I really wanted to like this book. The premise is awesome, and I loved The Martian. But something about this book was just off. The science facts were still cool and intriguing, but it felt like the snarky humor I enjoyed in The Martian was missing in Artemis. And while I love that Jazz has a lot of technical and scientific know-how, the way she talks and thinks felt more like a teenage boy than a woman in her 20's and was really off-putting.

The actual plot was intriguing not just because of the action but also because of the politics moving behind the scenes. Weir clearly can world-build and seems to have considered many of the day-to-day problems living on the moon would entail. And the pacing and surprises were great. I just wish Jazz had been written as the adult she was supposed to be.

Another winner by Andy Weir. There was plenty of sharp, witty dialogue as well as a suspenseful plotline. One point deduction for the scientific jargon that I found myself skimming through. Otherwise, a very enjoyable read that I highly recommend.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!

Artemis is a fun romp from the author of the bestselling novel The Martian. Weir’s book is dedicated to the Apollo astronauts who flew to the moon but didn’t get to land and walk on it, a nice touch.

The world building is good. I totally believed in a city on the moon. There are a number of ambiguous characters, neither good nor bad. The science seemed real enough to this non-scientist. I liked how currency worked on the moon and also how justice for minor infractions was handled by former Canadian Mountie Rudy. I’m not a big map person but the maps at the front of the book helped me visualize the layout of Artemis.

Weir has a way with words: “If my neighborhood were wine, connoisseurs would describe it as ‘shitty, with overtones of failure and poor life decisions.’” (p. 5 of the advance reader copy)

Although I’m sure I didn’t get them all, I enjoyed the references to pop culture (e.g., "Don't get me wrong, this wasn't the farthest I'd been from the Shire or anything....But this was the farthest I'd ever been from safety." (p. 102 of the ARC).

Artemis is not a perfect book. I kept forgetting the narrator was a woman; I don’t think Weir quite nailed a female inner voice. Although I applaud his attempt to add diversity to science fiction, Jazz also didn’t seem credibly Saudi Arabian. She acted and talked like a snarky American. (Although, who knows, maybe we’ll all think and talk like that in the future when we have a city on the moon.)

Jazz is on the run at one point and dresses up like a prostitute, which seemed like a clichéd choice. Also, there is romantic/sexual tension with a number of different men, and yet she is hung up on the gay ex-boyfriend who left her for another man.

The book was slow starting as Weir did his world building but once the action started it really drew me in. The biggest issue for me was probably the amount of science. I totally believed that scientist Mark Watney knew all the stuff he knew in The Martian, but Jazz is a porter and smuggler. Although several characters comment on how she has so much potential and could be doing more with her life, I had a hard time believing she understood all the complicated science that comes in to play by the end.

So, I can’t say Artemis is as good as The Martian, but it’s an enjoyable science fiction read if you think you’d enjoy a story about a slightly implausible adventure that contains a lot of detailed factual information about staying alive in a city on the moon.

I read an advance reader copy of Artemis. It is scheduled to be published in mid-November. It will be available at the Galesburg Public Library in print, as an audiobook, and as an ebook.

What a fantastic book! I tore through it in just 2 days. Andy Weir tells a story chocked full of science but makes it so fun that you can't even tell. The book makes me want to pack up and take a ride on the next shuttle out to the moon. I absolutely loved Jazz and friends and foes. This is a must read for anyone who loves a great sci-fi novel.

While the characters felt very weak, the story and the science behind it were very enjoyable and it was a quick read that kept me involved. I look forward to the audio version coming out as I feel that a narrator might help give more life and likability to the characters that fell flat in print for me, particularly the main character.

Enjoyed this more than The Martian. The story was way more engaging and the characters were more interesting to me than those in The Martian.

This is pretty much a caper novel set on the moon in a lunar city. The lead character, Jazz, is smart, funny, subversive, and a bit cheeky. Personally I enjoyed getting to know Jazz's character and Weir handles writing a young woman pretty well.

The book itself is a fast paced ride. Once the story gets going and the caper begins, everything moves quickly. There are quite a few surprise turns of event after which I found myself thinking "How will they get themselves out of this one??" but Weir makes it work. There is quite a bit of welding information in this book. For readers who aren't familiar with welding Weir does a good job of explaining most things. For those that are familiar with welding, you may be annoyed by the neverending explanations of welding terms. Can't please everyone.


