If you liked The Martian you will be thrilled that Andy Weir has written another science fiction book. In Artemis, the time period is in the future--but not too distant a future-- where the moon has been colonized and there's an actual city (named Artemis) where people live and people visit. The heroine of the book is Jazz Bashara, in her twenties and one of the 'little people' who work on the moon. In fact she's a porter, basically a delivery girl, a pretty low level job. That really doesn't earn her enough to live so she has a little smuggling sideline to bring in more money. It's the sideline job which gets her into trouble as she accepts a job from one of her regular clients to create some major havoc.
Like his previous book, Weir throws in a fair amount of science explanation: how things work, how things are different in space and how many things can kill you in that environment. Some of the explanations can be somewhat intense. As with all good fiction you can pore over these parts or you can skim quickly to get the gist and onto the story which keeps you reading. Jazz is an interesting character, a brilliant woman who won't accept her brilliance. She seems to have spent most of her life 'not living up to her potential', a complaint of her teachers and father. Luckily when she's not worrying about what others think she is a major problem solver and she certainly needs that trait in this book. This is a great read!

A fun caper novel, set on the moon, with a strong female lead? I'll take that any day! Add Andy Weir's somewhat sardonic sense of humor to the strong female lead's inner dialogue and we've got a winner! Very fun read!

Like so many readers I loved The Martian by Andy Weir. I love the humor, the ingenuity and the suspense of the chronicle of astronaut Mark Watney as he rises to the challenge of survival on Mars in the not-so-distant future. In Artemis Weir goes a little further afield to follow the escapades of Jazz Bashara, criminal, rebel, genius and underachiever. The story takes place on the Moon where Jazz works as a lowly porter and daring smuggler. The setting is sometime in the future when colonies have created a city under domes. The majority of the plot involves Jazz and her associates sabotaging an industrial plant for money and to break the control of a corrupt corporation.. The story had its moments but included too many pages of explanation of chemistry and engineering. Where in The Martian the science was artfully included to advance the story, in this case the story was bogged down by too many dry lectures. The other weakness of the story was the character of Jazz, a confrontational and reckless young woman who was often the cause of her own misfortune. She was certainly not as appealing as Mark.
My main complaint was the contrast in theme of the two stories. Throughout The Martian I was rooting for Mark to prevail. In Artemis I was just not as deeply invested in Jazz. She was just not that sympathetic a character.
For science fiction fans the theme is a common one--the individual against the soulless corporation. I'm sure it will be very popular. I would just have liked Jazz to be a little more likable.

This was fine. I liked the later part of the book more than the beginning - I enjoyed the Ocean's 11-y heist vibe. I'm not a scientist, but as with The Martian, the science is well integrated. Hard sci-fi fans will dig this. It read like the first book in a series in a good way - I can see people wanting to read more adventures in the life of Jazz Bashara, moon smuggler.

Here's what didn't work as well for me: I don't really know how to explain this, but I didn't buy Jazz as a woman. Plenty of male writers can write believable female characters, but I don't know if Weir is one. The romantic subplot also didn't work for me. Those two characters had no chemistry!

Let's pretend for a moment that Weir didn't write The Martian. Comparing any book against that juggernaut would result in disappointment. That being said, Artemis is a fabulous story. The first half of the novel felt like a lot of set up, having to explain how the community on the moon works, what the culture is, who the main characters are. I have to say that I didn't particularly care for Jazz in the beginning. She is gruff, prickly and self-destructive. Understanding her motivations and her backstory helped to balance this, but I didn't immediately click with her.
The second half of the book clipped along at a great pace. I found myself invested in the characters, almost rushing through the chapters to find out what was going to happen. So imaginative, but realistic at the same time! Really worth the read, even if you can't help but compare it to The Martian. I am going to have to read this again, slowing it down so I can enjoy the ride all over again!

I really enjoyed this book. I don't think it's always easy for a male to write a female MC and there were a few instances where I thought that missed a little. But I thought this book was so fun. I liked Jazz and her cast of characters. Like The Martian my eyes would glaze over at the hard core science stuff. But I didn't mind it. This book reminded me of an old fashioned heist movie even though they weren't heisting anything! I highly recommend it.

I nearly bailed on this one-- but am glad I didn't.
Like many readers, I was blown away by THE MARTIAN. With such a huge breakout book, a second book has high expectations.

