Another great read from Andy Weir! I was very excited to get an advance reader copy of this, but I didn't love it as much as The Martian. This book was different from The Martian in setting, characters, and theme (the majority of the novel is centered around crime). Lots of science again, but it didn't take away from the novel for the most part. The book is mainly about Jazz, a 26 year old woman who lives on the moon. She has a side business of smuggling, is super smart, and has a foul mouth. She is offered a considerable amount of money for an offer she can't refuse and this is where things get crazy! The humor was great and I had a lot of laughs. The setting was well developed. It made living on the moon seem possible and fascinating. I didn't find Jazz as likable as Watney, but again different books and setting. The smuggling and heist were very interesting and I loved the ending.

Jazz is a petty criminal who gets caught up in a job that’s over her head, and she has to call in every favor she can just to stay alive. She’s funny and flawed, and above all, she’s determined not to be exiled from the moon–the only real home she’s ever known. I loved Jazz’s character and her motley collection of friends (and enemies).

The best words I can use to describe the plot of Artemis are MOON HEIST. That’s not totally accurate, but that’s certainly the feel I got from the story. Again, I’m no scientist, so I have no idea if the technical details of the plot make sense, but even if they don’t, the fast-paced plot kept me engaged the whole time. Who doesn’t want to read about a moon heist?

I loved so many things about this novel! I really loved the setting of Artemis, a town on the moon, and I loved all of the scientific detail. I found to story surprising, compelling, and satisfying – well worth the read. But, there were two major problems that continuously pulled me out of the action of this novel.

First, I absolutely could not stand Jazz’s voice. It was so painfully clear that she was a young female character being written by a man. Anytime she talked about sex (which was literally every time she interacted with a man), it was just so unrealistic that I couldn’t suspend my disbelief. One scene in particular sticks in my mind – when a friend finds Jazz wearing his shirt, she thinks “I was pretty sexy, I have to admit.” UM, NO.

The second thing that really bothered me was the way that the book was narrated. It was as if Jazz was speaking to the reader (sometimes), but there was no conceit to explain why. Was she writing her memoirs? Was she telling someone the story? There was never any satisfactory explanation for the way she would break that fourth wall and speak to the reader sometimes. Honestly, it felt lazy – as if the only way to explain what was happening was to have Jazz break from the action and explain something. The thing is, The Martian had that conversational, sarcastic, self-aware tone because the main character was writing in a diary or communicating with Earth. It made sense. It doesn’t in this novel.

Aside from those two major issues, I really did enjoy this book! If you’re really annoyed by badly written female characters, this may not be for you. But, if you enjoyed The Martian and you can suspend your frustration with Jazz sometimes, you may still really enjoy it.

Now, how do we convince male authors who are writing female characters that they need to have lots of women offer very critical feedback?

Thanks to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for an advance copy of this novel!

Enjoyed this book. I will recommend recommend this title through Readers’ Advisory, book clubs, events, etc. My library is likely to purchase a copy.

Jazz Bashara is always on the lookout for the big payoff. Fiercely intelligence with an excess of snark, enough charm to get by, and a fluid definition of right and wrong, she is determined to make life on Artemis- the only city on the moon- work for her. When she is given a chance to get in on a once in a lifetime con, she eagerly gets on board despite the dangers involved. Inevitably, the job goes south and Jazz must rely on her wits, her friends, and a little luck, to get herself out of trouble- and possibly save the entire colony of Artemis.
While more of a heist caper than a survival story, Artemis is a worthy follow up to the meticulously researched and engagingly entertaining The Martian. Readers will be quite thrilled with Weir's latest out of this world read.

I loved, loved, loved The Martian. I recommended it to many people, and actually bought 6 copies to give as gifts. When I heard Andy Weir had a new book, I was so excited. Sadly, Artemis is not in the same league as his first book. It did still contain his unique sense of humor, however, it seemed crude and crass in this new book.
The plot was simply OK. It did not hold the "life or death" scenario in The Martian.
Please Andy, get back to work and give us another fantastic book. Artemis was not it.

This is a really interesting book about day-to-day life on the Moon, well after colonization is established and the scary threat of being deported to Earth, an essential death sentence, if you don't totally conform.

