Artemis by Andy Weir

January 19th, 2018 Kimberly Review 23 Comments

19th Jan
Artemis by Andy Weir
Artemis
by Andy Weir
Narrator: Rosario Dawson
Length: 8 hours and 59 minutes
Genres: Science Fiction
Source: Purchase
Purchase*: Amazon | Audible *affiliate
Goodreads
Rating: One StarOne StarOne StarOne Star
Narration: 4 cups

The bestselling author of The Martian returns with an irresistible new near-future thriller—a heist story set on the moon

Jazz Bashara is a criminal.

Well, sort of. Life on Artemis, the first and only city on the moon, is tough if you're not a rich tourist or an eccentric billionaire. So smuggling in the occasional harmless bit of contraband barely counts, right? Not when you've got debts to pay and your job as a porter barely covers the rent.

Everything changes when Jazz sees the chance to commit the perfect crime, with a reward too lucrative to turn down. But pulling off the impossible is just the start of her problems, as she learns that she's stepped square into a conspiracy for control of Artemis itself—and that now, her only chance at survival lies in a gambit even riskier than the first.

thriller fantasy snarky scifi

I absolutely loved The Martian by Andy Weir on audio and knew I had to grab his newest novel Artemis as well. Narrated by Rosario Dawson Weir takes us to the Moon and we soon find ourselves caught up in a daring caper where one wrong move could mean death.

Caffeinated Aspects:

  • We’ve colonized the MOON! Artemis is a futuristic city on the moon with residences and is a booming tourist resort.
  • Weir is an incredible storyteller and his world-building while part geek beautifully brings the world to life. You could imagine the long thin corridors, see the chambers and experience first hand what it might be like to live on the moon.
  • The story is well paced and follows Jazz a twenty-something woman who hails from Saudi Arabia but has lived on Artemis since she was six years old. She is brilliant and trained as a welder but currently works as a porter. She is estranged from her father, broke and makes money on the side smuggling in contraband. Snarky, temperamental and definitely marches to her own drum.
  • Jazz is snarky, quick-witted and just tells things like it is. She made me laugh.
  • Jazz is asked to perform a risky task but the payoff is too tempting and she takes the job. When things go amuck, she soon finds a much deeper problem that will affect the colony. Suspense, danger, investigations, collaborations and the risk of getting caught or worse blown up made for a page-turner that kept me listening.
  • Secondary characters added interest and were unique enough that I could visualize them. Jazz has some history including an ex-boyfriend, ex-friend, fan, a few enemies, and a pen pal from Saudia Arabia that she considers her closes friend. All of them will play a part in this maddening caper.
  • Diversity! I loved the diverse society that inhabits Artemis and the natural way they were present. From sexuality to nationality it was refreshing.
  • Rosario Dawson is a new to me narrator and one who perfectly captured Jazz. Her males voices were well done, as well as her accents. I easily slipped into the story and enjoyed listening to her voice(s).
  • I loved the thought-provoking physics, chemistry and political aspects of maintaining a thriving colony off planet.
  • Scientific jargon and details fed my inner nerd and felt plausible. I loved each little detail and felt it helped build the suspense and danger while bringing Artemis to life in 3-D.
  • Snark and witty commentary much like we found in The Martian were present. While I did not enjoy this as much as The Martian Dawson’s narration made this better, I still totally recommend it for fans of Weir’s work and science fiction thrillers.
  • Standalone. In a world of series and trilogies, there is nothing more refreshing than a standalone read 🙂

Decaffeinated Aspects:

  • Jazz is a lot like Mark from the Martian and I worried this would fall flat. Honestly, at first, she felt like a carbon copy of him and I worried that Weir only had one good character in him. Have no fear she does develops and I loved this spunky, take no prisoners woman. Outwardly she oozes confidence and in some ways, she is. This is because she depends on herself, but we also saw her vulnerability. I love complex characters who behave like a teen one moment and a friggin superhero the next.
  • The ending was gripping, but I had a hard time believing reactions from others on Artemis.

Artemis was a fast paced off planet thriller that was entertaining. I recommend grabbing this one on audio, Dawson was brilliant.