I couldn't put this book down and I look forward to reading more about Artemis.

Weir easily and quickly engages the reader with his storytelling, but the excessive use of profanity was disappointing and off-putting.

This was an action packed book about a woman who lives on the moon. She is gritty and does what it takes to get by and get ahead. Jazz is presented with an opportunity to commit a big crime that will give her the money she always dreamed up getting so she could finally live comfortably on the moon. This opportunity comes with more complications than she could expect and Jazz has to think around all these problems to get her big paycheck.

This book is a delightful romp on the moon that is a much more casual read than The Martian.

I was so excited about receiving this ARC from Netgalley after reading (and loving) The Martian. Andy Weir has a very unique voice and that was evident all the way through this novel as well. There are obvious comparisons to The Martian to be made. The language of Jazz (the protaganist) and the flippant remarks and sarcasm is very reminiscent of the comments of Mark Watney in The Martian. In the case of this book, however, the attitude grew tiresome and seemed forced perhaps because there was nothing to break up Jazz's dialogue with a different perspective. Everything is from her POV rather than having interludes of another voice.

Although the action felt a little contrived in this book, I still got caught up in the moon-walking, sabotage and entrigue of the city on the moon concept. It was refreshing after a series of "just OK" reads lately to get one that I couldn't put down. It's a solid 3.5 star read rounded up to four for enjoyability.

First off I have not yet read "The Martian" or any of Weir's other novels so I cannot compare Artemis to them. However, I feel that it lives up to the hype that Weir now has. 

Jazz is an engaging main character and I definitely enjoyed her voice in this story. The best way I can describe her is a sarcastic little shit. Which I mean as a compliment. She is a porter but has a side hustle as a smuggler, which is a nice touch.  Jazz is the epitome of a genius but is so lazy. It reminds me of someone I know *side eyes my best friend*. She also messes up a lot, but always tries to make good on her mistakes. As shown with her actions in the climax, she will do anything to protect the innocent. There is quite a bit of diversity in this book, which was nice to see people from all walks of life live together. 

 The main plot of the story involves Jazz pulling off an interesting scheme for a lot of money.  It kind of reminds me of Six of Crows, especially towards the end of the book, only make it on the moon. The pacing is exciting and the writing was humorous. I was not bored at all; I just wanted to keep reading. I did not see any of the plot twists coming except for the first one, which I consider very good.  

As for Artemis, it is now on my ever-growing fictional bucket list of places to visit. And though Artemis is small, around 2,000 citizens not including the hordes of tourists, it has a lot going for it. Speaking of tourists, I now want to go to the moon and run around in one of those hamster balls! Weir does a great job at the world building. He includes little details about life on Artemis, like slow internet and how there are no cars, that it feels like a fully fleshed out city. 

Overall, I greatly enjoyed this novel and I recommend it to fans of science fiction, heists, and anyone who wants to read something entertaining with a cup of science on the side. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for sending me a copy to review. This in no way affected my review. 

Favorite Quotes 

Disclaimer: These are from an ARC and therefore they might change slightly from the final print. So for the time being just enjoy these quotes until I can check them against the final copy. 

"I stared daggers at [him]. He didn’t notice. Damn, I wasted a perfectly good bitchy glare." - 12

“Paper?” He held the schematics like they were a urine sample. “You wrote them on paper?” - 49 

"But no idiot proofing can overcome a determined idiot." - 59 

" “Shit! Damn! Crap! Ass! Son of a bitch!” It’s important to vary your profanities. If you use the same one too often it loses strength. " - 100 


“On a scale from one to ‘invade Russia in winter,’ how stupid is this plan?” -178

I signed up at NetGalley on a whim the other day and applied for the ARC of this book. Got approved in less than 24 hours! Very cool. Read it at my desk at work while waiting for my coworkers to finally finish a patch.

Now, on the subject of the book itself:

I really liked it (3.5). It was not a complete departure from The Martian, so I think that anyone who liked that would probably like this. It was a super fast read, fast-paced and exciting.