This is an excellent book with an interesting story, great characters, and I loved the ending. My only complaint is that I didn't want it to end!

Let’s just get this out of the way: this is not The Martian. I think there are many people who are going to go into this book and will have The Martian on their minds — understandable, but ultimately unfair to this novel. This is not a one-man survival show, and the only thing that Jazz Bashara and Mark Watney have in common is their penchant for sarcasm. I completely approve of this, by the way.

What I find most interesting about this story is that characters’ specific cultural origins are explicitly stated in the narrative. I state that only because I found the very lack of such information (for the most part) an interesting aspect of The Martian. It made visualizing the characters physically almost unnecessary: they could, again for the most part, be any race, religion, origin in my own head — in anyone’s head — and that’s that. Having that grounding in Artemis is a different experience, but also an interesting one, especially as it plays into the personal mores of each character.

Jazz is a rip of a protagonist — I loved her sass and her frankness in dealing with people. She uses her sharp tongue both as weapon and armour, and is a right proper rogue. I liked her a lot, as you can probably guess. Her host of fellow characters are just as colorful and interesting, which makes this book nothing short of good fun.

Where it stumbles a little for me is in the plot. The mystery is good, but it feels…incomplete. A little unsatisfying. Perhaps it is the brevity of the novel, and while that certainly keeps the pacing snappy, it leaves me feeling wanting, as if some parts are missing. Perhaps this is a result of having read an uncorrected proof and not the finished copy, but perhaps just some more details about the world of the moon base, about the corporations involved — more than just the information we receive at the end.

Nevertheless, Artemis is a fun ride, because Weir has a unique ability to make science fiction feel a little less like fiction, and I chalk that up to what I’m sure is a good deal of research.

I wasn't able to get very far before I had to stop, unfortunately. I think that my quibbles, though, are likely things that many readers won't care about; for one, I think that Weir excels at writing white men like in The Martian, but here I didn't care for how he wrote the female and child narratives. I also find myself distracted by the amount of exposition and some kind of wonky things going on with the tenses. Example: "life support is one of the few places in town that has genuine security protocols. You don't want just anyone wandering in. The door had a panel you could wave your gizmo over, but of course I want on the approved list."

Jasmine "Jazz" Bashara was born on Earth in Saudi Arabia, but has spent most of her life, from age six, on the Moon. After a falling out with her Dad, Jazz moves around and make a "living" as a porter. With her side "job" as a smuggler she earns a enough for her own place.

Jazz has a lot of ups and downs in her life. She is always looking for ways to make her life better. This always gets her into more trouble as she moves from one scheme to another. She finally thinks she has made it with one final scheme.

Jazz is a smart, funny, and sassy woman. She has an attitude that is, at times, hard to look past. In the end you'll find yourself cheering her on.

A good blend of science, humor, and adventure. This is a quick read with something for everyone.

Oh, Andy Weir. You rocketed into our hearts with <i>The Martian</i> and now you’re doing your version of a moonbase tale? I was fully on board from the start, but by the time it was over…

Effectively, the story follows our hero on a moon base trying to move her way up in the world. Jazz is struggling to stay on the straight and narrow, but there are other options available to her. One of these options is one that ends up netting her a lot of money, but a lot of trouble in the process.

This is basically a light heist story on the moon, and considering how really robust and strong <i>The Martian</i> was, that this is the follow-up is more than a little disappointing. The book falls quite quickly from its initial heights and never quite recovers, resulting in a thriller crime tale that never truly thrills. I felt like I was going through the motions with this a lot more than I wanted to, and mostly because I believed it would eventually pay off or at least attempt to come to the place <i>The Martian</i> sits and it never got there.

Honestly, there is no reason why someone who is looking for this book shouldn’t reach for <i>The Moon is a Harsh Mistress</i> instead. There’s nothing here of exceptional note, and it just feels like a lot of filler. It’s a fine book, but it fails to meet basic expectations and isn’t going to do much for those who have read a lot of science fiction over the years.

Ever since I finished The Martian I have been excited for Andy Weir's next book and this book didn't disappoint. Taking place on the Moon in an already existing colony Artemis follows Jazz, a Saudi Arabian woman who has lived on the Moon since she was six and makes most of her income by not so legal means.

