Book Review: Artemis by Andy Weir

4/12/2019

You'd think life on the Moon would be a blast... You thought wrong.

Jasmine "Jazz" Bashara is estranged from her father, regularly in trouble with law enforcement, and a regular at the local watering hole. Such is the life of the best smuggler in town.

A series of aluminum and rock domes named for famous American astronauts, Artemis is the biggest, and only city, on Earth's moon. Jazz has a source back on Earth, allowing her the best access to contraband and hard-to-get items. When a billionaire client recruits Jazz to help him take over production of a key utility plant, she takes the money and runs into more trouble than she's ever faced. With people trying to either kiss, capture, or kill her, she must use all her wits and a few friends to stay out of jail and on the moon.

What I liked:

Andy Weir creates another engaging tale with hard science and realistic scenarios. This heist story in space takes the reader on a high-pressure adventure in low-gravity. It's "The Italian Job" meets "Outlander." I felt the characters were well-developed. Jazz is likable and sympathetic in that "how much trouble can this girl who's too smart for her own good get into?"

What I didn't like:

As with The Martian, I didn't care for the profanity. Again, as with The Martian, I can understand it lends to realism for this story. It's basically a blue-collar world up there sprinkled with vacationing elites.

Overall:

I enjoyed Weir's attention to detail with all the hard science. I could easily slip into the descriptions and see into Jazz's world. Another excellent read by a talented writer.