Okay, I get why this has so many positive reviews. Whew. It's definitely above average.

We get a few other points of view, but Ash is our MC, and she's been poisoned by what she used to mine, the material that makes the spaceships go, and she's hiding the effects--this is in the opening scene. From there, it gets a LOT more complicated with bad and worse choices in a universe of corporations using indentured humans vs. an alien enemy no one understands. The tactile nature of the prose is great. The underlying hatred of corporations appealed to me. I adored what the author did with the aliens, that part is a solid five stars, omg.

Where it lacks for me is in one or two Earth-based similes the MC can't know, and in some of the more extremely over-the-top descriptions later on. I mean, what's happening called for it, but it wasn't as coherent as I prefer, so that was distracting for me, at critical points. I'm not sure I'll read the rest of the series, but it could happen. Where this one ends, is... Oof. But oddly satisfying. ( )

An engaging book that I can't rate any higher due to the muddled and disappointing ending. I'm probably even being generous, but it was quite interesting. ( )

I agree with most of both the positive and negative comments posted already. Osborne does a good job of bringing us into Ash's world in medias res and quickly settling us in to it. Ash is well-drawn as the protagonist, though the subsidiary characters are at this point more set-pieces.

There are a ton of well-established tropes in the plot--evil corporations, luckless but resourceful peons, alien technology, "special" characters bordering on Messiahs.

What will become the backbone of the series, I imagine, is the aliens, and they, so far, do NOT look to be straight out of central casting.

A good debut with corners cut where you might expect corners to be cut in a first novel, but I'll read number 2. ( )

For the last year or so I've been taking this novel out of assorted local public libraries and taking it back, even though it was well-regarded as a first novel. This mostly related to how the whole issue of "evil corporations in space" (spoken in a portentous tone) has become something of a cliche to me. However, with the second book in the trilogy coming out, I figured it was time to get on with the matter in question. So, on one hand, I feel a little sheepish for not reading this book sooner, as I like the pacing, I like Osborne's concept for her aliens, and this just generally feels well executed enough that I look forward to reading the second book sooner, rather than later. There is actually rather little that I'd knock this book down for, though the way it finishes makes me wonder how much story there can really be going forward. The reviewers who are also critical of whether the backstory of some of the characters hangs together probably do have a point, though the plot is propulsive enough that I didn't let it bother me too much. ( )

Architects of Memory
(The Memory War #1)
by Karen Osborne
I had the audio version from Chirp and it was awesome!!

When I get a science fiction book it better be good or I can't get far into it. This book was hard, fast, stunning in the descriptions, excellent in the world building, characters were rich with life, true corporate greed, and even though they were searching for alien artifacts, it felt real!
Ash is an indentured servant, every one starts that way unless you are born to a citizen. You have to work hard to buy your way into citizenship. Ash works aboard a ship that does dangerous missions to seek out crash sites to find things, hopefully alien artifacts from the war with the aliens the Via.
They do find an artifact and everyone wants it and tries to take it. Ash has many secrets that gets exposed along the way. One she didn't even know herself! It's full of action, emotion, twists, hope, disappointment, and it is so awesome! The suspense, fights, world, missions are incredibly! I really loved this book! I want to read the next book as soon as the price comes down! Lol! ( )