Readers may flock to this new title by Andy Weir, expecting it to be as amazing as The Martian. While it does have its moments, the book does not live up to expectations. This tale is set on the moon and follows Jazz, a talented dealer of contraband. She is smart and clever in undertaking her jobs. Much of her talent derives from her father but she has been estranged from him for quite a while. When hired to sabotage a local business, she must summon all her wiles to plan the seemingly impossible task. Much like Mark from The Martian, she uses her intelligence to lay out her plan and then to handle the hurdles that she encounters in executing her attack on the target. There are higher powers here that make Jazz’ assignment even more difficult.

Weir includes a very diverse cast of characters, including Jazz who’s of Middle-Eastern descent, her penpal friend Kelvin from Africa and other assorted players. There’s even an element of organized crime. For Jazz to survive, she must be wary of others and on her guard at all times. One of her best male friends betrayed her and cost her her boyfriend and this has increased her isolation. That male friend is a welcome figure, one who breathes life into the story, adding a touch of humanity. The story is not as riveting as Weir’s other book but it is not without merit. Readers should read it for itself, minus expectations and preconceived notions.

I don't want to be disappointed, but I am. I was excited for this follow up to The Martian which I really loved. It started out well enough with the strong, sassy lead character voice. But the story just wasn't strong enough to back her, and to keep my interest. By the last few chapters of the book I found myself skimming, and still feeling like I wasn't missing much of anything. I hate to think that people might miss out on The Martian because they opted to read this first.

Building on the success of The Martian, Artemis by Andy Weir is a book you want to love. You expect science, adventure, gripping moments, and, of course, humor, just like you experienced in The Martian. Artemis does, in fact, deliver on all of those fronts (at least I’ll have to assume it does since I only made it 15% of the way through on my Kindle before I gave up), but in a way that is so ridiculously similar to Weir’s first breakout success that you might wonder if you’re reading the same book at times.

Not that this is a rehash of The Martian. The setting is different—we’re on the Moon this time instead of Mars and our main character isn’t trapped but living inside a dome that is part of a Moon base. The main character is different as well. Different gender, different ethnicity, different background, though her sarcasm and juvenile humor are so nearly identical to that of Watney’s that you have to wonder if Watney had a sex change.

What really killed this book for me was a combination of the unlikeable main character, Weir’s unsophisticated writing style (which actually worked for The Martian because it was Mark Watney telling the story), and the juvenile humor of a character that is, again, so similar to Watney that maybe it is him just in disguise? I’m kidding, of course. Jazz Bashara is most definitely not Mark Watney, though the author clearly lost sight of that fact when he was writing Artemis.

Jazz is a porter, doing odd jobs for what passes for money on the base. She’s offered the job of a lifetime (with pay to match) which I know from reading the book’s description goes bad so that Jazz finds herself mixed up in a plot for control of the very base. Not an entirely bad premise, but not one that piqued my interest enough to put up with the other factors bringing this one down.

I can’t give Artemis more than one rocket. I didn’t finish it and I see no reason for anyone else to even start it. I do thank the publisher for allowing me to read the book in exchange for a fair review. Better luck next time? I hope so, because I really did want this one to work.

Artemis was a fun novel, but nothing groundbreaking. It wasn't entirely what I was expecting. I wanted to like Jazz, but she felt just a tad bit juvenile. Weir definitely struggled with writing a female lead (versus Watney in The Martian being relatable and funny.) Overall I'd say the story was rough around the edges, and if you're expecting more of The Martian's type writing, this book isn't for you. I'll let it sit a while and listen to the audiobook next year. Maybe Roasario Dawson's voice can spin it better. ***3.5 stars***

I just finished reading Artemis and loved it. While it wasn't as good as his first book "The Martian" but that was partly because it was a different genre. In Artemis Jazz is nothing but trouble. When she was a teen she did everything wrong like most teens. Throughout the book, Jazz is trying to make more money so she can get out of her apartment which is just a space for her to sleep. The book has a mystery going through it for a short time where you are trying to find out who tries to kill her and who killed her friend. There were a few thing that drove me crazy throughout the book was Jazz constantly repeating the same thing over and over about thing not being her fault. Overall the book is one that you don't want to put down till it is over.

