Book Review: Artemis

Artemis by Andy Weir cover art

Author: Andy Weir

Published: 2017

Format Read: Library eBook

Genre: Scifi Thriller

My Rating: 4/5 stars

I currently base my reviews loosely around the CAWPILE system developed by Book Roast on YouTube. I modify the categories depending on the format of the story I’m reviewing.

My star ratings are purely by my opinion and not measured by any particular metric.

SPOILER WARNING: This review will contain spoilers! Proceed with caution!

Summary

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.

Characters

Jazz is a smuggler with… integrity? A criminal with rules, I guess. Her character remained consistent all the way through, which is good, and she’d rather sassy, which is always fun. I’m not sure why Dale was such a jerk at the beginning, then later switches suddenly and begs to be friends again. I Expected Rudy to be a more active part in the story, like joining the plan or saving Jazz’s life somehow. Svoboda is okay, kind of a slightly clueless cutie.

Atmosphere

I sometimes tire of grim depictions of scifi living. As much as Jazz says she loves her people, sometimes it seems like she doesn’t like the colony very much. That being said, it’s a space colony. I can easily picture everything and feel the tension of Jazz’s mishaps.

Writing Style

Andy Weir’s writing style is pretty easy to read and imagine. I do wish there were fewer swear words, though. They’re just unnecessary. And I’m unsure about how needed the penpal letters were. We never get to see her friend and he only plays a peripheral part in the main story.

Plot

Jazz gets herself into trouble, then tries to use her smarts and makes more dumb choices, and then lucks into surviving. Thar’s it. That’s the story. The ‘thriller’ part didn’t start for quite a while, so some of the beginning is a little bit of a slog, but it was interesting.

Intrigue

Overall, it was pretty good, though, like I said, it took quite a while to get going.

Logic

Everything made sense, even though there were a lot of problems that were caused because Jazz doesn’t think things through all the way.

Enjoyment and Final Thoughts

Overall, I did enjoy this book, even considering buying myself a copy. I didn’t like the mayor lady at all and I wish something else had happened regarding her or something. Also, Rudy should have had some other things to do. And no one really got hurt (minus the 2 murders) (…and the injuries from the end, which don’t count in this case.)

Would I Recommend?

Yes, with reservations. Remember, there is a fair amount of swearing in this story, but the overall story was interesting. I think there were a few things that could have been adjusted to increase the enjoyment and impact of the story, but if you’re looking for a quick space jaunt, this should work.