Artemis
A Novel
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4.1 • 166 Ratings
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
The bestselling author of The Martian returns with an irresistible new near-future thriller—a heist story set on the moon.
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. Sure, it requires her to graduate from small-time smuggler to full-on criminal mastermind. And it calls for a particular combination of cunning, technical skills, and large explosions—not to mention sheer brazen swagger. But Jazz has never run into a challenge her intellect can’t handle, and she figures she’s got the ‘swagger’ part down.
The trouble is, engineering the perfect crime is just the start of Jazz’s problems. Because her little heist is about to land her in the middle of a conspiracy for control of Artemis itself.
Trapped between competing forces, pursued by a killer and the law alike, even Jazz has to admit she’s in way over her head. 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.
Propelled by its heroine’s wisecracking voice, set in a city that’s at once stunningly imagined and intimately familiar, and brimming over with clever problem-solving and heist-y fun, Artemis is another irresistible brew of science, suspense, and humor from #1 bestselling author Andy Weir.
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.
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.
Artemis
Great read, could not put it down