“Artemis” Andy Weir #BookReview

The bestselling author of The Martian returns with an irresistible new near-future thriller—a heist story set on the moon.

Jasmine Bashara never signed up to be a hero. She just wanted to get rich. 
 
Not crazy, eccentric-billionaire rich, like many of the visitors to her hometown of Artemis, humanity’s first and only lunar colony. Just rich enough to move out of her coffin-sized apartment and eat something better than flavored algae. Rich enough to pay off a debt she’s owed for a long time.

 
So when a chance at a huge score finally comes her way, Jazz can’t say no. Sure, it requires her to graduate from small-time smuggler to full-on criminal mastermind. And it calls for a particular combination of cunning, technical skills, and large explosions—not to mention sheer brazen swagger. But Jazz has never run into a challenge her intellect can’t handle, and she figures she’s got the ‘swagger’ part down. 
 
The trouble is, engineering the perfect crime is just the start of Jazz’s problems. Because her little heist is about to land her in the middle of a conspiracy for control of Artemis itself. 
 
Trapped between competing forces, pursued by a killer and the law alike, even Jazz has to admit she’s in way over her head. She’ll have to hatch a truly spectacular scheme to have a chance at staying alive and saving her city. 
 
Jazz is no hero, but she is a very good criminal. 
 
That’ll have to do.

Andy Weir has delivered yet another mind blowingly awesome book! Weir has once again showcased his talent with building complex characters that sink their hooks in you right from page one. Weir is now one of my top 5 favorite authors. “The Martian” was amazing but I wanted to wait and see if Weir was going to be one of those “one hit wonder” authors who vaporize after their one best selling world rocking book never to write again. The world can let it’s guard down because Weir is back and boy does he deliver.

Artemis is a series of “bubbles” that form a city on the moon. Just like “The Martian”, Weir will not disappoint your curiosity regarding the nitty gritty details. Weir goes into so much detail regarding how the city not only came to be but will continue to evolve that someone needs to hire him at NASA. This guy knows what he’s doing. Someone get him on this. I bet Weir would have us living on the moon in just a couple of years. Listen here internet, I know that one of you reading this knows someone somewhere who can make this whole living on the moon thing happen. I reaaaaaaaaalllllyyyy want to live on the moon or at least visit the dang thing so get on this. 

“Artemis” is so packed with detail that I read it twice before deciding to write a review. There is so much going on that it’s easy to miss some of the deeper aspects to the story the first go round so I’m glad I reread it. Weir throws down some hard truths in “Artemis” regarding the reality of crime in the business world as well as the reality of capitalism. We see some corrupt officials make some questionable choices but before you condemn them for it I want you to see what Weir is trying to show you. Rarely will any choice a person makes be either good or bad. Especially when those choices are shaped by the system they have to be made in. Weir does a great job of reminding his readers that a system one has to live in has a huge impact on how they move within it. 

Weir’s choice of Jazz as a main character was a stroke of genius. His whole cast of characters and their realistic representation of humanities diverse spectrum brings that level of authenticity to his writing that has catapulted him to literary stardom. Weir will go down in history as one of the absolute best authors of Sci-fi. Let’s hope that if a movie is made based on “Artemis” it hits the mark as well as “The Martian” did. Anything less is a disservice to such an amazing story.

In “Artemis”, we are also introduced to some judicial ethics that, if not carefully considered and worked out now, will plague us as we’ve already experienced with the explosion of tech and our judicial systems sluggish pace in keeping up. Is it ethical to deport someone to a planet they haven’t been on since they were a young child knowing that it will cause them severe health issues? Is it ethical to deport someone to a country they know nothing of since they didn’t grow up there? What constitutes a persons citizenship? As humanity becomes ever more connected is it ethical to continue to divide us into countries? How we move forward with these issues now and later will have a huge effect on our momentum technologically. 

I loved “Artemis” and consider myself a devoted fan of Andy Weir’s work. I look forward to what he delivers in the future.

I’m giving “Artemis” 5 stars.

ANDY WEIR built a two-decade career as a software engineer until the success of his first published novel, The Martian, allowed him to live out his dream of writing full-time. 

He is a lifelong space nerd and a devoted hobbyist of such subjects as relativistic physics, orbital mechanics, and the history of manned spaceflight. He also mixes a mean cocktail. 

He lives in California.

 

The Technical Data:

Title: Artemis | Author(s): Andy Weir |Publisher:  Crown; First Edition / Publication Date: 11-14-2017 |Pages: 320 (hardcover) | ISBN:  978-0553448122 | Genre(s): Scifi/ Fantasy  |Language: English | Rating: 5 out of 5 |  Date Read: March 2018 |Source: Copy from personal collection

 Allie has been reviewing both self-published and traditionally published books for five years. She is the founder of AlliesOpinions and has been an advocate for authors on multiple platforms. AlliesOpinions provides authors with a plethora of services in their quest to literary success. Allie resides in Oklahoma with her family. She is an active outdoors woman and home schools her two children.

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