I loved The Martian, so when I had the opportunity to read Andy Weir’s new book, I jumped at it. And happily, Artemis didn’t disappoint. Make no mistake, this is in no way related to The Martian, aside from the fact that it’s set in a future where travel between Earth and the moon (and other planets) has become possible. Technology has progressed to the point that it’s become possible for travelers to vacation on the moon, and to live there to provide support for all the services required to service this new travel industry. At heart though, this is a heist novel, where Jazz Bashara is a young woman who has lived on the moon for most of her life - she wasn’t born there, but she doesn’t remember Earth. She has no desire to go back to Earth, and is trying to save money to upgrade her living quarters, but she’s having difficulties getting there when she receives an opportunity to make a lot of money if she can pull off this one little heist. But being a heist novel, of course complications arise.
Like The Martian, Artemis is full of details of what life on the moon could be like, but Weir manages to keep all those details from becoming mind-numbing. They explain how things work, and why Jazz’s mission is so complicated. Jazz is surrounded by interesting characters. It’s fast-paced, exciting, and kept me reading long into the night. I highly recommend this one.
Copy provided by Netgalley and Crown Publishing in exchange for an unbiased review.

I was extremely disappointed in this novel. It seemed as if Weir only wrote it to get a movie deal. The plot was questionable and the twist was disappointing. Jazz deserved a better story and we deserved a better novel.

Reading Artemis is a tricky business. You know there is no way Andy Weir's second novel can be as good as his debut efforts. Yet that does not stop you from hoping that you are wrong, buoying up your expectations only to have them dashed as you realize that you were, unfortunately, right all along.

Some of the problem is that it appears as if Mr. Weir is trying too hard to repeat his success by using a very similar formula to his novel as he did last time. Instinctively, this makes sense. People fell hard for the wise-cracking genius stranded on Mars and the supporting cast of characters on Earth helping him. As is so often the case though, what works one time does not work again. Jazz is no Mark, and the Moon is not Mars. Jazz is neither alone nor struggling to survive in a hostile environment.

You can see where Mr. Weir tries to separate his two heros. Obviously one is a girl. He cuts down on the cussing. He has made Jazz's life as unlike Mark's as possible. Yes, there are still dangers on the Moon, but half of Jazz's problems stem from trying to circumvent the safety procedures and equipment in place to prevent accidents like habitats being breached or people dying from exposure to the vacuum of space. She may be poor, but she has more than Mark ever had at her disposal. That constant threat of life-or-death danger that made Mark's story so compelling is completely missing in Jazz's story.

The other problem comes from Jazz herself. She just is not very interesting. For someone who is in her twenties, she acts like a teenager. Her method of interacting with others is to deliberately bait or mock them. The attitude she exudes to everyone is grating, and you find yourself wishing one of her enemies would catch up to her if only to teach her a lesson. Instead, she bounces from self-induced catastrophe to self-induced catastrophe with seemingly no cares for others. That her rough exterior masks a vulnerable interior is neither a surprise nor all that interesting in the grand scheme.

The science this time around is equally disappointing. Gone are the fascinating chemistry, astronomy, and botany problems. Instead, the novel reads like one long love story to engineering. This means math and physics and more math. I might use math on a daily basis because of my job, but even I draw the line at reading about it in my novels. Plus, I am no engineer. Descriptions of structures, the ways they were built, are shaped, and are kept safe is like reading a car's owner's manual. How many people can say they enjoy that?

On one hand, Artemis falls victim to the dreaded follow-up anticipation generated by the next novel after any rousing success. People are going to be disappointed no matter how low expectations they think they have because there will always be hope that it will be at least as good as that blockbuster. On the other hand, there are some very real problems within Artemis that makes it a disappointment in its own right. A lackluster plot with a mediocre and annoying main character is not going to be successful in any instance. That the two coincide within one novel makes Artemis a novel that is doubly disappointing.

I really enjoyed reading this book and it was difficult to put down. The moon town was well-realized and it was an exciting portrayal of the future of space tourism from the perspective of someone who lives and works in a tourist town of the future.

It's difficult to review this book without making mention of The Martian which felt like a more thought-out and well-plotted book. Whereas both integrate explanations of science, this one felt like it did so more clunkily; it didn't always feel like it was genuine to the character and instead has become a gimmick for the author (though it's worth noting that this is a gimmick I like). I also found some of the portrayal of the main character problematic from a feminist and a cultural point of view. As such, I don't see this getting the classroom adoption that The Martian has potential for, but it was still a very fun read and I have recommended it.

