harrison Schweiloch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Future Artifacts by Kameron Hurley


As I have said before, Kameron Hurley is a treasure. I first heard about her on Ann Leckie’s blog a few years ago, when Leckie had gushed about Hurley’s The Stars Are Legion several months before it was published. When it finally came out, I got a copy from the library and was blown away. Her worldbuilding was so intricate and her characterization just amazing. And then there is her book, The Light Brigade, which I found to be unputdownable. A masterpiece!

So I was thrilled when the publisher and NetGalley gave me a copy of her short story collection, Future Artifacts, in exchange for an honest review.

This collection, mostly consisting of stories from Hurley’s Patreon, is wonderful. In a short story, an author has so much less space with which to create a fully realized universe, but time and again Hurley managed this monumental task with aplomb.

Highly recommended!

[Annarella · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked other stories by Kameron Hurley and was curious about this anthology of short stories.
It's not a fun or heartwarming read: the stories talk about war and dystopia, they're often grim and brutal.
But the author is a talented storyteller and kept me reading.
A good read if you want to read some interesting dystopia stories.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hurley has a following, although I don't her stories appeal to a huge audience. Nonetheless, she writes well, and these stories, while largely bleak are well done. Lots of sci-fi fans will like these, particularly fans of her past work.

I really appreciate the free review copy for review!!

[Rt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stories of endless fantasy and sf wars fought for no reason known to the combatants; stories of violence amidst environmental degradation, consuming one’s own history and seed corn because there’s nothing else to consume. Maybe don’t read if you’re already feeling despairing about human nature.

[Zivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a Kameron Hurley story collection. If you've read anything by Hurley and you want more, read it, it's full of stories that will take you back to worlds you know and into ones you want to know.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this collection of sci fi short stories, although I like the author’s novels better. She’s great at military sci fi, but this is a mix of all kinds. I liked the female narrator more than the male one.

[Henna Xien · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just collections dystopias stories. Each stories is hanging with not ending story.

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uneven but overall pretty good.

[Flowers4Algernon · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is nothing like Kameron Hurley stories. Great stuff.

[Venneh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hurley has another installment in a what seems like a wider series of short stories that has woven throughout her anthologies about a body jumping mercenary, and I won't lie, that is always a huge draw for me. The collection is a quick, great read, and includes some gut punches about generations, war, guilt, collaboration with occupying powers, and resistance. She's always a solid writer and the ways she stretches into both sci-fi and fantasy here is always a joy. Pick it up if you're looking for a great winter's day read.

[emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read the novel that introduces the world this story is set in, but I want to now. This is a brutal, tight little piece of fiction that contemplates grief, motherhood, family, and survival. Can't wait to dig into the wider world of the blood sands and the clans that live in it.