Follow up novel to a popular favourite - the same sense of humour and science-heavy thrill ride in space

The Martian stands out as one of my favourite reads in recent years, with one of the biggest literary crushes I've ever formed. Excitement, space, humour - it all worked, and Weir knows those elements are what helped made his debut so instantly popular.

Artemis takes a rather different premise, but pushes a few similar buttons to bring us a new heroine who hits those same buttons. Jazz Bashera may not be a scientist (she's a porter) but she talks to us in the same chatty and wryly funny style.

Artemis is the moon colony that is home to 20-something Jazz and several hundred other colonists. There is a thriving tourist industry that residents support, most of them living in conditions far below those of the rich visitors. Jazz benefits from the regular shuttles from Earth, smuggling in contraband to earn some much-needed money.

Jazz's decision to take on a rather high-profile crime, for a huge fee, sends the plot down a thrilling slide of conspiracies, danger and wise-cracking between the chases.

I felt the first few scenes were channeling Rob Boffard's Tracer in some part, but it did have the feel of Weir's first, of my lovely Mark Watney. Jazz is wonderful - she's not perfect, she's sexy and smart and an underachiever. She's the heart of the book, just as Mark was, but a few characters get to muscle in and stamp their mark as well, I loved her moral dad and the scientific friend with a crush on Jazz.

This kept me reading pages, caught up in the colony world despite understanding about as much of the science as I did in The Martian. It doesn't matter though, the story underneath it all is a fast-paced adventure with a lot of laughs.

If you liked his first, you'll not be disappointed. I'd love to see these characters cast for the screen, an other intelligent sci-fi film would be very welcome.

With thanks to Netgalley for the advance reading copy.

Andy Weir is one of my favorite authors, I adore the way he incorporates humor into his writing. While sadly, I didn't connect with Jazz as much as I wanted, I still enjoyed this book a great deal, and I appreciated the fun cast of characters it had to offer. I see myself reaching for this book again in the future, I love the way the science is explained, and the pacing was to my taste.
I know everyone is comparing this book to The Martian, and let's be honest The Martian is a tough act to follow. Artemis offers something interesting, and I found it really entertaining.

An absolutely brilliant heist story set on the moon. Full of detail and, like The Martian, a lot of science but it’s a fascinating and fun read with a great cast of characters and a lot of action.

So it’s safe to say that I have a rather complicated relationship with sci fi. I always say that I don’t really like it but there’s a surprising number of books in the genre that make my all time favorites list. When it works best for me I think is when it’s light on the science and heavy on the fiction. Long winded descriptions of how things work and why are a big turn off, I honestly don’t care.

This wariness of books heavy with science is in fact the reason I have never read The Martian. I heard there was a lot of descriptions and decided to stick with the movie (which I absolutely love btw). However, having now braved Artemis I think I may need to reconsider.

Very much like The Martian, Artemis is heavy on science, however this time rather than one astronaut trying to survive alone on Mars we have a whole colony living everyday life on the moon. All of them completely dependent on a myriad of systems that let them breathe, eat, drink, move around and keep them safe from any number of threats. It’s absolutely fascinating just how complicated these systems are and how everyday things are just a little bit different in such an environment. There is a lot of description in this but I absolutely loved it.

I have no idea how much is accurate or “real” science but it feels incredibly real and detailed and so well thought out. It’s never too overwhelming though and for someone like me it’s not too heavy and works around the story which is much more heist like in nature. Think Ocean’s Eleven on the moon.

Jazz is a porter and smuggler on Artemis and desperate to raise a very specific sum of money so when she’s offered a less than legal, highly risky job with a potentially huge reward she can’t resist. It all goes wrong however and she ends up on the bad side of some very dangerous people and the law. She’s forced to use her smarts and call in every favor she’s owed from her friends to pull off one more job which just might get her out of trouble or possibly even further in.

