Andy Weir does it again! 4.5 Stars, rounding up because of the sheer enjoyment I got from this. The Martian is one of my favorite spacey books ever, and I was cautiously excited about Artemis. Anything that follows up such a celebrated debut is bound to attract scrutiny, but Artemis didn't disappoint me in the slightest. Jazz's perspective is hilariously voicey, and she very much fits the bill of a lovable morally-gray character. While her circumstances aren't as dire as Mark Watney's, and are very much self-imposed, they were just as compelling. The supporting cast was vibrant and well-drawn, and I love anything with a good "squad of misfits", especially getting a picture of the criminal underbelly of this future society.

Seriously, I REALLY enjoyed this, and it left me wanting more about Jazz and her life on the moon. I'll be preordering this one for sure, and crossing my fingers for a sequel.

A little disappointed after The Martian. It was nice that it was in the female perspective and that the main character was from Saudi Arabia but I don't think it was executed that well. The main character Jazz is supposed to be 26 but it's coming across as 14 in my opinion. It was plot-driven not character driven. All that aside, I LOVED the science of it all. Weir knows how to write about space and science stoof!!!

Full review when it's closer to November!!

Author of The Martian?! A massive heist on the friggin' moon?! A female lead that is just as snarky, intelligent, and hilarious as Mark Watney?! Count. Me. In.

Y'all. This was a brilliant book. It was fast past and seamlessly wove realistic science and fiction together for pure, unadulterated awesome-ness. I loved Jazz as a lead. I loved that the cast of characters was so incredibly diverse. A Saudi Arabian woman kicking butt and taking names. A practicing Muslim father. Black Frenchmen. German and Russian nerdy scientists. And so many more. This is truly the world's colony on the moon, and Weir did it justice.

We had heists with exciting action and explosions.

We had a smuggler turned hero.

And we had a community that was morally ambiguous but tight knit and protective.

This was a big, big win of a read. PLEASE do yourself a favor. Just pre-order the book now, because I am officially booking the opening weekend after November 14th for you. Read it.

Thank you to NetGalley, Andy Weir, and Crown Publishing for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review. It was truly my pleasure.

Awesome! I love Jazz. This was just as good if not better than The Martian!

This book freaking rocks!!



No, seriously. The book does have science in it but it's not too bad. This is mostly about Jazz who has lived on the moon since she was 6 and now she's in her 20's. Her dad lives on the moon too but they had a falling out and she makes it on her own by doing. . . things.

I love the character of Jazz. She's funny and does crazy things but never anything to hurt any one.

AND SHE LIVES ON THE MOON!



Jazz doesn't live in the good part of town. Yes, the city on the moon is called Artemis and they have their rich side and poor side. It's just too awesome to read about.

Jazz does some odd jobs as a porter but she also brings in contraband and no it's nothing bad.

She has a cool friend she emails from Earth, his name is Kelvin. I love their talks.

Rich people come to the moon every year to spend their holiday. They stay in the fancy hotels and spend tons of money in the shops. Regular folk save up their money so they can come for a once in a life time stay.

But, life on the moon isn't all that it's cracked up to be. There just has to be some evil mobness going on. There are life and death situations and Jazz in put on the spot to save the whole city.

That's all I'm saying, you need to read it for yourself. If you loved The Martian (which I did) you will love this book. At least I think you will, I did because IT'S THE MOON! THEY ARE LIVING ON THE MOON!

And I have to mention some of the people I loved in the book:
Svoboda
Dale
Lene
Kelvin
Bob
Jazz dad

and some randoms =)

*I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book*

I tremendously enjoy the hard science-fiction background surrounding a snarky protagonist's adulting challenges with money, her smuggling career, and her love life. The author guides us through the physics, mechanics, and chemistry of lunar life while dealing with murder, criminals, and small-town gossip. It's a great caper romp with unpredictable plot twists and the surprise ending!

To be fair, not many characters live up to Mark Watney, do they?

Jazz does an admirable job, and I like the supporting characters too. I would have liked a little more on all of her relationships.

Weir did do it again - he made me read and enjoy a book with science as a main theme.

Free ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed the overall story. It got a bit slightly technical at parts, even more so than The Martian. I didn't think he really captured the female's voice, and it felt a bit like forced vulgarity at times with some of the sexual innuendo. (And this is coming from a 33-year old male). BUT, overall I enjoyed the premise and plot. I look forward to reading whatever Mr. Weir writes next, as he definitely has a unique voice.

What a fun, fast-paced, engaging novel. I loved Jazz's quick wit. The writing far surpasses The Martian. I hope this continues as a series!

Had a much harder time getting into the latest novel by Andy Weir. Thank you for the ARC!

If ever a book was written to be filmed, this is it. Fast-paced and humorous, with a likable, sarcastic heroine and moon-based action.

