Artemis
A Novel
-
-
4.0 • 200 Ratings
-
-
- $15.99
Publisher Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the renowned author of Project Hail Mary and The Martian comes a “propulsive” (NPR) tale of science, suspense, and humor—a heist story set on the moon.
“An action-packed techno-thriller of the first order.”—USA Today
Jasmine Bashara never signed up to be a hero. She just wanted to get rich.
Not crazy, eccentric-billionaire rich, like many of the visitors to her hometown of Artemis, humanity’s first and only lunar colony. Just rich enough to move out of her coffin-sized apartment and eat something better than flavored algae. Rich enough to pay off a debt she’s owed for a long time.
So when a chance at a huge score finally comes her way, Jazz can’t say no. But engineering the perfect crime is just the start of her problems—because her little heist is about to land her in the middle of a conspiracy for control of Artemis herself.
Trapped between competing forces, pursued by a killer and the law alike, she’ll have to hatch a truly spectacular scheme to have a chance at staying alive and saving her city.
Jazz is no hero, but she is a very good criminal.
That’ll have to do.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Andy Weir isn’t optimistic about humans inhabiting the moon. The author of the runaway bestseller The Martian imagines the the first lunar city, Artemis, as an expensive capitalist outpost where money talks and corporations talk loudest. Like his debut’s hero, astronaut Mark Watney, Weir’s protagonist Jazz Bashara—a down-on-her-heels porter—is scrappy, flawed, and likeable. Her hopes for a better life seem like an impossible dream until she receives a proposition from an eccentric, wealthy Norwegian. We loved following Jazz’s scheme as it nearly spirals out of control. Artemis is full of thrilling twists and intricate dystopian visions.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Jazz Bashara, the heroine of this superior near-future thriller from bestseller Weir (The Martian), grew up in Artemis, the moon's only city, where she dreams of becoming rich. For now, she works as a porter, supplementing her legal income by smuggling contraband. She hopes that her situation can improve drastically after she's offered an impossible-to-refuse payday by wealthy entrepreneur Trond Landvik, who has used her in the past to get cigars from Earth. Trond asks Jazz to come up with a way to sabotage a competitor so that he can take over the moon's aluminum industry. She develops an elaborate and clever plan that showcases her resourcefulness and intelligence, even as she continues to have misgivings about her client's true agenda, suspicions borne out by subsequent complications. The sophisticated worldbuilding incorporates politics and economics, as well as scientifically plausible ways for a small city to function on the lunar surface. The independent, wisecracking lead could easily sustain a series. Weir leavens the hard SF with a healthy dose of humor.
Customer Reviews
Great
Original and fun to read.
Cringeworthy main character
I found myself growing to hate the main character, and the dreadfully annoying writing that goes along with her.
Yes we get it - a female character that has sex. I swear it comes up multiple times every chapter.
Deece
Not as good as The Martian, but hits the spot if you’re into science/space stuff. Tough writing a story with a female protagonist as a dude - a bit of a tough sell at times - but hats off to Weir for taking on a worthy challenge. This could have read like The Martian 2, but it was totally it’s own thing - thanks for not trying to sell me on your sequel Andy, and thanks for not forcing me to imagine Matt Damon as the main character.