What this book isn't: like THE MARTIAN in theme or character
What this book is: a rouge-ish caper for the future of the moon

Jazz , our narrator, was born in Saudi Arabia, and her single father moved her to the moon colony Artemis at age six. Because of the reduced gravity, Jazz's prospects for ever living a safe life back on Earth are limited, but no fear-- she's made a life-- or multiple lives-- for herself on the moon. Not only is she a delivery girl, but also a smuggler with big ambitions, all while trying to get her permit to lead expeditions on the surface to rich tourists.

When offered a job with a fee she can't turn down, Jazz gets more attention than she'd like and that kind of attention comes with knives and death threats. A caper helps ensure not only Jazz's survival, but the future of a democratic moon colony, and her crew is up to the challenge-- almost.

The reason I nearly ditched the book early on was a "man writing woman" tone to Jazz's character. For instance, she describes how good she looks in an ensemble she's putting on as a disguise. Similarly, Jazz talks often about liking sex, or having it a lot, but never seems to have sexual attraction at all on the page. When it does happen, it feels forced. However, Jazz is entertaining to follow because of her wry sense of humor and distinct, if twisted, understanding of right and wrong.

Much of Weir's first book laid on the shoulders of the title "Martian," but the strengths in this book come in the ensemble cast of complicated, riotous personalities. Jazz's father is a favorite character in the book, as are her various personalities in power that she comes up against-- the policeman Rudy, the head of the tourist tour program, Bob, and former best friend, Dale.

Weir paints an interesting setting for this novel. Unlike THE MARTIAN, ARTEMIS focuses not one what is possible in the very near future, but what could be possible in the next fifty years. The characters live in interconnected bubbles with all the necessary components of life. Weir's books are "sciencey" sci-fi, but never so overly technical that the reader gets lost. 

Over all, the first fifty pages are a bit of a character study and the "love" plots of the book don't work well for me as a reader, but the rollicking plot and chemistry of the characters kept me hooked. As far as I'm concerned, a good follow-up book with room to grow for his third.

Jazz Bashara has always shied away from her potential, she is happy right smack dab in the middle thank you very much, this time though she is right smack dab in the middle of a heap of trouble! Andy Weir once again brings us a creative and motivated character who clears the hurdles he places in front of them with aplomb, this time on the harsh environs of the moon. Jazz is a porter with a side hustle in smuggling and in a town of 2000 folks (give or take) she's made herself the only game in town. So when a big deal comes to Artemis it goes through her fingers and this time she gets stuck like a Chinese finger-trap. There are murders and mobsters and moondust, oh my! All around this is a fun and exciting read.

3.5 Stars

Thanks to NetGalley for giving me an eARC! That tiny fact doesn't influence my review.

I haven't read The Martian, so I can't say how this stacks up against Weir's other book. But I was impressed with him. Artemis has a lot of super good things going for it. The worldbuilding, for one, is super impressive. I read that Weir was an engineer before getting into writing full-time, and his scientific knowledge shows. I don't know much about science, so technically, I can't say whether or not any of the technobabble in the book was true, but it sounded like it was. Weir's humor is amazing, too. There were several parts where I was busting out laughing. It's got no shortage on action, either, and Jazz was a character to root for.

This probably would have been a four-star book if not for a few things, two of which suddenly came in at the end and messed things up for me at the last second. The biggest thing -- and most common criticism I've come across in other reviews -- pertains to Jazz's voice. I love Jazz, but . . . well, you can tell it's Weir's first time writing a female protagonist. I could dismiss most of her dialogue, because each person is unique from each other, and I actually do know one or two women that talk a bit like her. But there are also just some SUPER awkward lines. I looked up a review of the book, and there was the line, "I giggled like a little girl. Hey, I'm a girl, so I'm allowed." At first I thought that was just a demonstration on the review's part, to show how ridiculous the voice sounded at times. But no. As I read on, I found out that was an actual line in the book. Honestly, for that, I'm almost blaming the editor more than I blame Weir. Because if I presented a line like that to my own writing buddies, they wouldn't have let that slide.

The other two things are related to the ending, so I'll put that under a spoiler since the book isn't out yet.

[My first thing is about the relationship between Jazz and Svobada. Throughout the entire book, the relationship, for me, read platonically until suddenly they're kissing at the end. That left me deeply confused. Looking back on it, Svobada did act weird around Jazz sometimes, so I'll admit that I missed the fact that he liked her. But even so, I did not sense any chemistry between them at all.

The second is the way Jazz got out of getting deported. It was just . . . it was too convoluted for me. It made sense, I guess, but I still feel like that could have been handled better. (hide spoiler)]

That said, though, it was still super fun! I flew through this book in a way I haven't been able fly through others, and this makes me want to try out the Martian someday.

