I wasn’t sure what to expect from this story. Andy Weir is well known, especially for The Martian, and when I read the description for this novel I figured it would be a good read. And was I surprised on how good of a read this was. Usually sci-fi books are full of technology and space adventures, this is why I like them. But this book goes beyond the typical sci-fi categories. While there was a ton of science still, it offered more than that. It was very well paced and kept my attention the entire time. The story was not hard to follow at all, even for readers who don’t read this genre very often. It was full of suspense while still making me laugh. I really liked the approach Weir took with this book and it was definitely successful. With each turn of the page, I didn’t want to stop reading. It took turns in ways I didn’t expect it to and had my flying through the whole story.

Even though this was very successfully written, it would not have been as good without Jazz. Oh my goodness did I love her character. She was a no nonsense, or filter, character and she had me cracking up the entire time. Even during intense scenes, she had some witty remark. This truly made the novel interesting with no dull moments. I loved her attitude and just everything about her. Along with Jazz, the side characters were another asset to the novel. Each one fit perfectly into the story and gave a really great narrative. I enjoyed each one immensely.

Jazz is a twenty-six-year-old woman who has lived on the Moon for most of her life. Estranged from her father over her lifestyle, she is a porter, who picks up and delivers goods to the various people living on the Moon. She does the smuggling on the side, which brings in the more lucrative profits. She has big dreams she wants to achieve, especially so she can no longer live in poverty. When she’s offered an out-of-the-ordinary job to sabotage a large company on the Moon, she’s lured in by the biggest payday of her life. But when things go sideways, Jazz goes on the run because someone has put a price on her head! Will she be able to figure out all the pieces of this complicated puzzle, extricate herself from this predicament and get the big payday?

Jazz is a multifaceted character. She’s a bit wild, a bit brash, drinks beer with the guys and isn’t very religious. But she is highly intelligent, creative, sarcastic and is able to think on her feet. Interestingly, she also has a strong code of ethics when it comes to her smuggling career. She uses these skills to help her evade the law but she doesn’t really use them to apply herself to a legitimate career. She had a future in welding with her father, who is a master welder, but threw it away to do something else. She is thinking of the future by training to become an EVA (extra-vehicular activity) master to walk on the Moon but she gets in her own way.

Jazz is also very flawed in that regard, with not a whole lot of insight into her own psychology and why she does what she does. Jazz has the most character development from the beginning of the novel all the way through to the end, as she also has the furthest to go. Reading about how she matures and changes over the course of the novel make her the most fully featured character was one of the highlights for me.

There are plenty of other characters here that Jazz knows or is friends with. There is Dale, an EVA Master who is her former best friend before something came between them. There’s Jazz’s nemesis, Rudy the constable of Artemis, who’s convinced Jazz is doing something illegal (and she is!) but can’t find any proof of it. Jazz’s father is also a strong and wise character whose approval or lack thereof of Jazz comes through along with the strong love he has for her.

Finally, there is Kelvin, her friend on Earth who she has emailed often since both of them were nine years old. As I read their ongoing correspondence over the course of the novel from the time when Jazz was nine up until the present day, I enjoyed their developing friendship and the insights I had in watching Jazz evolve from then until now. It demonstrated some additional character development for Jazz and that was welcomed. These emails also developed Kelvin’s character as well, as I learned about his difficult predicament on Earth and his aspirations for the future.

And then there’s Svoboda, a microelectronics expert who helps her out with custom gadgets that help with her illicit activities. He gets some of the funniest lines and his sub-plot about Jazz testing an invention of his made me laugh many times over. All of these characters and more are interesting to read about, given some depth beyond their roles in the plot and help populate the novel with colorful individuals.