I have a feeling that Jazz will not be quite as popular as Mark Watney. She’s abrasive, has dubious ethics and despite being highly intelligent (possibly genius) she’s always looking for the highest reward for minimal effort. She keeps everyone at arms length, reader included, but despite some initial reservations she did grow on me. I loved her rebellious attitude and smart mouth and some of her comebacks really made me laugh. She’s a risk taker and is completely unpredictable which always makes for good reading.

The supporting cast of characters also make for great reading. Some are a little bit stereotyped in places but there’s something very likable about them and I loved the way they bounced off each other. The moments where they’re bantering were probably my favorite parts of the whole book.

The story is a little complicated in places (and not only because of the science) but it’s pretty fast paced and there’s plenty of action. There is the odd moment where it slows down but it did hold my attention throughout and it’s incredibly impressive the amount of detail and work that has clearly gone into it.

Overall, I’m really glad I gave this a go and it’s definitely one I’d recommend if you like a clever heist story.

Artemis by Andy Weir

Life isn’t so easy for the poor in Artemis – the Moon’s one city. While the rich inhabitants and the excited tourists enjoy a pleasuredome of delights and privilege (complete with organised tours of the Apollo XI landing site), those who serve them in some way are lucky if they live in a room large enough to stand up in. Jazz Bashara, who’s lived on the Moon since she was six years old, doesn’t. She scrapes a living as a porter, delivering items from the cargo and tourist ships that regularly arrive from Earth, and supplementing that income with a good old-fashioned activity – smuggling.

Jazz has her dreams and to fulfil them she needs lots of ‘slugs’ (or money). One day one of her reliable wealthy clients offers Jazz the job of a lifetime. It goes beyond smuggling. It could get her into serious trouble, perhaps even deported to her family’s original home in Saudi Arabia, but the money sings. Jazz can’t say no. It’s not long before she wishes she had.

Artemis is the highly anticipated second novel by Andy Weir, author of The Martian. The wonderful and original The Martian is a very hard act to follow and the author has his work cut out. In some ways he pulls it off – the world building is fantastic. Just as he had made us experience the hostile surface of Mars, now we see what life could be like perched on the Moon’s surface in enclosed bubble domed cities, underground, in spacesuits, in tunnels and in its bars. It’s a claustrophobic and dangerous world (Moon dust can slowly kill) but it’s also exotic and beautiful – and it has a strong pride in its lunar history.

It isn’t just the landscape and environment that are visualised so powerfully – the society is also made real, complex and intimidating. Politics, economics, greed, science, innovation and inequality all play their part in shaping life in Artemis. While there isn’t much violence, there’s a sense that it may only be a matter of time. Once the shine has worn off.

Jazz is surrounded by a host of interesting characters, all with their own conflicts, hidden feelings and motivations, and many, but by no means all, are drawn towards Jazz. I really enjoyed some of these characters and if anything I wished we learned more about them. Jazz, however, I didn’t get along with so well. She’s supposed to be 26 years old but you wouldn’t know it unless you were told. She appeared to me as a stereotype of how a man might think a teenage girl might think and behave. This sounds harsh but I was really disappointed in her character and in the way she was written. Fortunately, the others around her gave me more to like.

My biggest issue with Artemis, though, is with its dialogue. At times I literally cringed at the juvenile squirmy jokes which are constant. The long-running joke about testing a condom wears thin (in a manner of speaking) as well. There’s a lot of talk about sex while nobody actually has it. Perhaps it’s to remind us that these young people are adults instead of the teens you’d assume they are. None of this dialogue seems realistic for a 26-year-old woman. A few characters – such as the police officer Rudy – speak with maturity but when they do they sound like parents chiding a child.

It’s difficult not to compare Artemis with The Martian, especially as I loved The Martian so much. As I say, there are aspects of Artemis that I really enjoyed, particularly with the visualisation of its setting and the composition of its society and rules, but, as a whole, I was disappointed by Artemis not least because I had such high and possibly unrealistic hopes. Those hopes, though, will carry me on to his next novel. I must say, though, that the cover of Artemis is spectacular!