Again, Andy Weir "sciences the sh*t out of it". Jazz is a street, er, tunnel-hustler with all sorts of little schemes to make money, even if she lives very frugally. I enjoyed meeting Jazz, even though she seemed both jaded and immature at the same time. The story-line really kept me reading, and I finished Artemis in one sitting. Another page-turner from Andy Weir.

Artemis by Andy Weir
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was great.

I admit to worrying that he wouldn't be able to keep up the quality from The Martian, and this is definitely a very different kind of tale from that, being half a heist novel but otherwise just a great adventure, but he pulls it off. Better than pulling it off, even. I love his characters and the feel of the moon city, Artemis, is vital and detailed.

But you know what the best part is?

I was thoroughly entertained during the entire read. The pacing is great, the reveals believable, the twists unexpected, and the action, delightful. I really couldn't ask for more when it comes to fun science fiction.

The moon is a great place to have an adventure. There's always the threat of being deported to Earth, the expensive living arrangements, and the law if you're a smuggler, which Jazz is, but there's always suit and engineering and environmental problems to worry about, too. And never forget greed and cupidity and the need to balance being a good person against a ton of intrigue. That's what we've got going on, here, and it's a real treat every step of the way.

No spoilers, but I can easily say that I had a great time reading it from the first to the last page. Nothing could have pleased me more. The read is solid as hell.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!

A little slow at the beginning, but picked up at the end. I wish there could have been a bit less straight explaining how the Artemis system was set up, but I understand the necessity.

The story was great. The main character was annoying more than not, but she's supposed to be. It was certainly fun trying to determine what she would screw up next.

Overall it was a fun ride, would definitely recommend to sci-fi fans.

Of course, any follow-up to The Martian by Andy Weir is going to be popular; I know I was eagerly looking forward to it. There were absolutely moments in the book where I felt the excitement and adventure of his first release. At heart, Artemis is a heist story set on the Moon, specifically the first settled city. This gives ample opportunity to establish the logistics of living in a new world. As with Weir's first book, I appreciated the brief tangents into scientific description, although sometimes the digressions seemed a bit forced. I heard an author discussion where Weir was concerned with getting the voice of his character right. For the most part, I do think he did a good job at that, but again, there were times when the main character seemed unreal. Overall, I like Artemis, though I did not fly through it like I did with The Martian. Anyone who likes their adventure or crime touched with sci-fi should enjoy this one as well.

This book made me angry. I was looking forward to reading a science-fiction novel with a strong, female heroine and I was incredibly disappointed.. The main character/narrator is a 26-year-old female who spoke and acted like a 15-yr-old boy. I felt the whole thing was poorly written and was crude in places just for the sake of being crude. There are ways to portray a rebellious spirit without using "trashy" words and actions.
I am no means a prude, but I am quite afraid to meet a real woman who speaks and acts like this character did and the author writes that he had several women help him with the authenticity of his female narrator's voice. The story itself was ok and it's sure to be a best-seller based on the success of the Martian. I will buy it for my library, but I will not personally recommend it.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
26 year olf Jazz Bashara has lived on the moon since she was 6 years old. She is currently living in the poverty stricken section of Artemis and struggling to make rent with her crappy porter job. She has an illegal smuggling business for extra money but even so its still no enough to reach her goals. She is offered and illegal job of a lifetime by a long time client, and although it becomes clear the heist will be super risky the payout is huge and its an offer she cannot refuse. However, once a plan is set in motion she realizes its more more complex than was let on. She has to risk her life to save the place she calls home and try not to get caught and deported back to earth.

The premise alone made this a wild ride; A heist on the moon!
Andy Weird has such a cool writing style and is a great story teller. I am impressed at his knowledge of science and chemistry. The main character was portrayed to have a very high IQ and there was a lot of technical details thrown in throughout the plot which must have taken a bit of research on the authors end. He did great and everything was fully believabl. Andy knows his shit!

The one thing that sort of bugged me was the main characters attitude. She was super rough around the edges and full of snarky comments and a snide attitude. She was very unlikeable. Normally I can't stand to finish books with characters like this. Their annoying banter and constant bickering with everyone and anyone is immature and kinda unnatural but I was able to overlook it because I was more focused on where the plot line. I needed to know what the hell was going on and if she was going to be able to pull off the impossible and if so how!

Overall I really enjoyed reading Artemis and feel if you can get past the bitchy main character its a great read. 3.5/5 Would recommend giving it a shot.