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About Kimberly
Kimberly is a coffee loving book addict who reads and listens to fictional stories in all genres. Whovian, Ravenclaw, Howler and proud Nonna. She owns and manages Caffeinated PR. The coffee is always on and she is ready to chat. Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

23 Responses to “Artemis by Andy Weir”

  1. Kimberly @ Turning the Pages

    This one popped up in one of my Goodreads groups today as a book of the month pick for Februrary. I had no idea until today that Weir wrote another book. I’m glad you mentioned that Jazz does seem to come into her own as a character as some of the reviews I saw said she was meh. Glad to see this one seems to be worth the hype.

  2. Jennifer

    I grabbed this one but after having technical issues with the download I returned it. I plan on grabbed it again and giving it a go at some point.

  3. S. J. Pajonas

    Wasn’t Rosario Dawson just the PERFECT voice for this book? I so loved this audiobook and it was definitely in my Top 5 for last year. <3

  4. Suzanne

    Great review, Kim. I really enjoyed Artemis too. I had the same initial thoughts about Jazz being almost a carbon copy of Mark Watney from The Martian. I was glad when the character started to develop and the similarities seemed to lessen as I moved through the early chapters.

  5. Jackie Briere

    Thanks for sharing Artemis with us Kim! I would have never known about it otherwise I’m sure. Living on the moon does sound exciting and even welcoming. I am happy you enjoyed it and it is good to hear that it is standalone.

  6. Karen Blue

    I rated this 4 stars as well. I am so glad to hear Rosario did such a great job narrating this. I just love her. I totally agree with your assessment of Jazz and the ending. Great review!

  7. Ailyn

    Your points are certainly valid, when I read ARtemis I was like: Andy Weir can’t too multiple characters very well. The Martian had slightly less people to know and follow, so it was a lot neater and more believable I guess

  8. Debbie Haupt

    Oh I want I want Kim. Thanks for the great review. You know its really hard to follow a book like The Martian and I’m glad that Jazz got better for you

  9. Sophia Rose

    I still need to tackle The Martian, but I’m glad to know it wasn’t a one-hit wonder. Thanks for breaking it down so nicely, Kimberly!

  10. Tyler H. Jolley

    Awesome review! I’m glad it didn’t fall flat, I know second books can be so hard.

  11. Bookworm Brandee

    Yay! I’m so happy to hear that Weir’s sophomore outing wasn’t a dud. 🙂 Artemis sounds like it’s well written, with great world building. And I love the sound of Jazz! I still haven’t read The Martian but I’ll get around to Weir’s work eventually. 🙂

  12. Jo

    I’ve heard loads of amazing things about this book, it’s on my reading list already, I’m glad you’ve enjoyed it 🙂

  13. JJ @ This Dark Material

    I’ve read a lot of mixed reviews about Artemis, which is why I haven’t picked it up yet. You pointed out a lot of things that I like in a story though, so I’m slowly coming around to finally reading this 🙂

  14. Olivia

    Great review, thank you for sharing your thoughts 🙂 Sadly, I really did not enjoy this one and the fact Jazz is a carbon copy of The Martian and basically behaved like a teenage boy with breasts was something I could not get over. I hear you say she develops but I gave up on it halfway through. Also the technical aspect bothered me this time around. In The Martian it was great, here I found it boring. Oh well… different tastes and all 🙂

  15. Ethan

    I’m happy to see you enjoyed this one as much as I did! I agree about the ending. It was a bit unbelievable that the other citizens just let Jazz walk away after all of that.

  16. Melanie Simmons

    I LOVED The Martian too. I wasn’t sure what I would think of this one. From every review I’ve read, it is good, but not The Martian good. I’m glad to hear that it isn’t just another retelling. I’m sure I will get to this one someday. Great review.

  17. Jolene Wilson

    Perfect review! I enjoyed this book very much but I still like The Martian better. I wonder if they will make a movie of this one too. I totally agree it is nice to read a stand alone! Yikes! Everything seems to be a series these days.

  18. Kathryn Trask

    Hmm I’ve been looking at this audiobook nervously for awhile because I loved The Martian so much, however your review has told me I need not fear, so now keen to listen.