“Artemis” by Andy Weir - Review

General Thoughts and Feelings

I really, really wanted to like this book. I think Sci-Fi as a genre is so creative and compelling. That, combined with the fact that I’ve heard really great things about the other works by this author, only fueled my excitement. Unfortunately, I probably should have read one of those works instead. Or here’s to hoping that when I get around to reading them, I find that Artemis was the weakest novel of all three. But let me start out with what did work in this novel. I did think the general setting of the book was well done, however I found that the descriptions could be hard to follow at times. I found the inclusion of Earth politics that  resulted from the colonization of the moon in the novel was intriguing and still was believable enough to make the book conceivably realistic. But that's as far as I could go in terms of things I did like about the book.

I think my biggest issue could be traced to the main character. If you want a 101 course on how not write a female character, I would use this book to teach the class. Jazz as a character should have been interesting. But her execution was so poorly handled any excitement I had about the character quickly wilted and died within the first few pages. Fortunately for Jazz (but unfortunately for the reader), she wasn’t the only flat and boring character. Which allowed the reader to take in the setting and focus on the plot… which also felt severely lacking. There wasn’t nearly enough tension or conflict to keep a less dedicated reader engaged. And it was an effort indeed. I was promised heists, crime and high stakes tension that makes one wish they were able to read faster. Instead, a large portion of the book reads like a welders how-to guide. And interested in wielding I am not. And while I was determined to finish the book, I found myself wishing I’d never picked up this book or spent my hard earned money on it. So this book has been banished to the resale pile. Here’s to hoping I find more luck with a different novel by this author.

Rating

Character: 0.5/2 - not particularly unlikeable (because that would make them interesting god forbid) but just plain boring and flat

Setting: 1/2 -  I gave this one a point because some of the most interesting aspects of the setting happen in the background. Congrats to an author for describing a moon colony in a way that makes me not want to visit

Plot: 0.5/2 - I could not tell you a single thing about what actually happened in this book apart from wielding and an organized black market (?)

Pacing: 1/2 - this book has its moments of intrigue but it definitely drags for the majority of it

Reaction: 1/2 - this book inspired such a keen such of rage and betrayal for an amazing premise but such a disappointing execution I’m not quite sure how else to react

Points: 4/10

Rating: ⭐️⭐️