Things I liked:

1. The world-building was good. I believed that life on the moon could actually be exactly the way he described - astronauts as "local" heroes whose names are plastered all over everything, a bustling tourist economy, and a thriving immigrant community. I had trouble wrapping my head around the scale, though - how could a town of 2000 support so many different neighborhoods? Why would they even consider building living quarters you couldn't even stand up in?

2. I think Weir did a pretty good job on the future science, and there was clearly a lot of thought put into it, but he showed his hand a couple of times:
Reactors on Earth dump heat into lakes or rivers. We're a bit dry here on the moon, so we dump our heat via infrared light emitted into space. It's century-old technology, but we haven't come up with anything better.
Who, exactly, couldn't come up with anything better?

On the whole, The Martian was a touch science-y-er. This book, instead, took a sharp left turn into gumshoe, intrigue, conspiracy territory.

Things I didn't like:

1. Andy Weir is fucking terrible at writing a female perspective. Firstly, in the beginning, Jazz didn't really read as male (which is fine, maybe she and I are different). But then Andy Weir felt the need to keep underlining that she was, indeed, a woman - "My plan was working! I giggled like a little girl. Hey, I'm a girl, so I'm allowed."

2. I loved Jazz's cast of handy friends, but her relationship with Svoboda was kind of weird. I think that he is supposed to be some kind of love interest? The whole time, though, Svoboda was just kind of crossing boundaries and calling Jazz a slut, then Jazz would just shake her head and be all "Oh Svoboda, Imma give you GIRL lessons one of these days!" Weir also never ever describes his appearance. I think that she probably had more chemistry with Rudy, and that never went anywhere at all. The whole "hot for Jazz" bit probably could have been dropped in its entirety.

3. "You learned all of this today?! You'd make a great scientist[!]" "You're such an intelligent girl, Jasmine. If only you'd apply yourself[!]" "You made a three-meter-long airtight weld while wearing an EVA suit. You really could have been a master[!]" Show. Don't. Tell.

4. If I have to read about someone picking up a "good head of steam" one more time, I will give up on reading entirely.

Thank you Net Galley for the free ARC.

Yes, another great book from Andy Weir! This one takes place on the moon in the colony Artemis. The main character is Jazz, a porter and smuggler. Jazz gets an offer she can't refuse and gets tangled up in a plot to overtake Artemis. Good thing she has loyal customers and friends.

I received an ARC via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. I loved The Martian, which I know Mr. Weir wrote over a long period of time, posting sections online, soliciting feedback and then making improvements. So when I heard the plot for this book, I almost did not request it out of fear that I would learn Mr. Weir was a one-hit wonder.

Well, I'm happy to say this book is very good. Think Ocean's Eleven, but in a moon city. There is quite a bit of science in the story, and it is key to the plot, but Artemis is not relentlessly about the hard science of the story like The Martian was. Instead, the story revolves around a 20-something named Jazz: a clever, funny profane rule breaker and smuggler who gets in over her head when her initial crime spirals out of control. There are a half-dozen other solid characters, all of whom are very funny, but the book works because of how likeable Jazz is. Recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for the privilege of reading the ARC of Artemis, by Andy Weir. What an exciting book! I couldn't put it down. Jasmine, known as Jazz, is an intelligent, no nonsense, spunky character. Jazz, a Saudi Arabian, moves to the moon city of Artemis with her father when she is six. Her life was on Artemis and she loves her city, but discovers that smuggling earned her more money than ordinary jobs. She became involved in trying to stop the people who want to take over her city and the action never stops! I loved this book.

Weir has done it again - captivated my attention absolutely and already has me contemplating the much-needed movie! The writing style was very similar to "The Martian," which I both liked and didn't like. I like how things that are "over my head" are described so I don't feel like a moron but also don't feel bogged down by the details. However, I didn't think the book needed all the cursing (felt the same way about "The Martian"). The story was lightning fast, adventurous, and kept me turning pages to see what happened next. As a layperson, I found the details about life on the moon exciting and plausible and wasn't concerned about getting bogged down with the reality of "is this really accurate." I felt the same way about "The Martian." Loved the condom invention and dialogue and appreciated the lack of resolution. Keep writing, Mr. Weir; I'm more than happy to keep reading.

Artemis is a fun, fast paced book featuring a charming heroine.