Other review
The Martian

I had never read anything by Andy Weir before, even though I had read/ heard several things about The Martian, both the book and the movie. And ever since a few weeks ago, I started to see everyone excited about Artemis. When I checked it out on NetGalley, it seemed promising, and I definitely don’t regret my decision!

My favourite thing about this whole book has to be the main character, Jazz. A lot of people seem to not appreciate her, which I can understand – in fact, she gets in all types of trouble, she makes doubtful choices and you’re likely to get a sassy comeback if you talk to her. And her kind of jokes doesn’t suit everybody. But it did suit me. I found Jazz a determined, independent and insanely smart character. She puts on a tough girl act all the time but, in reality, she really just wants to protect herself by keeping it to herself. It was quite the journey to see her softening around other people. I could have gone without a trait from Jazz’s personality, though: well, it’ s not really a trait, but I think you’ll get what I mean. There were some moments, and I have a particular scene in mind, when the dialogues would turn too cringy. The particular line I’m thinking about was definitely unnecessary!

The rest of the characters didn’t make it look like they were just filling up space, which I also liked. They all added something to Jazz’s story and the plot, and they were all very different, both in personality and background. And most of them had a humour similar to Jazz’s, which only made it all more hilarious! I especially liked her Dad, her penpal buddy Kelvin and Svoboda.

When it comes to the actual writing, I was pleasantly surprised. Even though this story is set in a quick pace, the entire book made me feel that Jazz and I were the best of friends and she was telling me a story, thanks to expressions similar to “if you don’t know what it is, I’ll explain it …” and the like. And this brings me to my next topic: science, which is obviously a big part of the plot. And while I do think science is really interesting, I do not have the brains to work it out by myself. And so the detailed explanations were deeply appreciated. At the same time, sometimes they were just toooooo long and I couldn’t bother myself to read it all. It was hard coming to a middle term on the subject.

Well after thoroughly enjoying The Martian I was looking forward to reading this and hoping it would be as enjoyable. While it didn’t live up to The Martian it was still an enjoyable read all the same.

Our main character here is Jazz Bashara, a woman in her early 20s who has lived in Artemis, a city of approx 2000 inhabitants on the moon since she was 6 years old.
Originally from Saudi Arabia, she’s the daughter of a master welder, a well respected and needed profession on the moon.
Although extremely bright and intelligent and having learnt the trade from her father, Jazz as she grew up became a bit of a rebel and didn’t apply herself as her father would have liked. Having had her final argument with him Jazz now lives on her own in a small pod which basically just holds a bed and has become the resident smuggler in Artemis.

Through her smuggling activities she gets involved in a complicated plot to bring down one of the major manufacturing plants on the moon which is run from earth by “the mob”. It promises a huge pay day for her but is extremely risky and if she gets it wrong she could destroy Artemis forever.

That’s just the gist of the story and obviously you’ll have to read the book to get the full story.
It’s a very and enjoyable read for the most part, told mostly through the eyes of Jazz. We get the workings of Artemis explained to us in detail, how it came to be, how it works, what it’s like to live there etc.
There’s a a lot of technical and scientific stuff throughout the book as there was in The Martian. Where I felt it worked perfectly in The Martian as a tool to explain everything as our solitary character tried to figure things out, here it feels a little heavy handed and overbearing at times.
Jazz is a sarcastic one liner type of character. Her interactions with other characters are nice and snappy with many splattering of humor. This sort of narrative, which I personally enjoyed but could imagine irritating a lot of readers felt a little at odds with all the in depth technical stuff. Look of course the technical stuff is needed and it’s really interesting at times reading about how things had to be done when dealing with the moons gravity etc and all the technical safety aspects of the city of Artemis but I felt the balance was skewed with too many times the technical and scientific gone into in too much detail. It just hampered the flow of the story and really how much do we need to know about the technicalities of welding to understand the safety consequences?