Amazing scifi thriller. Loved the female lead and the action

Jazz Bashara is a petty criminal who has grown up in Artemis, the first and only moon city. She gets drawn into the largest heist of her life and has to seek help from a whole team of friends and allies when things do go as planned.

Things I LOVED: 
- I love that Jazz is technically a citizen of Saudi Arabia and speaks Arabic. Her dad is Muslim and talks about engineering things to help him practice Islam on the moon. Just lovely little inclusion.
- Characters from various countries makes so much sense (I’m used to every character in sci-fi being from the US). There were groups from Hungary, Vietnam, China, Saudi Arabia, Kenya, Ukraine, and others. It was so fun to think about how international alliances would allow for this type of travel.
- The seat of lunar power was set in Kenya, and I thought that was so perfect.
- The plot was very twisty and just when you thought something had a clear resolution, something new came to turn it on its head.
- Jazz is a strong and brilliant woman, and she’s not talked down to… much.
- Weir does this thing where he details every aspect of the science behind his tanks and oxygen systems and energy systems and overexplains everything so you believe that this could really happen. I’m not sure I like it. I think it just kind of bores me, but I appreciate that he doesn’t just completely wave away the reality. I want him to be on every sci-fi writing team, though, because he does actually ask “WHY?” And “HOW?” And it shows.

Things I didn’t like:
- Andy Weir’s casual narration styles still irks me. I can’t get over the random jokes and asides the narrators make in his book.
- Jazz’s condescension was much more tolerable than Mark Watney’s, but it was still there. I think it’s just a Weir thing.
- Allusions to Jazz’s sex life happened on like every other page, and I haven’t figured out why. I’m not sure if it was an attempt to show that Jazz is an adult female who can get what she wants, or if it was an attempt to make her desirable for the male readers since she was a female lead, or if it was just a really bizarre type of humor that I missed. I was confused, though?

By the looks of other reviews, I appear to be in the minority. I really enjoyed this book. It engages you immediately from the start, it creates a new interesting environment, and a surprisingly realistic story for a caper on the moon.

I really liked the characters with the exception fully of Jazz (and the reason I am not giving the book 5 stars). I liked how the cast of characters was diverse and strong, and flips around norms of what you would expect from typical nationalities and ethnicities.

Jazz was almost a great character but I do think there was some inner monologue that was off putting and sounded less from a female voice. But she is strong.

Surely you’ve heard the news? Andy Weir, the author of The Martian (see my blog post Companions in Adversity, aboutbigbooks.tumblr,com, 2015), is out with his second sci-fi novel, Artemis (320 pp., November 14). Artemis, a moon colony, needs an asshole, and Jazz Bashara got drafted. A self-proclaimed “little person” who lives in a cubicle and pays the bills by exploiting the grey market, Jazz is tired of people telling her to stop wasting her potential. Fortunately, she has a lot of it, because she has to save the day with the tools at hand: "Me, Dale, and a bitch I didn’t like. A rover. Two EVA suits. Lots of spare air, though not enough to feed a city. Welding equipment."

Not to mention some unconventional swear words such as fusumitch and funt (“I think it’s pretty clear from context.”)

How do you live up to The Martian’s Mark Watley? You don’t. Weir made a good call in making Jazz the opposite of Mark in many ways: she’s a woman, an underachiever, and has a darker sense of humor. Weir once again brings the best of geekdom and a sense of humor to outer space.

Read if: You want the same kind of scientific ingenuity from The Martian and you’re not counting on a protagonist exactly like Mark Watley.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for some more great readingin exchange for honest reviews.

Written by the author of The Martian, Artemis takes places in the near future where humans have been able to colonize on the moon. The story’s heroine is Jazz, a witty Saudi Arabian girl who moved with her father to the moon when she was a little girl. She’s been living as a fairly successful smuggler, but then she gets brought into a fairly dangerous scheme.

OVERALL, I ENJOYED THIS BOOK.
It was fast paced and definitely a page turner. The quirkiness of each character was great. I also loved the little details about living on the earth vs the moon.

Before reading the book, one thing I heard mentioned a lot was how Andy Weir would handle writing a women’s first person perspective vs a man’s. Honestly, that part didn’t bother me at all. The only part that really irked me was Weir made the choice to make his main character a Saudi smuggler. I applaud him for choosing to make his main character an incredibly intelligent woman and weave her and her father’s heritage into the story….but it just rubs me the wrong way that he then had her become a smuggler. I’m curious to hear what other’s thoughts on this are.