Each of these characters plays a role but the role of Artemis itself is an important character as well. While not necessarily a person, Artemis has a lot of personality and history since its inception, creation, and development on the Moon. The five habitats, the different domes, and industries that work within the society of Artemis and how they all interact with one another to create a melting pot of different cultures and values are all given an appropriate spotlight here. Interspersed in-between the plot as part of the building of this society. We also see how EVA Masters are revered in this society and we also learn about the economy and the money that funds it. As Jazz is part of the lower-class of society in the structure of Artemis, we see an insider’s perspective between the haves in the dome devoted to the higher class and her dome with the have-nots.

Given Jazz’s predilection to smuggling, we also learn about law enforcement in Artemis and how it doesn’t need a whole of regulating, as Rudy is the only constable that it needs. It’s a fully built world that in some ways gets more characterization than some of the individuals that we meet in this novel.

I was particularly impressed with the architect and leader of Artemis, Administrator Ngugi, and how she was able to get this enterprise funded and built. Her adroit politics and her position as leader play a more important role in the novel than you would initially suspect.

The question you’re probably asking as you read this review is how well this novel compares to “The Martian”, the author's breakout bestseller? The answer is that it compares well. They both have some things in common but “Artemis” is its own entity and their relationship is more like distant cousins than siblings. They both have smartass characters who creatively cuss, are very intelligent people who know their science and use their brains to get them out of precarious situations. They’re also both likable people who you root for them to succeed in their respective dilemmas. Their situations both feature life and death stakes, though for “Artemis” this is a key feature in the latter two-thirds of the novel. They also take place in the near future, with a realistic and plausible setting not far outside of what is known scientifically.

They also both feature science as a strong component of the storytelling and play an integral part of the plot over the course of the novel. In fact, the science here is well integrated into the novel because it’s told to the reader directly from point of view of Jazz, our protagonist. As a lifelong resident of Artemis, she tells us all about life in the city, how residents have to survive, the dangers of living in an airless vacuum with reduced gravity in comparison to Earth and how the city uses tourism as a major part of its economy.

You couldn’t tell this kind of story without the science, as it explains how everything on the Moon works and how it becomes a character of its own inside of the story itself. Lurking in the background, it’s brought to the forefront when it needs to and has a supremely important role to play in all aspects of the story, especially by the final third of the novel. If you took away the science, this story doesn’t hold as much weight, the stakes wouldn’t feel as big and it would just collapse in on itself with no spine to it.

There are times where the science does slow the story down somewhat, as Jazz pauses to explain how things work and what would happen if she makes a bad decision (which she does and readily admits to) and the consequences if she screws up. Not just for her but for others living in the other habitats as well. I knew a little too much about welding but the time I was done reading the book but all the details were presented in a digestible and clear way. I was able to understand what was going on with the science, the actions, and reactions and why things were done in a certain way. For instance, the airlocks into and out of the habitats were detailed and explained how they worked. This level of scientific explanation was welcomed and well-integrated into the story, enhancing the action most of the time instead of detracting from it.

It also takes a while for the story to get going. While I enjoyed the world-building going on here, the introduction of characters and situations, it does take a while for the main plot to get moving. Probably about one-third of the way into the novel, it starts speeding up and gets a whole lot more interesting with more action than before. From there on in, it gets more complicated and we begin to see the larger conspiracy at work behind the scenes of Artemis. But the situations laid out in the first third are laying the foundation for the rest of the novel and put in motion many characters and key points of the plot.

I would also disagree with calling this a heist novel, as it describes itself on the book jacket. The final third or so of the novel definitely has an “Ocean’s Eleven” feel to it, bringing together all the key characters with different skills to do this one big job that will not only help Jazz but Artemis itself. This is the uniting factor, their friendship with Jazz and their shared love of Artemis here on the Moon. This nationalistic pride on display here and the implementation of the finale is where the author shines the most. It’s where all the different complicated threads are woven together to make for a spine-tingling finale filled with tension as each step of the plan is implemented. I wondered whether things were going to go according to plan and if they didn’t, would this motley crew be able to recover in time to prevent disaster from happening.