Jazz is an irreverent, confident and intriguingly vulnerable criminal mastermind–in other words, the exact heroine the sci-fi genre needs and a worthy successor to The Martian’s Mark Watney.

If you took the diversity and heist-y goodness of Six of Crows and set it on the moon, you’d have a good approximation of Artemis.

Summary:

This is the new novel from the author of The Martian.

Jazz is a twenty-something native of the moon colony, Artemis, down on her luck but nevertheless full of pithy remarks and very real aspirations to join the EVA guild and walk on the moon. She sleeps in a “coffin”, the bed-sized low income excuse for an apartment and works as a porter…with a little smuggling on the side.

Her criminal activities quickly get her wrapped up in a heist gone wrong and a fast unraveling conspiracy that threatens the entire colony. Relying on her own wit and skill she attempts to right her mistakes and save her home.

The Short:

I loved:

-the main character, her wit and confidence, competence, vulnerability and development

-the other characters and how their relationships to Jazz were slowly unveiled and expanded upon meaningfully

-the humor

-the realistic yet not pedantic science

-the diversity, almost none of the characters, businesses or nations involved were American or even white, there was a gay character and a Muslim character who didn’t face any forms of persecution in this futuristic society.

I didn’t love:

-the predictable ending and resolution of the minor plot lines

-the ending, abrupt and somewhat unsatisfying

-the lack of greater meaning and depth

The Long:

This book is diverse, character driven, and feels realistically scientific without being dry. As expected by fans of The Martian, Weir’s humor is on point, always finding a way in when the plot gets too heavy. The story isn’t centered by a romantic subplot but rather by several smaller interpersonal subplots, which is also refreshing.

Jazz’s personality is the driving engine of this book, and honestly the thing that kept me interested. She was sexually confident, fond of expletives and though incredibly capable, not academic. Just a refreshing character overall. Sci-fi can too easily turn dry and factual, but Jazz’s wit never failed to entertain. The rest of the cast was just as interesting and their interplay was especially rewarding.

Though I’m not usually a fan of correspondence as a plot device, Jazz and Kelvin’s interactions were crucial and intriguing aspects of the story. I was equally engrossed with her relationship drama. Svodoba was particularly adorable and I’d love to see how her relationships with Kelvin and Dale progress. Her father was also a great character and I loved that Weir carefully and thoughtfully included Islam and Saudi culture in his exploration of the character and society.

I did feel Jazz was a little emotional immature for a twenty six year old and often forgot I wasn’t reading about a teenager. Despite this, I think her character was very well rounded. Her Saudi heritage was not just performative but relevant to plot, history and development through her interactions with her estranged father. I especially enjoyed seeing a parental figure utilized as they’re all too frequently cast as absent or passive.

I also thoroughly enjoyed Weir’s deft ability to introduce and expand an entire complex future society without resorting to long winded descriptions. He gives the reader tidbits of information about Jazz’s past in keeping with her private nature and just enough world-building to keep the reader grounded and interested, as well as consistently surprised, truly the master of show-don’t-tell.

In terms of plot, those familiar with The Martian will recognize the structure of Artemis. A seemingly insurmountable problem is attacked by an extremely capable protagonist who faces and overcomes smaller challenges with ingenuity. As a reader, you know the challenge will be overcome, but the reward comes from Weir’s ability to break down thought processes and interesting facts of problem solving.

Having said that, I did feel the stakes were not high enough to keep me from skimming sometimes. I always knew the challenge of the moment would work out and sometimes lost interest in the path to that end. I also felt the ending was quite abrupt, though perhaps a sequel is in the works that explains the many loose ends. Artemis lacked the emotional payoff I felt from The Martian, the sense of wonder and human bonding, but again I sensed that was a function of something else to come. I kept waiting for the story to gain depth or present a greater idea that would place it in a larger context, but if it existed, it went over my head.

I would highly recommend this book to those looking for a softer side of sci-fi, something that feels smart and detailed but not heavy and wordy. There’s a lot of room for this world to grow, and I hope to see more in the future.



Stories with similar vibes: The Martian-Weir(obviously), Violet Eyes series-Luiken, Xenon: Girl of the Future (tv movie series), Six of Crows-Bardugo, Iced-Moning



Disclaimer: I received Artemis as a free eBook through NetGalley.