Having said all that the story overall is really enjoyable. Artemis is a fascinating city and the characters in Jazzs world are interesting for the most part. The book does zip along when not bogged down with over elaborate technical explanations. I fairly flew through it.

Probably not quite four stars but definitely better than three so..yeah 3.5 stars from me rounded up to four as three wouldn’t be representative of my enjoyment of the book.

If you enjoyed The Martian you will probably enjoy this. As a stand alone I’m sure you’ll enjoy it too. A mixture of sci fi and politics, it’s a slightly flawed book but one nonetheless that I really enjoyed reading.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Del Ray publishing and Andy Weir for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I haven't been reading Sci Fi for long and I am so glad I ventured out of my comfort zone and usual genres and broadened my reading horizons.One thing I am discovering is that Sci Fi writers have fantastic imaginations ,sometimes they lose me in the technical details and at other times like with this book I wonder how they do it, .This book is set on the Moon , and it seems so realistic I feel like I've been there now, I loved the main character Jazz she was a bit of a naughty girl, and naughty girls are usually more fun, she was pretty clever and certainly underachieving in her job as a porter, and struggling to pay her way living in pretty appalling conditions, it reminded me of documentaries I have seen of people living in tiny spaces in Japan, and working all hours.Jazz being a naughty girl and some what off the grid in some of her ventures gets involved in some more interesting things than ferrying goods around and while I don't want to give the game away, I thought it was a great adventure and very entertaining.I loved it and again I am so glad I made the leap into this genre and would encourage other readers to venture out of their comfort zones and try this book.Thanks to the publishers and netgalley for an ARC .

4.5 but rounded up.
Firstly I want to mention that I haven't yet read The Martian. I am relatively new to this genre, just cutting my teeth really, so I have a way to go to get completely familiar and au fait with it. I am not 100% sure of the target audience for this book either as, to me, it reads a bit like a YA book. Could just be my take, could be due to the age of the main character, I don't know, I'm just putting that thought out there.
So, we have our heroine, Jazz, Living on the Moon for the most of her life with her father who she has somewhat of a strained relationship with. At the start of the book, she has moved out due to some of her past shenanigans. Anyway, she's a courier and also does a little bit of smuggling on the side to supplement her income. Well, she really wants to go up in the world and live in a nicer place and if she can't do that legitimately, well, no one really gets hurt by what she does... She has a total that she needs to achieve, two totals in fact, one for her own well being and the other to redress her past indiscretions. She's really not a bad person, just does a few bad things. Anyway, one day she is made an offer; in on a lucrative scheme. One that, on the face of things, won't really hurt anyone, well... not much... Thing is, when she accepted, she really didn't know what she was letting herself in for. Caught up in corruption and politics, things soon escalate and Jazz finds herself in a rather precarious predicament, a situation that could have devastating consequences not just for her, but for the whole of the moon.
I actually really enjoyed this book. Despite my being a bit green with the genre, I pretty much whizzed through it. The world was very well described, likewise the technology, and I had no problems following what was going on. I found the sciencey bits to be quite credible too, which I guess helped me get through them.
I think, above all, the characters is what really makes the book. Whilst I did spend a lot of my time changing my mind about how I felt about Jazz, she really did come good for me at the end. She is a bit more clever than the face she displays. She is also a lot nicer than she wants people to know but she has this hard shell about her, mostly due to her past. There are a few people she lets in, the obvious one being her pen-pal, correspondence between the two being inserted throughout the story. All that said though, she does spend the majority of the book being somewhat annoying! The other characters were well described and all played their parts very well too.
The story itself moved along at a fair lick. Pacing was good and well balanced throughout. High octane action packed scenes were followed by more gentle paced ones. Sadly, for reason i can not mention here (spoilers), I wasn't completely satisfied at the end, hence dropping half a star. It definitely kept my attention nicely throughout though, hence the rounding up of my rating!
Reading the other reviews of this book, opinion seems to be divided as to whether this is better or worse than The Martian. I really must bump it up my tbr so I can join in the debate!
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Very, very different from "The Martian" and I might actually have rated it higher if I hadn't kept comparing the two books at every turn. "The Martian" blew me away, "Artemis" was just a rather good book.