Jazz (Jasmine), a 20-something who has spent most of her life at the lunar city of Artemis, is a smuggler and would-be EVA-tour guide (a profession which is hard to get into but pays big rewards for giving vacationers tours of the original moon landing site). Jazz is a wise-ass. She's smart, but unable to settle down to a life as her father's welding partner, for all her expertise. Instead she struggles to provide a tiny bedroom for herself, sharing crowded bathrooms and having no money to spare. But her smuggling has brought her a productive contact: a billionaire who will pay her a huge sum to permanently wreck an installation owned by a competitor. Being the jack-of-all-trades that she is, she comes up with a plan, and therein lies the tale. Jazz is a bit too scathing in her humor for my taste, and it's not really believable that she can pull this off, but hey, action movies aren't meant to be realistic, after all.

If you enjoyed "The Martian", give Andy Weir's new book a go. Or wait for the inevitable film: it will be fun.

Great follow up to The Martian. A little over the top at the end, but entertaining.

Rating: 4.5/5

The book started a little slow, but I started today at only 23% of the book read and I finished it - so once the story line picked up, it picks up and doesn't stop and I had to know what was going to happen and possibly forgot to feed myself dinner. While the trope of smart girl who doesn't live up to potential because of a boy can be slightly over done, Jazz still ends up being the person everyone needs - even if they don't want to admit that they do. Her personality is entertaining and I related to her more than once - the relationships develop well, though some do kind of develop quickly because the characters take longer to come together. A begrudging relationship with her father is portrayed very well and Weir does an excellent job of writing the story and holding back details so that I needed to keep reading to find out what happened in the past and in the future. Weir provides a lot of detail on the science side of how everything functioned - to me, it didn't necessarily mean a lot and I can't be the judge of whether it was accurate, but it sounded accurate to me from the base understanding I do have.

Honestly, I would have given the book 5 stars except for a very minor reason - we know the character is 26 years old because he tells us. But Weir has Jazz address the reader occasionally, addressing a reaction the reader might have to something she narrates - and the way the conversation happens makes it seem more like we're dealing with a 16-year old. It never quite jived with the rest of the character to me. That said, I loved the actual story enough that after the first time, I just rolled my eyes at it and moved on.

I know people enjoyed The Martian movie and I'm far more likely to want to pick up the book and read it now, because this one was very well written.

As posted on Goodreads:

Big thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC. It didn't affect my opinion, I sincerely loved this book.

Artemis is worthy follow up to The Martian. It's a story told in the first person by a moon-dwelling smuggler who's too smart by half. She's also pretty damn sassy. Weir can seriously tell a story like the best of them, he and Scalzi have a way of writing science fiction that blends the science with fun and excitement. There are certain lines in the book that definitely could be pandering to the readership (1-7-0-1 and Han Solo pants stand out) but they could just as easily have been shout outs by an honest fan - and that's how I choose to read them.

Now, onto the details:
Setting
Artemis is a neat and (arguably) realistic portrayal of how an early moon colony might actually look. Seriously though, it was a really cool setting to explore through Jazz's eyes and I would love to see another story or three in this setting. I'd particularly like to see how Artemis will look after the events of this book.

Plot
A fun, fast-paced story that's as much character-driven as it is plot-driven. The plot kicks into gear early on, but you learn along with Jazz that all is not as it appears.

Characters
A solid cast of entertaining and believable characters. Each was distinct and likeable in his or her own way, even the assholes. Especially the assholes.

Writing Style
Excellent. Weir's writing is easy to read and generally colloquial. Even the info-dumps don't feel forced because of the way he writes. There are definitely times where it feels a bit dumbed-down, but generally the trade-off (i.e. good writing vs condescension) is worth it.

Highly recommend this book! And will definitely see the movie if this gets made.

My rating: ★★★★★ (5/5)

Did you love The Martian? If you did then you are going to love this book too. 

The book takes place in Artemis which is a city in the moon. The main character is Jasmine Bashara, or Jazz to friends. She is of Saudi background and moved to the moon with her dad when she was six years old. Jazz works as a porter but also has some dubious business dealings on the side to complement her meager earnings. An opportunity comes up that might get her out of poverty but she finds herself entangled in a heist where she will need to make use of all of her wits and knowledge to survive.

The story is told from the point of view of Jazz and also in the form of past emails that give a background story of the main character. Jazz is a highly likable, kick-ass, in-your-face heroine. 

The book is similar to The Martian in the sense that the characters need to apply their scientific knowledge to survive. The author describes their actions in a down-to-earth, interesting, and easily-understandable way. The information is not only related to physics but also to chemistry and economics.

Overall, I loved the book and highly recommend it to lovers of sci-fi, suspense, and overall interesting, fast-paced books. 

Thanks to NetGalley, Andy Weir, and the Crown Publishing for providing me with a copy of this publication in exchange for an honest review.

