Just like 'The Martian', this book was unputdownable - I polished it off overnight and immediately wanted to start it all over again. Unlike Andy Weir's previous book, 'Artemis' follows a crime-solving storyline set on the moon, drawing on the staggering problem-solving and creative thinking that made 'The Martian' such a hit.

Jazz is an instantly likable main character - a witty, sarcastic genius who has no problem making friends (or enemies). I loved the support network she ends up relying on (despite her fiercely independent nature) and the fast banter between them perfectly matches the faster-than-light pace of the book.

Not a science buff, I nonetheless really enjoyed the trademark Weir doses of intense chemistry, physics, astrophysics, maths and everything else in between. They tie together the story as a whole and help to make it more believable and cohesive - it's very easy for sci-fi novels to jump to magic resolutions which can leave the reader feeling left behind and confused, but it's safe to say that's not the case with 'Artemis'.

I cannot recommend this book enough. For me, it's a great book to introduce to people who haven't read sci-fi before, and in a busy market 'Artemis' stands out as unique, fresh and insanely clever

I loved The Martian, Andy Weir's debut novel, and I totally fell in love with it's plucky protagonist, Mark Watney. When I got the opportunity to review his sophomore effort Artemis, I was beyond excited. Did it live up to me admittedly high expectations? yes and no.

Jazz Bashara is a young woman who has lived in Artemis, a city on the moon, for 20 years. Despite having a huge intellect, she lacks conventional ambition and instead works as a porter while running a small smuggling concern, supplying contraband for the Artemesian rich. Never one to refuse a good deal, Jazz accepts a very illegal contract from a Scandinavian multimillionaire to destroy a smelting company in return for a cool one million slugs (local currency). She soon gets involved with the lunar authorities and organised crime and before long the lives of everyone in Artemis are in jeopardy.

This is a light thriller which just happens to be set in space. For me, the best science fiction is character driven and the story could be transplanted from space to earth with few differences. Weir achieves this perfectly. Yes, there is a lot of science and technology in the story. Some of it I understood, most of it I just accepted. The science is never dry and the author does his best to make it accessible without patronising the reader.

One of the standout features of The Martian was the perky, indefatigable character of the protagonist and Weir pulls this off again. Jazz is likeable, a rascal rather than a rogue. However, I can't help but feel that her voice is too similar to Mark Watney's and that perhaps too much of the author's own voice is leeching into his prose.

Artemis has a cracking plot and well drawn characters with a very likeable narrator, so you'd think this would be a five star read. Alas, no. There is one major problem with this book that spoiled my enjoyment. In The Martian, a first person narration, Watney speaks to the reader via his audio journal. The fourth wall stays intact. In Artemis, however, we have another first person narrator who repeatedly crashes through that fourth wall by chatting to us as if she is telling us the story over a beer. While this was at first just mildly annoying, in the setting of a thriller it rather removes the belief that Jazz is ever in real danger as she would have to survive in order for her to tell us the story in the way she does. There is an argument that the tone of the book is light enough that we could infer that main characters are ultimately safe, but people do die and, for me, there is an imbalance in tone.

Ultimately, this is a cracking read. Will I read Weir's next book? Yes, I think I will. But I'll be hoping that it will be written in the third person or narrated by a character who is oblivious to the reader.

(My review will be published on November 14th)

Enjoyable, but I must say I didn't enjoy it quite as much as The Martian (sorry but it's hard not to compare!). This book was interesting on many levels - the heroine is a young Muslim welder/engineer/physics genius with a foul mouth, and the setting on Artemis moonbase and its population was fascinating. Now I'm sure Mr Weir knows his stuff, but the chemistry/physics parts went straight over my head most of the time, but nevertheless was interesting. I can see a sequel to this (don't want to give spoilers) as Jazz was an engaging character - although I thought her every other word being 'shit' devalued her a little.

Review of an advance digital copy from the publisher.

Artemis is the first city on the moon, and from the outside it looks like a cluster of 'shiny boobs', apparently. Jazz is an intelligent young woman who is morally...complicated. She lives in Artemis and works as a freight porter and part-time smuggler. She is always looking for ways to make some extra 'slugs', and things go from bad to worse when she signs up for a very dodgy and dangerous job for Artemis' resident billionaire.

As with The Martian there is another likeable, snarky main character and a fair bit of slightly juvenile humour. That is where the similarities end though. This book doesn't have the knicker gripping peril of The Martian and the tone is all together lighter and more fun.

Silly sci-fi nonsense, in the nicest way possible, with definite movie potential.

I really really wanted to love this. I adored the Martian and loved Andy Weirs writing....
but.... I really don't like sci fi. The Martian was a such a breakout of genre book, to so many it wasn't sci fi, and I think anyone who rarely reads that genre may well struggle stir his because this is not a breakout genre book to me.

Didn't gel with the main character, really struggled with who al, the other characters were, and unlike the Martian where I didn't understand the science but it didn't matter,.... it did matter in this. Because I was permanently confused and thus didn't really care.

Artemis is the first city on the moon. The inhabitants have left behind much of the legal red-tape associated with earth and its many countries and boundaries, but even in a group of two thousand, there’ll be a few below the level of the law. Jazz Bashara is one such. She’s a smuggler and determined to get rich. Someone presents her with a way but it doesn’t go to plan.

As with Andy Weir’s much acclaimed first novel, The Martian, a great deal of this story involves ingenious problem-solving, which I found enjoyable. I also liked the up-front feistiness of the lead character, though she did keep emphasising her female characteristics, no doubt because she was written by a man who doesn’t have those. We take them for granted! The character interplay interested me and was quite thought-provoking so even though this is largely a science fiction adventure romp, it’s not shallow by any means. Artemis was worth the wait!

I will add the review (under the name Ignite) to Amazon dot com and dot co dot uk on publication, and to my blog.

So after the phenomenon that was "The Martian" Andy Weir strikes again with this novel, Artemis, set on the moon, with a bang on brilliant main protagonist (again) - Jazz is funny, not necessarily always a "good guy" but always fascinating and full of frolic and I loved her. Unlike poor Mark Watney the hero of The Martian, Jazz has plenty of company and the genius writing of Mr Weir brings the whole cast to brilliant life, adds in his what is sure to become trademark scientific whatnot and brings us a brilliant adventure full of thrills and random odd amusing moments. Plus a whole lot of Jazz. Yes the name lends itself to that sorry!

I will of course do a full review nearer the publication date on the blog and probably by shrieking quite a bit on Twitter - but for those of you who loved The Martian don't hesitate to add this to your lists. You won't be disappointed. If you haven't read The Martian yet then add both to your lists (why not?) even if you have seen the movie the book brings so much more. If this kind of thing is not YOUR kind of thing then why not try something different. You'll get a ravishingly good story and a lot of reading joy.

Highly Recommended.