Thursday, March 1, 2018

Artemis by Andy Weir

This is the second time around for a staff review of Andy Weir's Artemis. I am approaching this as a review from someone who has never read The Martian. I have noticed online that Weir is getting hammered by some who feel Artemis is nowhere near the quality of his first book, The Martian. I wouldn't know. Like I said, I have never read the book, nor have I seen the movie; so, rating Artemis as a stand alone effort, I will say that I found the book very entertaining.
It is the tale of small-time smuggler Jazz Bashara who finds herself in the middle of a large scale crime ring/caper at the moon's first and only colony, Artemis. The book is great in details about the colony and how Weir envisions life for the first humans permanently on the moon and how conduct it.
Jazz is a very blue talking, self-assured criminal, and by any means, no hero. Many reviewers/readers have been put off by her vocabulary and sexually-suggestive phrasing, but I think it all fits the character well. Again, the character of Jazz is no hero, but she is the main character of the book and the story is told through her viewpoint. I think Weir does a good job.
Some people feel that Weir's science is a little off when it comes to the colony and the technical aspects of what it, and the story entail. Again, I can't say this bothered me. Not being Neil deGrasse Tyson, I can't tell you how sound Weirs "science" for the story is. I just know there is plenty of action and a few problems that need to be worked out among its characters to reach a solution.
I think Artemis flows along well and keeps you turning the pages. If it were Weir's first effort as an author, I would be keeping an eye out for his second.

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