Artemis

by Andy Weir
265 pgs

Andy Weir hit a grand slam with his debut novel The Martian. After self-publishing it and offering it for 99¢ as an e-book, it became so popular that soon an audiobook version as created, production on a major film starring Matt Damon began, and finally a physical edition of the book was released, which was an immediate bestseller...in that order. That kind of success from a first-time novelist would justifiably make any writer envious. But with that level of success comes the not-so-envious problem of what to do next.

With Artemis, Weir doesn't stray very far from the formula that worked so well for him the first time. This time it's the Moon, instead of Mars that he uses for his location. And it's a 26-year-old woman named Jasmine (Jazz), who grew up in Artemis--the Moon's first and only city--who plays the role of protagonist.

Jazz and her father relocated to the Moon when she was only six. Her father, a master welder, provided a good life for the two of them helping to build and maintain Artemis. When she grew up, Jazz took a job as a porter, delivering goods and materials that would regularly arrive at Artemis from Earth, but she found a far more lucrative career arranging and  smuggling contraband to its certain citizens. It was in that role that Jazz was introduced to the city's wealthiest and most corrupt businessman, Trond Ladvik.

Eventually Trond pitches a job to Jazz that is far riskier than anything she's ever been involved in. But with it comes a potential payday that would set her up for life. She agrees to the perform the job, but when things don't go as planned, the consequences end up endangering the lives of the 2,000+ inhabitants of Artemis.

There are a lot of things I liked about this book. The level of science Weir manages to pack into his story is impressive, and he does it in such a way that it adds depth to the story. Jazz, like Watney was in The Martian, is a protagonist easy to get behind and pull for, even though she's essentially a criminal. The story moves along at a good pace, and even though the action takes place at a sixth of Earth's gravity, it's still exciting.

Where Artemis falls a little short is in Weir's character development. For all intents and purposes, The Martian only had one character that Weir had to develop, so the job of doing so was far easier than it was this time around, where there are multiple key and side characters needing to be fleshed out. Weir is obviously a very smart and talented writer, and I'm confident that over time his character development will improve. I'm looking forward to many more books to come, and I'm excited to see where they all take place.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