Review also posted on goodreads and blog.

About the author:
Twitter (https://twitter.com/andyweirauthor?lang=es)
Website (http://www.andyweirauthor.com/)

Last note:
The author did an incredible job explaining scientific terms in an interesting way, it's not easy but he delivered again. There were cultural references too, the book was just so interesting.

I was so excited when I saw review copies were available for this book. I really loved The Martian. The movie was good but the book was just wonderful. So, I have to admit, my expectations for this one were very high. Honestly, the story wasn't as good but it was still fun and compelling enough that I didn't want to put it down. I will probably be buying a copy to add to my collection.

This review is in exchange for a free e-galley from netgalley.com.

I LOVED EVERYTHING ABOUT IT. I basically describe it as Veronica Mars meets Macgyver Meets the Martian. Or "Company Town" meets The Martian.

Fabulous characers, VERY different rom the martian in that the science is more narrative and less info=dumpy, but man did I love it.

I received a free e-ARC of this book via NetGalley – thank you to the publisher!

4.5 stars.

I think I get very lucky when I select sci-fi to read. My last three books in this genre have been incredible, but I must say – this tops the cake.
Awesome female character – check;
Impossible heist – check;
Unforeseen twists and turns – check;
Impeccable writing – check; and last but not least
Sarcasm – check (I LOVE my narrators sarcastic – hey I’m a New Yorker! It’s like oxygen to me).

The story is about a young woman, who has disgraced herself in her father’s eyes and really messed up in her teenage years. She now has to scrape by doing all types of jobs just to keep her afloat – including smuggling illegal items into Artemis (the colony on the Moon). So when an opportunity lands into her lap to make 1 million slugs (the currency on the Moon), she takes it. Unbeknownst to her, the heist attracts the attention of something much bigger and now Jazz has to, not only save her own life, but those around her.

The story is extremely well written, but I warn you now – if you do not like heavy physics and chemistry – stay away. I was absolutely abysmal in those two subjects in my school days – but what my teachers didn’t know is that I actually liked to learn the subjects – I just hated the tests. I quite enjoyed how Mr. Weir explained everything; it was easy to follow and made sense.

Then there was the characters themselves. I LOVED Jazz, she is extremely smart, snarky and sarcastic. She felt incredibly real to me. I loved to see the flashback to her younger days where we learn what happened between her and her dad. Mr. Weir presented a very well thought out dichotomy between the teenage Jazz and adult Jazz. Sure she still struggling and some of her stubbornness still remains, but that is her underlying character. At first I thought that she did not have much character growth – but the more I read on, the more apparent it because that Jazz, the badass Jazz, is nothing but character growth. Mr. Weir tackles incredible issues with this character – what it is to be a woman, to be a daughter, to be a friend and to be a Muslim. Jazz, not only has to save everyone, but she also has to learn who she is and come to terms with it. And Mr. Weir makes her journey feel real – at least as real as it can be at a colony on the Moon. Furthermore - I loved how diverse the colony was.

Then there is the heist itself – it kept me guessing the entire book. I honestly did not know what to expect by the end and I loved every moment of the anticipation.

If you love strong female leads, heavy science and fast pace – do yourself a favor and read this book.

This was a lot of fun. It's got the same science-y problem solving and MacGyvering as <i>The Martian</i> and a wisecracking protagonist, only this time the protagonist is a young woman of Saudi origin who smuggles contraband into the moon base called Artemis.

Unsurprisingly, Artemis is a carefully developed setting. Weir has thought through issues of how the low gravity and resource limitations might affect the structure's design, oxygen supply, food supply, and the economic reasons why someone would bother building a moon base in the first place. Artemis feels like the kind of place that could exist in the future.

The plot unfolds slowly at first. I spent the first quarter or so of the book wondering where this was going to go. It has a good payoff in the end, though. The heavy info-dumping was obvious and felt a bit clumsy, but at the same time, it did provide valuable world building information.

I liked the side characters more than the protagonist. Jazz is funny, smart, and capable, but also angry, bitter, lazy, and generally makes a lot of poor life decisions. She's the kind of person who would be toxic and exhausting to deal with in real life.

Eyeroll-worthy bits: there is way more discussion of boobs and Jazz's sex life than is warranted in a book where a) she doesn't even have sex for the duration of the story and b) it's not relevant to the plot at all. There's also a questionably written gay character. Having the gay guy make certain stereotypical comments about gay people does not make it ok.

In summary, the setting was amazing, the plot was fun, but the characterization was iffy and the info-dumping felt a bit amateurish. Everyone who enjoyed the science in <i>The Martian</i> will enjoy it here.

I loved this book. It's the perfect blend of sci/fi and crime. It's been optioned for a movie as well. Be careful when you start reading it...I finally put it down at 3 am. It was worth a sleepless night!