While I didn't enjoy this book as much as Weir's first I really enjoyed the sense of community that is found in this book as there is not a lone person on a planet. I also enjoyed the diversity and array of characters that are presented (though there was the stereotypical Canadian RCMP officer which I didn't really like being the one representation of Canada). I did really like the the USA wasn't the main Earth community represented and that it really felt worldwide.

Once again Weir manages to convey complex scientific ideas in a way that is easy to understand and engaging to read and that is what helps to carry this book through. I was intrigued from the very beginning to the very end and thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.

Superb book! As good, if not better, than the Martian

Jazz Bashara has lived on the moon since she was 6 years old. She is now in her 20s and she has created a life as a small time crook smuggling goods from earth. The lure of a big payoff compels her to take a criminal job that leads to murder and more trouble. Jazz's conscious demands that she solve the crime and fix the mess that she helped create.

The Martian is one of my favorite books, so Andy Weir had a lot to live up to in this book. What I loved so much about the Martian was his characters and Weir does create an entertaining cast of characters. I am not completely sold on Jazz. I feel like she is a little immature for her age, but maybe that is because she was raised on the moon. Weir did create an entertaining fast paced sci-fi thriller that will please his fans.

Artemis

By: Andy Weir

"Jazz Bashara is a criminal.
Well, sort of. Life on Artemis, the first and only city on the moon, is tough if you're not a rich tourist or an eccentric billionaire. So smuggling in the occasional harmless bit of contraband barely counts, right? Not when you've got debts to pay and your job as a porter barely covers the rent.
Everything changes when Jazz sees the chance to commit the perfect crime, with a reward too lucrative to turn down. But pulling off the impossible is just the start of her problems, as she learns that she's stepped square into a conspiracy for control of Artemis itself—and that now, her only chance at survival lies in a gambit even riskier than the first. (GoodReads)"
 

Hey Everyone! Apologizes for the delay in typing this. We are moving in a few days and I really wanted to crank out this review before we go! I was given this book from the publishers via Netgalley for an honest review. So, you know what? I'm going to be absolutely honest with you...!
 
This was my most entertaining read of the year! I have not had as much fun while reading this as I have in a very long time. It was hilarious and intense. It has adventure, crimes, mystery, diversity.. just a little bit of everything. Absolutely loved this novel.
 
Artemis is a made town located on the moon. Our main character is Jazz. She is a very independent very vocal woman who has lived in Artemis since she was just a little girl. You could say she knows the ins and outs of the whole place. She works as a porter here which is a poor job (basically a person who makes deliveries). Using her job to her advantage she just so happens to be a smuggler of all sorts of goodies for Artemis. 
She is given the chance of a very good job. Given her personality she takes it without question. It ends  up going pretty horribly wrong and she is essentially in a fight for her life. 

I love all the science that was involved with this novel. I'm not a scientist, I was never particularly good with chemistry...BUT.. I was still able to understand everything that was happening. 

There was never a time when I was confused. Everything was described perfectly. All the way down to their EVA suits and missions. Beautifully written. The world development was absolutely phenomenal. I loved how our main focus was based on one character, but we still got those other characters to balance Jazz out. 
I am not kidding when I said this book was very entertaining. 

Artemis Releases November 14, 2017! Don't miss this one!

Until Next Time bookies,
DauntlessReading

It's tough to follow up a hugely successful debut novel, and unfortunately I found Artemis a bit disappointing. I enjoyed the action that picked up in the second half of the book as well as the secondary characters, but I don't understand why Weir decided to write from his main character Jazz's perspective. It's not that I think that white, cisgender men can't write convincing female POC characters, but it was tough to rally behind Jazz since she wasn't a convincing voice. Since the book is told primarily from her first-person point of view, it was really distracting that the voice was off and unconvincing. The choice to select an Arab woman as the main character and main voice of the story seems a bit odd and I'm not sure that it added to the story.

It also felt like the evolution of Kenya coming to colonize the moon and the governance - or lack thereof - on Artemis

I also wish Weir had built this world a bit better. You get snippets of the politics and economics on the moon, but only in degrees. The book bills itself as a near-future space thriller that involves a heist on the moon, yet it feels more political than anything else. I also found it somewhat unbelievable that living on the moon would come with as few legal and tax-related restrictions as it did.