Overall, go read the book. It’s a lot of fun and the ending is clearly set up for more books (if he chooses to write them).

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read "Artemis'. I was enthralled with Andy Weir's previous book "The Martian", and I did see echoes of the humor and attention to detail that was prevalent in that book.
However, "Artemis" really did not 'do it' for me. I found the story to be a bit uneven. To be honest, I don't know if I'll ever finish it.

Artemis is set on earth's first lunar colony (of the same name), a cultural mixing pot of former earth citizens (you can't be born on the moon). It is narrated by the protagonist, Jazz - a twenty six year-old genius alcoholic who lives in the city's underbelly as a kind of self-imposed atonement for mistakes made in her teenage years. When the opportunity to make a large payday morphs into a struggle to save her city from outsiders, Jazz rises to the challenge. I got this book as an airport read and was pleasantly surprised - I found myself glued to it well after I returned from my trip.. I thought I had the story pegged in the first twenty pages but the author kept surprising me. Looking back and comparing it to the Martian I realize that Mr. Weir is consistently talented in that department. This sci-fi tale of a young woman outcast is fast moving and entertaining. The casual narration style is comfortable and easy. There are a lot of colorful characters and, while they aren't very deeply developed, they have the etchings of personality and depth. .I admit to being slightly frustrated by the main character in that I found to the premise of a genius working as a porter to slowly scrape together savings unsupportable by her obviously talents - I was left wondering why she didn't amass savings quickly by applying her intellect.

Haven't read The Martian. Only saw the movie adaptation and loved it. Was so so excited to see Artemis on NetGalley and get it to embark on this journey on the moon.

The last half if this book was more exciting for me and I started appreciating Jazz in those chapters. At first I was quite annoyed with Jazz's voice and humor.

I didn't really like the storytelling in Artemis. It was all first person with Jazz narrating word to word. Made it more cartoonish or in your face kind of but that might be just me. And I don't think I have made such a fine job in explaining what I really mean by that. Ha!

This wasn't a heist on the moon. This was more like outright destruction. This didn't involve any stealing so that was misleading. But this I guess had a tiniest bit of hesity features.

I was disappointed with Artemis because it didn't thrill me with its superior heist or crime quality. It wasn't that exciting as I thought it would be. Artemis is quite cool as a place I liked how it was also divided into places with people according to their income. But I kinda don't like that either as I think being on the moon should remove that hierarchy. But alas.

Anyway, this was ok for me. I will be reading more Weir and a movie on this must be cooler than the book but that's it from my thoughts on this.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the Publishers for this review copy.

I admit that I am not a sci-fi fan but this book was great! I enjoyed the story and could visualize it as if I was watching a movie. Well done.

I've always been a science fiction buff, and I especially like sci-fi stories set in the near-distant future.  I'm also a person who loves to watch those videos about how astronauts do things in space.  The 'How Do You Wash Your Hair in Space?' video really grabbed my attention because it's a question I've often wondered myself.  I mean, how do you wash your hair in space?

And from that perspective, Artemis was a dead-on hit for me.  Weir has a great way of being scientific without being dull.  There were so many interesting details about living on the moon that I had never even considered.  Things like dealing with low gravity and what the moon-dwellers would eat and even how their monetary system works.  The world-building in the book was phenomenal.

I also enjoyed the plot.  Although this was a pretty typical heist story, the sci-fi elements made it new and exciting.  Every page brought a new challenge, and by the end of the book, I was on the edge of my seat wondering how everything would come together.

The one flaw in Artemis, however, was the main character, Jazz Bashara.  She wasn't believable.  In fact, she was the female version of Mark, the main character from The Martian.  It was as if Weir added some boobs to Mark, and called him a young woman.  The shtick and snappy patter undermined all of the excitement and drama in the plot.  Weir would be describing a potentially-lethal situation then try to lighten the mood with a lame joke.  That turned me off.

I'm at a dead even split on this book.  The setting and plot were amazing, but the main character grated on me.  Had Weir been more serious and dramatic with his writing, Artemis would have been a five-star read.  Instead, I'm giving it a three-and-a-half.

Thanks to Negalley and Crown Publishing for the review copy.

I thought this was a great book by Mr. Weir and I will certainly be reading whatever he writes next. If ye have a hankerin' to visit the moon then I suggest ye pick this one up. Just be prepared that it's a crazy time to visit.