The premise of the book had me hooked from the very first page. I loved the thought of setting a book on the moon and not having space travel be the main premise, but rather just taken for granted. People lived on the moon and that was that. Unfortunately the suspense part of the story left me rather cold, and that's what brought it down to three stars. I would have preferred to read more about everyday life on the moon and less about Jazz' shenanigans.

In the end I liked the book, but it didn't become the instant favourite that "The Martian" did.

I have to admit, when I initially heard the premise for Artemis, I was nervous. Andy Weir’s debut worked because, despite being sci-fi, it felt like realism. Every step of the main character’s journey and struggles on a failed mission to Mars felt meticulously researched. Can the author pull off that same feel of authenticity in a new novel set in an entirely fictional city on the moon? Turns out, the answer is yes!

I loved Artemis. I loved the incredible world-building, the high-stakes heist and, most of all, the protagonist, Jazz. This wiley, feisty, street-smart character is a rebel with a heart; she seems to have split readers but I am firmly in camp Jazz. She’s got confidence and wit in bucket-loads and it was fantastic to read. I’m so glad the author opted for diversity here, with a Saudi Arabian woman from a Muslim family as the main character, for me it strengthened the novel as a whole.

Life on the moon was fascinating, and the city of Artemis worked so well because it felt grounded in reality. Jazz lives on the moon, but dreams of a better life, and as a known smuggler she’s presented with an opportunity she can’t refuse. There’s still the typical problems you’d find on earth; there’s a rich side and a poor side, a booming tourism economy and murky political history and Weir uses his flair with science to explain how and why life on the moon is feasible.

The strong science element we saw in The Martian is present again in this novel; in fact the entire ‘crime’ plot is grounded in science. But, like with his previous novel, it doesn’t matter if you’re a science phobe. The plot is intense and fast-moving and, despite having minimal interest in the economies behind the aluminium and oxygen industries on Artemis, I whizzed through this novel faster than I’ve read anything in quite a while.

Remember Mark Watney, with his duct tape and his Martian potatoes? He was a lot of fun, wasn't he? Now meet Jazz Bashara, an Arab woman living on the Moon. I must say, Andy Weir does go all the way with his characters.

I was a little nervous because I'm not so big on male authors having main female characters. Will the character feel realistic? Will she only be every man's fantasy woman? Let me tell you, it's not the case with Jazz. She feels real, she is flawed, and yet a good person. And she makes smuggling look cool. *shhh*

Also, there's diversity in Weir's book. We have Arabs, Europeans, Asians, straight people, gay people, young people, old people, you name it. There's something for everyone in Artemis.

And, we have mystery and action in this very entertaining book. I do love a good mystery mixed with action. Romance isn't a big deal. Jazz isn't mooning over a guy the whole novel (bravo, Mr. Weir!).

Then why did I take half a star? I'm really not sure, as I cannot put my finger on it. There is something missing. Maybe too little duct tape, maybe no potatoes. I don't know.

Nevertheless, I highly recommend you go and get a copy of Artemis as soon as it hits the shelves. You won't regret it.

Fast paced, high octane and highly entertaining - I absolutely love this novel and would like to recommend it to everyone.
Andy Weir has managed to exceed expectations with this second novel, and The Martian is a hard act to follow.
Set on the Moon in the not too distant future, Jazz is a smuggler with a conscience - she gets caught up in a plot to sabotage that nearly costs her her life, and the lives of everyone around her.