I loved The Martian for its humor and wit, and Artemis tried to recapture elements of that. The jokes felt flat and forced, which was another distraction from the plot at hand.

Ultimately I think that fans of The Martian will enjoy this book - it has the science, an interesting and action-packed plot, and a unique setting. But I had a very hard time accepting Weir's choice to write from Jazz's perspective and I suspect that will be a concern for others.

<b>3.5 Stars</b>
With a book like this, expectations are key. As the follow up to a bestselling novel, many readers will inevitably pick up the Artemis
expecting it to be "the next Martian". These comparisons are ultimately unfair, as few books can live up to Weir's masterpiece debut. Going into the book with these impossible expectations will only leave readers disappointed.

More of a lighthearted story, this felt like a lot like reading the novelization of version of a science fiction RPG video game. So much of the story involved the main character completing small tasks (or "side-quests") in order to achieve her larger goal. Told all in first person perspective, the narrative is quite causal with a conversational tone. Weir also includes a lot of humor in his story. Some of the jokes were absolutely hilarious, while others fell a bit flat.

As expected, Weir drops some fun technical jargon into the story. These sections will appeal to science nerds without bogging down the narrative. Like in The Martian, these science moments are delivered through simplified, often humorous, explanations that are easy to understand for the average layperson. It is not necessary to have a science background in order to enjoy this story.

While lighter in tone, this book still has some substance, addressing deeper issues including poverty and social class. Weir imagines a wonderfully diverse future with a non-Westernized colonization of the moon where Kenya is a major political and economic player. As well, this novel includes elements of diversity, featuring a non-practicing Muslim protagonist of Saudi descent.

As a piece of science fiction, this book is incredibly accessible for readers who do not normally read the genre. Set in a future version of our universe, the world-building is straight forward and easy to understand. The book will likely appeal most to young adult readers, rather than people who normally read adult science fiction. This book could be considered a YA crossover intended for a mature teenage audience. The personality of main character, along with the general plot. make the book feel like a young adult novel at times. The main character is incredibly immature, which could be frustrating. She is suppose to be twenty-six, but seemed more like a teenager on the page. Her personality never quite worked for me and I ultimately found her character quite flat. Yet, in terms of mature content, the book is actually quite adult with numerous references to sex and plenty of f-bombs, which kept the book out of the young adult category.

Artemis actually has more in similarities to Ready Player One than The Martian. Both books have YA crossover appeal, featuring young main characters trying to escape their impoverish living situations. Furthermore, the story includes numerous geeky references from Star Trek to Scooby Doo, which will appeal to pop culture enthusiasts.

I would still recommend this novel to readers looking for an entertaining heist story with a young, brash protagonist.

I requested this book from Crown Publishing via Netgalley

I don't know why I waited so long to read this. It's a heist/caper story set on the moon. ON THE MOON.

What's not to love about that?

The setting was really well done. I think Weir nailed the space aspect. To be clear, I know nothing about space or what it would be like to live in a vacuum, and most of the science was over my head, but he seemed to have done his research. He covered aspects of space life I wouldn't have even imagined. The setting felt very much like a video game, and the action was intense.

At times, I found myself wishing it was a video game. I imagined all the tourists, the glowing neon, and sparkling chandeliers of Armstrong bubble contrasted with the small, dank quarters of Conrad bubble, all connected by aluminum halls and floors and it just felt right. I could envision Jazz (the MC) pounding through the halls checking her Gizmo (moon version of a smart phone) as she ran. The author has a way of writing that really puts you in the book.

Jazz took a while to grow on me, but by the end, I really was impressed. She felt authentic. She was strong and vulnerable at the same time. She was brave and bold and compassionate. It's noted that she lives life on the promiscuous side, but it never felt like slut shaming, just an accepted fact. She's morally gray and wonderfully complex.

I deducted a star because there are times when Jazz "knows" things she shouldn't necessarily know or wouldn't have deduced from the information given, but it only made me pause for a moment and didn't detract from the overall entertainment value of the book.

This is an action packed, fun read, and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the sci-fi genre or heist stories. I'd tell you more about the plot but I don't want to ruin it for anything.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for the opportunity to review this ARC!