Jazz Bashara is smart, funny, sexy and like many of this generation – although the book takes place in the future – a little lost in her ways.

After a series of what some might call (Jazz included) “bad life decisions”, Jazz splits her time between working a legit porter job and as a smuggler of mostly harmless goods into her town, Artemis.

Artemis is the first lunar town, an earth colony of blue collar laborers, its main economies in are tourism, glass and aluminum production.

Through her pattern of making questionable choices, Jazz finds herself neck deep in some big trouble involving the town’s main big shots, the mayor, the aluminum industry and the Brazilian syndicate mob. I can’t wait to listen to the audiobook version narrated by Rosario Dawson, she will be the perfect voice for Jazz Bashara.

As I Brazilian native I was a little bothered by the lack of research into Brazilian surnames and cultural background. It is a huge pet peeve of mine when Brazilians are characterized too much like other Hispanic peoples. Although many shared similarities, our names and language are quite different and the names “Sanchez” and “Alvarez” are Hispanic names that are practically inexistent in Brazil.

Besides the above mentioned and a few tacky, too predictable, unoriginal sex jokes, the book is extremely charming.

Artemis is fun and the plot is very engaging. The dialogues are quick witted and the brainy problem solving echoes Mr. Weir’s debut “The Martian”.

The characters are well rounded or at least, well thought of, the dialogue is funny and the adventure is endless. There’s enough detailed chemistry and space mechanics to satisfy the inner nerd and the touch of romance is just enough to make you cheer for Jazz’s love conquests without being turned off – I am one of those people that get irritated when romance becomes the story’s main purpose. The gentrified, tight community vibe of Artemis juxtaposes well with the bare, unexciting moonscape.

Overall, one of my favorite books of the year and a huge relief. As a big fan of “The Martian”, I had big expectations for Mr. Weir’s new book. It did not disappoint.

What would it take to live on the moon in a domed city? "Artemis" gives you a lot of ideas as to how it might vary from your traditional earth life. From the physics of movement in an EVA suit to the chemistry of the life support systems, you can learn a lot of accurate science from this story of a smuggler.

Yes, a smuggler. A smuggler who moves certain classes of contraband and specialty items, earning significant profit when things go well. This person also has a legitimate job of parcel delivery, which helps cover up the smuggling.

The smuggler would like a better life than to live in a coffin sized sleep compartment with a bathroom down the hall. That better life can happen if there's a really big score. And then someone steps forward with that really big job and a really big score. That is, if somebody doesn't kill the smuggler first.

Crime is rare on the moon. The human community is small, and a lot of people know each other. It makes it trickier to get away with something. This time the stakes are high enough to make the game worthwhile.

Andy Weir, who blew me away with his first book- The Martian- returns once more to space. I was primed to like this book. Like his first book the action takes place off planet, this time on a lunar space station. All of the action, science, and suspense are here. But unlike The Martian, I felt disconnected from the main character. Though his character Jazz is resourceful, tough, and smart, I just did not connect with her. I felt the need for more character backstory in order to really appreciate the deeper motivation for her selfish and unethical behavior. Though this story is well written, I cared more about secondary characters and just found her annoying.

I enjoyed it, but I didn't think it was as good as The Martian. Andy Weir is clever, and he makes me laugh. I liked Artemis enough to keep an eye out for future books by this author.

I have been looking forward to this book since I heard about it because I loved The Martian so much. I was excited to get a copy of this early through Netgalley. Unfortunately my enthusiasm began to wane as soon as I started it. The last 2/3 of it are the strongest part of the book and even then I skimmed quite a bit. Andy Weir excels at making science fiction sound like science so this book is at it's best when our characters are putting their minds together and solving big problems in very detailed and technical ways. Andy Weir does not excel at writing from the perspective of a young woman so this book is at its weakest when we are in Jazz's head, hearing her thoughts or listening to her interact with other people on a personal level. She makes quite a few face-palm inducing statements. To me she feels more like a 16 year old boy than a 20-something woman. I did like the world that Weir created on the moon. Just like in The Martian, the tech involved feels very realistic. The political aspects of the day-to-day running of a lunar colony also feel very realistic. As much as I love to see female led books the fact that this is a female led book is ultimately its downfall for me, because in my opinion, Weir fails to write believably from the perspective of a woman.