Artemis by Andy Weir

Title: Artemis
Author: Andy Weir
Genre: Science Fiction

Synopsis: Jasmine Bashara is a young woman trying to make her way as a porter/smuggler in the first Lunar settlement, Artemis. Barely scraping by, everyone she knows is telling her she has wasted her talents and can do so much more with life. When a shady billionaire customer offers Jazz a dangerous and illegal job along with a hefty payment to match, she jumps at the offer. After beginning stage one of her brilliant plan, Jazz realizes she is in over her head and will have to call in her friends and estranged father to help save the city.

 My Thoughts

This is the second novel I have read/reviewed by Andy Weir (The Martian). I was excited to have recieved it as a gift for Christmas! As I expected, it is filled with good, factual science along with some really interesting science fiction. The ways that the Lunar city is built to allow life, the moral code that creates civilization, and the factory that produces aluminum and the oxygen needed for Artemis by smelting are all really well thought out.
I find it interesting when a male author chooses to write a story from the first person perspective of a female protagonist. Weir clearly wants to make it known that Jazz is an independent, head-strong, takes-no-crap-from-anyone kind of woman. I totally respect that. Unfortunately, I think he overdoes it by trying to shock the reader with her constant foul language and redundant references to casual sex. I'm not saying that female characters cannot use expletives and such, just that the author was trying too hard to make his protagonist 'a tough lady.' Strong female characters can be written without having to be incredibly crass.Toward the end, at the climax of the plot, Weir is too busy actually telling the story and Jazz is allowed to show that she is a strong character though actions and not her words. 
I really liked the way that the author gave the reader insight into Jazz's past. She has an email pen-pal who lives on Earth. They start emailing as a school assignment when they are probably pre-teens and continue their relationship into the present. Overall, I think this novel is pretty entertaining and worth reading.

Comment below if you have read this book or have suggestions for others like it!


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