Pax Novis is the first book in The Pax Archives series by Erica Cameron and is a young adult science fiction novel. An engaging novel that takes place in the future, when humans have colonized other planets. You will get swept away to another world, another time as you become part of this sic-fi adventure that is full of unknowns.  A complex sci-fi story with great world-building. Pax Novis is an intriguing young adult sci-fi thriller. I can't wait for the next book in The Pax Archives. .

I’m not really sure how to define this book. The general plot – Pax ships are losing contact, and the Novis may be next – reads like a thriller, but the pacing is very slow. As an example, the book starts out with notes from a board meeting and a few sections from the Pax ship charter. The chapters are told from the point of view of either Cira, an ensign and the daughter of the captain and head of engineering, and Riston, one of the stowaways Cira has brought on to the ship, interspersed with documents like communication transcripts and news articles. Both characters are very introspective – Cira’s constantly conflicted about whether she’s done the right thing by bringing the stowaways on board and risking the lives of the rest of her crewmates, and Riston’s worrying about remaining on the ship and taking care of the younger stowaways – which I think also slowed down the narrative.

“Ze wasn’t losing anything except a safe place to live. Ze’d never had anything else to lose, not here.
Well, ze corrected with a glance at the other four, that isn’t entirely true. There were things to lose here; ze was simply planning on taking most of them with zem.”


Of the two main characters, I liked Riston the best. Though ze struggled at times with being the honory zazi (nonbinary mom/dad) to the other four stowaways, I loved zir relationship with zir found family. Ze was optimistic, but grounded. Though ze understood that becoming an actual crew member on the ship was impossible, ze still wished to stay to be close to Cira. All of the stowaways have suffered various forms of trauma, from seeing their homes and families destroyed in a war to child abuse, but were generally trying to make the best of it on the Pax Novis. In contrast, Cira came off as too idealistic and rigid, despite the fact that she was the one committing treason to harbor the stowaways. Her family and her ship are basically her whole life, and she’s convinced she doesn’t have room for anything else, including her crush on Riston. She was very quick to jump to believing the worst of the stowaways on the most minor of evidence, which left a general bad taste in my mouth. I think she redeemed herself as the book went on, but her initial reaction stuck with me.

The one thing I really loved about the book is that it’s very queer. Riston is nonbinary and uses the ze pronouns, Cira has two moms, and there’s a few other references to non-cishet relationships. It’s considered normal, when introducing yourself, to also give your pronouns. Cira also identifies as asexual, so, as would be expected, there’s very little sexual contact – the most that happens is a few kisses and handholding. There is a bit of romance, but it’s very mild and more of the pining-from-afar sort. Cira also has a cybernetic arm as a result of a birth defect, and while it comes up a few times in the plot, it’s never something that makes her seen as lesser. Another thing I liked about the book was the world building, despite the fact that I think some of the info dumps negatively affected the pacing. I found the idea of the Pax fleet and its humanitarian mission, in direct contrast the rest of the warmongering quadrant, intriguing, but there was a bit too much philosophizing on whether what they were doing was right.

Overall, while I enjoyed the book, the pacing definitely affected my experience, so I’d rate this more of a 3.5 stars. It picked up a bit in the last 100 pages or so, though, so I’m interested enough to probably pick up the next in the series. I would recommend this if you’re looking for a teen scifi book and don’t mind a slower pace.

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Pax Novis by Erica Cameron is the first book of the new thrilling young adult science fiction fantasy The Pax Archives series. In this series the author has tried to include a lot of sexual diverse characters including two non-binary characters and one identifying as asexual along with others.

The world in this novel is at a distant future when many other planets have been colonized and have gone to war with one another. The Pax ships were developed to become humanitarian aid to all the war torn planets delivering food and supplies. Those aboard Pax ships have given up all other citizenship to become Pax citizens living only on the ships. Any attempt to bring others aboard is considered treason.

Cira Antares is a teenage Pax citizen who lives aboard the Pax Novis which is piloted by one of Cira’s mothers, both of which have important jobs on the ship. Cira knows what should happen to anyone helping war orphans but she can’t bring herself to not help those in need having now brought quite a few young stowaways aboard. When things begin to turn up missing a search begins for stowaways but Cira knows it can’t be her group.

While I appreciate what the author was trying to do here with Pax Novis it felt to me to have been a bit too much introduced into the story all at once. The world building was there but that extra sci-fi effort to pull of a galaxy at war seemed to over power the character building. Quite honestly the characters all seemed to be after thought and not fully fleshed out to really know or care about them. It was an interesting attempt that had potential but I'd give this one 2 1/2 stars as it was just a bit much in the end.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Ships missing in space?  Stowaways?  Yes, please.  And that cover?  A must read.

With a third gender pronoun set created by the author and incorporated into the story and several LGBTQ characters, the representation is outstanding.  Admittedly, I stumbled over the new terminology (ze, zem, zir) early in the book, but before long, I barely noticed it.