I always feel a little sorry for an author when their debut becomes such a runaway hit. The Martian was amazing, and I mean, MATT DAMON starred in the adaption. How do you beat that?

Have no fear, Andy Weir has pulled off yet another thrilling high-stakes space adventure. And while similar to The Martian in snarky banter and quick-and-casual physics lessons, this story is totally different and can hold its own.

The book is basically a heist plot, centered around a very well-written, well-rounded female character, Jasmine (Jazz). Weir's writing is so tight and well-paced. I was zooming though with all the action, but it's also filled with some really touching and heart-felt moments.

Weir created some great characters. Jazz is just fun. She's sassy, but smart on her feet. She also has a softer side and is working to redeem who she was in her past. She also has her own moral code and she's honest with herself. There were times that I could tell Jazz was written by a man, just because she did or said or thought things that women just... don't? Or would in a different way? But it was rare and didn't impact her character. The secondary characters are wonderful too and add so much to the story. I liked her relationship with Svoboda, her nerdy Ukrainian scientist friend. He obviously has a crush on her, but he knows she doesn't reciprocate his feelings and respects that, and enjoys her friendship and helps her with no expectation of some sort of favor or payback. SO refreshing to read.

The setting is a very realistic idea of what establishing a settlement on the moon would entail: Big space domes and air filter systems, air locks, people walking all weird due to the gravity differences. Plus tourists and how the economy of Artemis really caters to that.

One thing really shines through in this novel: the diversity. I loved that Kenya is the leader in this space race. They're the ones who have established this settlement. Everyone on the station is from all over the world, and to be honest I don't really remember seeing anyone from the U.S. It's nice and refreshing and WHY NOT? You have white people--from Norway and Canada and Ukraine. But Jazz is Arabic, Brazilians are running the main mining factory, Kenya is in charge of the station, Vietnam runs IT. And all of this is not flouted as "look how diverse this is!", but I think accurately portrays our very diverse world and a possible future community made up of all those people. Besides, even though Jazz comes from Saudi Arabia, she considers the moon as her home, and I think several people in the story also feel that way.

If you liked the Martian and Ocean's Eleven and are looking for a fun, quick, snappy adventure in space, I would highly recommend Artemis!

This book is hard to review for me. Like many other readers I loved “The Martian”. It was fun to read. It had a likable main character and an interesting and gripping story. For me it was something new.

For an author, it is always difficult to reach or even top such a huge success. I was really looking forward to read “Artemis”. Weir sticks to his writing style but he also managed not just to rewrite “The Martian”. He came up with a new and different story. It is almost a thriller. But it is not as gripping as it should be.

What I liked about the book:
Artemis. The first city on the moon. It was very interesting to read about how it would be to live on the moon. Less gravity, a different currency, a cruel surrounding. Andy Weir did a fantastic job by creating this city. It all came to life and I enjoyed every fact about it. Artemis is the main reason I give 5 stars.
The author also managed to write again a innovative story. He did not make the mistake by writing something similar like “The Martian” although many stylistic elements reminded me of it.
I also like his writing style. I like his humor.

What I did not like:
In “The Martian” the main character was funny and witty. Maybe a little bit over the top but I liked him. Jazz is somehow a twin sister of Mark Watney. But she is more annoying and seems often very immature.

As I said before, I am very happy that this story is different than Weir’s first book. It is almost a thriller and it developed in a different direction than I expected. But all that science talk slows it down. Much of it I found very interesting. But sometimes it is a bit much and I could have definitely done without so much information about welding.

For me the great thing about this book is the city of Artemis. Everything about it was just amazing. The book has definitely some issues when it comes to its characters and keeping the balance between science and story development. If you read both books you can see Weir’s writing style and how he puts his story together. The conversations are often a bit comic-like and he tends to explains too much. I still liked it here, but I think it can get a little bit boring when he continues to write in that way.