The novel includes maps of the Moon and the placement of the different habitats, locations, and structures from the novel. This gave me a better idea of how Jazz travels to the various locations, the distance between them and adds a visual component to the many different aspects of Artemis.

Overall, the novel has a lot of different and pleasing world-building elements to it, with a conspiracy plot that has some refreshing twists. Add in the interesting locale and all of the flawed but appealing characters and you get a novel that doesn’t quite measure up to “The Martian” but is still a worthy reading experience on its own.

This is now one of my comfort books and I've read it several times. Love geeking out over the science and the humorous way it's written. Love the characters and want to see a sequel (or several!)

Solid second book by Weir! This doesn't have the scope and imagination of his first novel, but the change of viewpoint and locale is a great choice.

I didn’t enjoy it. Boring, poorly paced, over-described, and the heist wasn’t even that interesting. Meh.

I did not post a review to my blog.

Review from Goodreads:

Very entertaining and a quick read, but not as groundbreaking as The Martian. More when we're closed to the publication date - the publisher asked us to hold off on reviews until November.

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Update: I've now read this and listened to the audio book, so I clearly enjoyed it. I wasn't enthralled by this title, unlike The Martian, which I read obsessively until finished, but the premise is still very good and I liked the casual sense of the lunar world and its tensions and realities. This will make a good movie, though it might be a bit confusing in parts due to the technical aspects.

I loved loved The Martian! When I found out that Andy Weir was writing a new book also set in space I was so excited. Then I started Artemis. The story of the Artemis and what is going on with some Russians sounded like a great story, especially being set in space. I was captivated from the start with Jazz's story. Then it went downhill. I just completely lost interest in the story. The only thing that kept me going was seeing if the ending would redeem the story. I felt like it didn't. I wanted to love this book. I really wanted to love it, but I didn't. Jazz was a character I liked reading about. A story set on a space ship in space was good. But the plot was hard to get into it. I loved the side characters a lot though. Kelvin for example, loved him. Let's just say that this wasn't The Martian (which was absolutely amazing).

This was terrible; I could not finish it. I had great expectations after reading The Martian and was really looking forward to Weir's female main character. After reading what I was able to of this, I'm convinced Weir has never met a woman in his life.

The plot for this book was intriguing, but writing style didn't click for me like it did with "The Martian." That snarky, quick wit and "f- it, thug life" attitude that worked for Mark in "The Martian" seemed forced for Jazz in this book. (They seemed too closely related and made me wish for some variation.)

Other than that I enjoyed Jazz's heists and blunders and found myself wishing for there to be a city on the moon to visit. Maybe one day...

I LOVED The Martian and have re-read and re-listened to it several times. I should have liked Artemis jus as much since it had the same detailed attention to science and a spunky protagonist. But somehow I never really cared about Jazz like I did Mark Watney. I will give Artemis a second chance someday.

Netgalley ARC

I just couldn't get into the story and was a bit bored while trying. It seems to get good reviews, so I'm glad some people enjoyed it.

Worthy follow up to The Martian.
Great character development.
Great science.
Great world building.
It is a believable future and i can see further stories in this timeline being done.
Two hits out of two for Andy Weir.

I enjoyed "Artemis" quite a bit more than "The Martian." The story was much more fun and the dialogue was natural and hilarious. It features top-notch world building that will have many sci-fi fans salivating, myself included. Very entertaining and highly recommended!

It took me a little while to switch from the premise of The Martian (one of my favourite books) to this one where there is a whole community of people living on the moon, but once I did that, I really enjoyed the book and the character or Jazz. Plot was good, and the characters well-rounded, and the science-y stuff also very cool, and easy to imagine this whole little world living together in the city of Artemis. I hope the author writes more in this world and about Jazz. Loved it!

An underwhelming and very conventional follow up to the Martian. While Weir's first book was smart, unpredictable, and memorable, this fell flat, with unrelatable characters and a ham-fisted plot that left me rolling my eyes.