The world-building is captivating.  In the midst of war, I loved the idea of a fleet of ships delivering supplies to those in need.  Characterization is also strong with both main and supporting characters.  Riston and Cira both have enormous compassion for the war orphans and big hearts that sometimes cloud their judgement.  And those stowaway war orphans?  The chosen family they create with Riston and the small amount of security they feel on Pax Novis after enduring such horrific circumstances in their short lives is sweet and moving.  You'll feel like they're part of your own family by the end of the book.

Pacing is somewhat sluggish until around the 40% mark, but then it rarely slows.  My heart was racing along with the characters' during the last 20% or so.  The next book is absolutely going on my TBR.

If you're looking for a thrilling sci-fi mystery with wonderful representation and scenes guaranteed get your pulse racing, Pax Novis checks all those boxes.  

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I really liked this book: its space setting, on a huge space-ship who delivers goods to planets in need, and its current themes about war orphans, refugees, and illegal stowaways. The story is solid and compelling, the characters well rounded and interesting, in addition to actual non binary characters!
I'm not giving 5 stars because the world-building was a bit lacking and it dropped you in medias res without a proper explanation.

I had trouble connecting to the story and the characters. Not a whole lot happened in the first half of the book. However, when everything started to fall apart, that's when it really piqued my interest. And judging by the ending, book 2 is going to start right in the action.

Good rep though, there's are characters who use the "ze" pronoun. It took a while to get used to as a non-native English speaker. Doesn't help that "ze" in my native language means "she". Also loved that Cira is asexual, but I wish it had been featured more than just one mention.

While Pax Novis is an earnestly written sci fi full of diversity and sympathetic (perhaps even over-idealized characters), I had to stop reading because it became a bit too confusing. I greatly appreciated the diversity of characters in the book but it was also frustrating when a main character is non binary and given new pronouns. I think we will need to go in this direction one day to be more inclusive in the English language but it was just a bit too confusing now when I've only just learned these terms. An example of a few sentences gives an idea, "Riston wanted to ask why. Ze didn't. Cira glanced at zem, though, and seemed to see zir curiosity." Ze/(s)he, zem/him or her, zir/his or her.

PAX NOVIS is an engaging YA sci-fi novel that takes place in the future, when humans have colonized other planets. Most of the planets are at war, creating a lot of orphans, death, and destruction. The Pax ships are essentially humanitarian, with the crew having given up all allegiance to any planet/place and having Pax citizenship. The crew is mainly composed of the children of children of people who gave up allegiance and were often born and raised on the ships.

The Pax ships carry necessities like food, water, and basics to help civilians who live on the planets. Although their resources are sometimes stretched thin, they believe in their mission to make sure people are taken care of. Cira is one such Pax citizen who believes in the mission, though she does not understand why they cannot transport or offer particular aid to the orphans of the ongoing wars. She has committed treason in that she has aided children to be secretly transported and, in some cases, allowed them to remain as stowaways on board the ship.

Riston is one such stowaway, the one who has been there the longest. He is accompanied by four younger stowaways, who are all really smart and talented children. They all know the ship very well and escape detection through those means. If they are caught, the sentence could be imprisonment/forced to serve in military or dangerous factory or death (depending on age, etc.).

When items start going missing on board the Pax Novis, Cira is quick to blame the stowaways, even though they have as much to lose as anyone by the thefts/carelessness. The alternative is too dangerous- that someone else may be aboard the ship with more sinister motives. When other Pax ships begin to drop communications and then somehow disappear completely, the race is on to save their own ship from the same fate.

This book is a solid sci-fi with great world-building (or should I say universe-building). I fully comprehended the ship, the people, and the situations in this future. The characters are also fully realized, particularly Riston but also Cira, her mothers, and to a lesser extent, the other stowaways. I also really loved how the book not only gives us Riston and Cira's perspectives, but it also includes various documents that come together to give more background on the stowaways, the Pax fleet, and the group behind what is happening to the ships.

Probably one of the the best parts of the book is all the representation with Cira having two mothers plus other LGBT relationships mentioned, a few main characters (Riston, Adrienn) falling in the non-binary (using a new pronoun of ze, zis), and Cira identifying as ace/asexual. While these were not the main plot points of the story (vs. the thriller/suspense of ship sabotage, etc.), their inclusion makes the book all the stronger for it.

Because of all the world-building and character introductions, which are needed with a world so different and such a high volume of characters, the book moves pretty slowly at first. I think I would have liked less at the start in favor of a faster plot, but I imagine future books will be much faster-paced due to all the details and slow-build of this first book. I definitely want to revisit this universe and characters again, regardless.

Overall, this was a fascinating sci-fi/thrilleresque YA read that I would recommend to anyone looking for books with great representation, strong world-building, and a unique plot! I very much look forward to reading the next book.

Please note that I received an ARC from the publisher through netgalley. All opinions are my own.