I really wish I could say I liked this. A couple of years back, I gave in to the hype and read Weir's The Martian, and I have to say-- I loved it. The scary scenario of being stranded so far away from everything and everyone you know, the very high probability that Mark Watney wouldn't survive, his chirpy sense of humour that keeps him going... unfortunately,Artemis's plot is convoluted and less exciting. And Jazz Bashara is SO ANNOYING.

Look, I completely get why Mark Watney annoyed some readers and, given that Weir transplanted his personality and awkward sense of humour into Jazz, it might seem a bit contradictory to have a problem with her personality. But, you know, Mark's narration worked for me because I could imagine this man in the middle of space needing to stay peppy and chatty. His inner narrative is conversational because he is talking to himself - and the reader - to avoid losing all hope. With Jazz, it doesn’t work so well.

Even though Jazz is a woman in her twenties and Arabic, she is basically Mark Watney. You can tell Weir really struggled to adapt his writing style in order to write from the perspective of that most alien of all species - THE WOMAN. Jazz has the sense of humour of a twelve-year-old boy. Her constant quips feel forced and unnecessary. Some of the comments she makes about her sex life and body are just... not funny. She's the local lunar tramp, which is, apparently, so hilarious. But her whole narrative is just plain awkward.
I turned my head inside the helmet, bit a nipple (try not to get excited), and sucked some water out.

***

“Billy, I’ve swallowed better-tasting stuff that came out of people.”

And what grown woman responds like this:
“What’s in there, anyway?”
“Porn, mostly. Starring your mom.”

The real problem for me, though, was that I could not get invested in this half-assed heist plot. I was bored out of my mind with the random talk of gangsters, smuggling, some scientific sabotage blah blah and - oh my god - the welding. Mark Watney talked science to explain how he was going to survive and feed himself on Mars; Jazz talks science to explain the mechanics of welding. I couldn't understand why we were supposed to give a damn about this heist, or the whole conspiracy that develops out of it. Who cares whether Jazz earns herself some slugs (lunar currency)? Who cares if that guy who I didn't give a shit about dies?

Weir takes some minor steps toward making the setting interesting, but then does nothing with it. This lunar colony is run by Kenyans, which is intriguing, but the culture is unmistakably American, and he never expands upon why or how Kenyans came to be controlling space travel. It is like a throwaway fun fact without context or explanation. The main story is also broken up with Jazz's letters to a Kenyan pen pal, starting when she is nine years old, but this never really goes anywhere and feels kind of pointless.

Also, the author chooses to have a Muslim (non-practicing) narrator, which could lead to important representation, but it's hard not to cringe when he addresses his narrative to a solely white, non-Muslim audience:
"Okay, you can stop pretending you know what a niqab is. It’s a traditional Islamic headwear that covers the lower face."

And then goes on to show Jazz using said niqab as a disguise while carrying out criminal activity. She pleasantly declares:
"Great way to wear a mask without arousing suspicion.”

Yikes.

It's just a very messy book overall, with a narrator that tries to be Mark Watney and fails, and a plot that tries to be compelling but isn't. Where the science added thrills and realism in The Martian, here it bogs the story down with boring detail. Weir should stick to survival stories with male narrators.

Reading Artemis has let me know that Andy Weir just isn't for me. I found the dialogue awkward, the characters unpleasant (..which is fine; I don't have to like characters, but they have to interest rather than irritate me) and the set-up didn't grab me (unlike that of The Martian, which hooked me fast and made up for the rest). DNF.

Artemis - the first city on the moon. It is the home of our principalled if not actually law-abiding protagonist Jazz Barbara. This is where the fun begins.

I loved this novel. It had fantastic pacing with a blend of tension and human - very human characters.

I would not hesitate to recommend this book. Artemis stands on it's own.