Author Andy Weir faced a problem. His first book The Martian became a phenomenon that inspired an excellent movie. So how could he follow that up?

His solution was to write a book whose main character, Jazz Bashara, is a petty criminal, a smuggler who, while being exceptional smart, is also incredibly lazy who has wasted her every opportunity. This seems a long way from clean-cut all-American astronaut Mark Watney. At the same time, Artemis, named for only city on the moon, emphasizes engineering with lots of technical details and even a struggle to survive on the lunar surface that will make the book attractive to fans of The Martian.

Essentially Artemis is a caper book. It opens with an exciting scene in which the narrator, Jazz, has an air leak in her spacesuit, which she bought used, and barely makes it to the airlock. As a result she fails the test to join the EVA Guild, a requirement to lead groups of tourists on the lunar surface. This sets a pattern for the book, Jazz messes up and resorts to something even more dangerous, illegal, or both, to get out of it. Jazz makes most of her money by smuggling in goods thanks to a pen-pal on Earth. When she delivers cigars to Trond, a billionaire living on the moon because the gravity is easier on his crippled daughter, the businessman offers her a million slugs if she can wreck Sanchez Aluminum’s harvesters so he could buy the company. Although just a
smuggler, not a saboteur, Jazz agrees.

Though complex engineering and a great deal of creativity, Jazz manages to wreck three of the four, not enough to fulfill the contract but enough to get Sanchez’s mob owners to kill Trond and send an assassin after her. So Jazz has to figure out what is really going on, survive being chased by both an assassin and the moon’s only cop, and perform an even bigger act of sabotage, one that risks killing everyone on the moon.

Weir has thought a lot about the conditions of working-class people on the moon. If there are to be tourists and engineers building things requiring zero gravity, there will have to be cleaning and porting. Jazz is so poor that she lives in a “capsule domicile,” about the size of a coffin, eats “gunk” made of algae, and dreams of being rich enough to have her own condo with its own bathroom and shower. Jazz is an interesting character. Everyone keeps telling her that she has wasted her potential. Her pen pal even writes, “I would give anything to be as smart as you. But I’m not. That’s okay. I work hard instead, and you’re lazy as hell.” Even Jazz recognizes this failing. “…there’s no one I hate more than teenage Jazz Bashara. That stupid bitch made every bad decision a stupid bitch could make. She’s responsible for where I am today.” Still, she does have ethics. She won’t break a deal. When she lies to the head of security, he offers her money to tell the truth, knowing “You’ll lie all day if we’re just talking. But if I pay for the truth, that makes it a business deal. And a Bashara never reneges on a deal.” She also is good in a crisis and better at making true friends than she realizes.

Ultimately, Artemis is not up to the standards of The Martian. The author is a bit too heavy-handed with
the idea that Jazz is a mixed-up failure and sometimes allows the technical details to slow the plot. But it
is good enough to show that The Martian was not a fluke. I look forward to Weir’s next book.

Nowhere near as good as The Martian (as if anyone would say it was), but Weir is a ton of fun. He's definitely a writer to watch, and I look forward to what he will put out next!

Wasn't as enganging or entertaining as THE MARTIAN, so was a disappointment. Didn't catch my attention, and didn't warrent a full read.

I will not be writing a full review on this one, simply because it wasnt worth the work.

This was a fun follow up of Weirs. I actually think I enjoyed this book over his previous writing. I wonder what kind of adventure in outer space he will take us in next time.

I find it a bit fascinating all these people who said they loved The Martian and hate Artemis. To me, both are equally good.

What I think happened is that The Martian is sci fi that can be read by people who don't read sci fi. It may be Mars, but it reads a lot like a "man stranded on desert island" book, which we can all understand. Artemis, on the other hand, is set in a much more full-fleshed sci fi world.

Either way, recommended! Just not for people who say they never read sci fi.