Book Review: Artemis by Andy Weir

Title: Artemis
Author: Andy Weir
Publisher: Del Ray
Release Date: 14th November 2017
Synopsis: 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 Jazz's 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 more unlikely than the first. 

Review: We all talk about the moon a lot and what life would be like to live there, especially the more realistic it becomes that Will.I.Am and Richard Branson will probably be there in the next few years (at a push). But think no more Andy Weir has done it for you and with a kick ass character. 

From the off set you want to be friends with Jazz. She has this open conversational tone that doesn't hold back. As a lone wolf on a small planet, and an independent one at that she's carved her own path and made her life harder. It was honest so you saw her flaws as much as anything else and this was important to the readers connection to the book as she drove the book forward.  

The moon was more structured than we all imagined. So many rules and regulations, and whilst this is obvious, there was a lot of the science within this that for me just got a bit lost in the narrative and distracted me. But it was great to have technology play this crucial role. It was a bit of a mind trip to have to remember the lack of gravity and the way this affected movement, but in that respect was quite cinematic. The book was very visual in all its aspects, it was like watching a movie where the lead character broke the 4th wall and talked at you. 

There was good pace and I enjoyed the plot. Within the overarching story line there was family drama, internal politics, friendship, love and a lot of comedy. All these little things that built to become the heart of the book that gave it that extra meaning and to show that although they live on the moon we're all still human. 

This was a good accessible fun read. Its one of those books that'll keep you going for nice Sunday afternoon or a long train ride and that i'll remember the laughs I had from it.