I'm a sucker for a heist story, and this one can stand toe to toe with some of my favorites. Snarky heroine? Check. Insurmountable odds? Check. Eclectic group with little in common? Check. And because its Andy Weir, throw in an amazing amount of relatable and understandable science facts and terminology (something I wasn't sure was possible). High adventure, quick pace, full of heart -- enjoyed immensely.

Moon colony! About durn time that the writers started writing about colonizing the moon!! Artemis lived up to my expectations! Very original, well researched, and a fast, snappy read! Andy Weir scienced the hell outta 'Artemis'!! The main character.. eighteen year old girl.. Jazz.. has lived on the moon since she was six years old. All she's trying to do.. is make a dishonest buck.. that won't hurt to many folks.. so she can have a place to sleep that's larger than a coffin. Who can blame her?

Highly recommend Artemis to anyone who loves a good story.. and has a vision of mankind living beyond this blue marble!

I finished this over a week ago, so I've had plenty of time to reflect. I was concerned that my initial impressions were too colored by my expectations but upon reflection, 1) my opinions are valid, and 2) it is reasonable to compare an author's work to previous work by the same author.

This is not as good as The Martian, but it is still a good book. The main thing I didn't super love was the main character / 's voice. The attitude and snarkiness are too similar to Watney's. My guess is that this character was made female to try to add differences between the two characters, but that didn't change the character in any meaningful way. A more unique character would have made a better read.

Although samey, the character did come off as mostly authentic, except in one part: what some kind beta reader should have told Weir is that women don't call each other "bitch." It's too fraught with mansplaining and sexism. I checked in with a coworker, and neither of us knows of any other women who throw this around in conversation. It made her less realistic. But maybe we're a weird subset of professional women.

Still a fun and exciting read; looking forward to more from this author. 4 stars.

If you loved The Martian, as I did, you have been waiting for Andy Weir's next book. No one else does exactly his sassy, Capra-esque, hard science thing. I wanted more of The Martian, but I'll also admit that I didn't have a lot of hope that I would get much more than a rehash of the same thing that worked so well the first time. I was eager, but I can't say that I was optimistic.

But I was wrong! Artemis was so much fun, and I won't say it didn't have a lot in common with his breakout book, but it's definitely not treading the same ground. If I say to you, "imagine Andy Weir wrote a heist novel on the moon," you will be able to picture Artemis. If what you picture sounds like fun, well, you're into a treat, my friend.

Jazz Bashara lives in a closet on the moon. Most people do--square footage is expensive. But her life is going all right--she's got her little private bunk, her courier job, her local watering hole. She's even got a solid side gig (well, main gig, really) as a smuggler--Artemis, the moon's only city, doesn't have a lot of rules, but the ones it does have are somewhat strict about things like cigars.

Jazz is a rough-around-the-edges underachiever, a supergenius (natch) who never finished school because of a series of skeevy boyfriends and a streak of sheer stubbornness. She's mostly estranged from her father and she's pissed at a lot of people--most of the characters we meet in the first quarter of the book are people she's annoyed with for one reason or another.

When an opportunity to make a fortune for one day of (illegal) work falls into her lap, she jumps on it and the caper is on. She needs to sabotage some equipment that's outside Artemis's protective bubble. Here begins the science, as Andy Weir does what he does best, figuring out just what the failsafes and equipment in a place like Artemis might look like, and how a supergenius might sabotage them. Of course, things don't go smoothly (what heist does?) and Jazz finds friends and allies along the way as she heads in the direction of saving the day.

I loved that there was a big cast of characters and that the relationships in Jazz's life were a big part of the book. I wasn't really sure Weir could pull it off, but it's heartwarming. Admittedly, it's not high-level emotional arc or characterization going on here, and the prose is the complete opposite of purple (green prose? is that a thing?). But I liked Jazz the way I liked Mark Watney, and I loved that I got to see her argue and grouch at people, ask for favors and figure things out and trick people and be tricked.

Lately I've been pretty careful with male authors writing female characters, but I haven't got much fault to find here--mostly because there isn't a lot of sex or gender here at all. I mean, Jazz is a woman, and she talks about how good-looking some men are (which is kind of stilted but not distracting), but mostly, Jazz is just a person, and she's convincing as such. She's foul-mouthed and irritable and stubborn as hell, which serves her well--Weir is not trying to write "woman," but rather lets her be who she is.

I loved this book. It was so much fun. There were big laughs and low-gravity fight scenes and complicated science explanations and life-or-death ticking clocks. It's not for everyone, but if you liked The Martian, you want to read this.

(I got a copy of this book for free from Netgalley for an honest review.)