The opportunity for an early read of ARTEMIS was an easy decision considering my love for The Martian. The similarities in context are there in terms of genre and setting. ARTEMIS is set on the moon and the moon of the future is a large city, corrupt and problematic, but home for many.

Jasmine (Jazz) Bashara is the protagonist for ARTEMIS and I can now say that Andy Weir writes a female lead with ease and natural ability. I liked her, her little criminal heart and all her dealings. She was the epitome of a strong female. I championed her ambitions and loved finding out about her culture and upbringing. Moon culture was something of a diverse melting pot of people, with guilds that separated the cultures and trades. It was just fascinating reading, that painted colour and interest in my imagination.

The moon was an interesting read but at about 30%, the story just went BAM! The plot was gripping but complex, you need to concentrate and like The Martian, ARTEMIS requires some patience with the technical speak but I didn’t get lost on the whole. Whilst Jazz was front and centre of this story, I enjoyed other characters, her father Rudy, also Trond and Svoboda (he’s still waiting for her to test that condom).

I’m really thrilled that Andy Weir was able to follow up The Martian with something solid, different but still with the same thrills, tension and characterisation. I now know that I’m going to jump on any release he has. I recommend to Sci-fi fans and open minded readers alike because I don’t think you need to be a staunch sci-fi fan to appreciate ARTEMIS.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through netgalley, in return for a honest review.

Reviewed for Jo&IsaLoveBooks Blog.

I was a bit afraid before starting Artemis if I’m totally honest. The Martian is one of my all time favourite books and I was worried that my love for that book would spoil this one. In that I would get so hyped I would be disappointed when the time came around to actually reading it because it didn’t live up to my expectations. This is a legitimate problem I have faced a number of times in the past, fortunately in this case it didn’t happen.

I think the best way to describe Artemis is it’s a heist story. Artemis is an established base on the Moon. Our main character Jasmine (Jazz for short) is a porter, basically a futuristic version of the DPD guy. Jazz is also a smuggler on the side and is asked to interfere with Artemis’ oxygen supply so that another company can take over the contract to supply it.

Of course it wouldn’t be a Andy Weir book without a heavy emphasis on actual science. Obviously I have no idea if it’s accurate or not but he goes into quite extensive detail about chemical reactions and how airlocks work. It’s actually very clever what he has managed to achieve by doing that.By basing this world in our reality as much as possible, by using real science and chemistry he has made the world feel real. You could almost believe this is what a base on the Moon would be like.

The most noticeable thing about this book is how diverse it is. Science fiction has definitely got better when it comes to diversity but it still has a long way to go. Despite saying that I was very impressed with this book. The main character, Jazz, is from Saudi Arabia, she states that she isn’t religious though her father is. There is a little note about the problems of facing towards Mecca to pray while not on the same planet as it which I really liked.

The other characters come from a number of different parts of the world. It also features a number of LGBT characters and we see one person with a disability who actually chose to live on the Moon as it allowed her to be more mobile. I think the only thing I would have liked was to see Jazz with some female friends. Also there is nothing about the problems of having periods while wearing a spacesuit which I thought might get a mention considering the plot.

I will say that Artemis isn’t as good as The Martian but I think it would have to have been a really good book for me to enjoy it more. Despite that it was still an enjoyable read, this book got me out of a four-month reading slump and I think that says more than any other platitudes I could write about it.

Andy Weir follows up his smash hit thriller The Martian with this excellent sci-fi adventure about a part-time smuggler living on the moon’s only city. An entertaining thriller with plenty of action, it’s a fun mystery story with a rich central character and plenty of wit.

Jazz Bashara is the kind of protagonist we’ve been waiting for, a street smart Muslim woman with a razor wit whose latest criminal act finds herself at the centre of a deadly lunar conspiracy.

Weir creates a believable yet accessible world that you want to immerse yourself into, mixing a sound science base with an enjoyable action story line. It’s a savvy follow up and a lot more mainstream sci-fi than his debut. Highly recommended.