Title: Artemis
Author: Andy Weir
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 320
Rating: 3 of 5
Upcoming Publication Date: November 14, 2017 – thanks to NetGalley for an eARC!
Like many (most?) people interested in this book, I decided to read it because I enjoyed the author’s The Martian. I think that any author’s next work after a wildly popular book (especially if it is not a sequel) has a hard time living up to the hype, and that is certainly the case with Artemis. The adventures of a petty criminal drawn into dangerous intrigue in the only city on the moon has its good points, but it didn’t wow me.
The edge-of-your-seat pacing of the criminal plots that drive the story was excellent and is what kept me reading. The pace only lets up when the author/characters describe the science behind what is going on (whether everyday life in the moon colony or the most recent criminal shenanigans). Personally, I love this aspect of Weir’s style, but those who aren’t into science might find it annoying.
Most chapters ended in a cliff-hanger way where you could almost hear *dun-dun–DUN* suspense music, which was maybe a bit cheesy but kept me interested anyway. Some of the action, especially during the final crime and its aftermath, ranges into the unbelievable, but that’s par for the course in a criminal caper kind of book so it didn’t bother me.
What did bother me was the characterization. The protagonist/narrator was just not a pleasant person. She is an immature, angry, foul-mouthed, self-loathing petty criminal with a huge chip on her shoulder. Even though she is 26 she interacts with everyone as if she were a sullen teenager and continually makes monumentally foolish decisions even though she is probably a mechanical genius and apparently a criminal mastermind. Most of the other characters are pretty flat, and the way most people react to the final caper once the dust settles is not very believable.
Overall, this is probably worth reading if you like Weir’s style (and don’t mind quite a bit of profanity), but don’t expect the same quality as The Martian.
Joelendil's Kingdom of Books 
Just finished this and had a lot of fun. Jazz’s character is definitely something of an acquired taste, I figure she either grows on a reader or she doesn’t. I really think Weir dropped the ball on her characterization, he was probably trying for “bold, spunky young woman” and somehow only managed “childish teenage girl”.
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Yes, I think you’ve described the characterization problem perfectly!
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Great review! I enjoyed this book, but get what you mean about it not being as good as the Martian- but I was pretty entertained by it 😀
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He really does know how to keep a story rolling and hold your attention! Usually if a character annoys me as much as Jazz did I’d end up giving the book 2 stars and possibly a DNF, but between the science and action Weir kept me hooked.
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Yes for sure. I can understand that- I mean, I didn’t have a problem with her (although a few things niggled, I just brushed them off) but I can definitely see why it bothered you and a few other people. Well that’s good at least!
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