Book Review: Artemis

Review by Maxine Swanson

First off, let me say I’m not a science fiction/fantasy fan by any means. I just picked up Artemis by Andy Weir because I’d read his The Martian and thoroughly enjoyed it. Also, I like the author’s own story. (I’ll let you discover that on your own!) Oh, and one more thing…the book has maps. And I’m a sucker for books with maps.

I especially enjoy books that are character-driven…and Artemis most definitely is. Jazz, the main character, reminded me of Lisabet Salander, the brilliant but very troubled star of Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson…both of them edgy, naughty (to put it mildly), sassy, brave …and on the side of justice even though it might not always seem that way. Let me say here that it took me several pages to realize Jazz was female and hardly more than just a kid.

I’ll confess that the book began slowly, but then every book I read does until I become acquainted with the characters and the “lay of the land”…or in this case, “the lay of the moon.” You see, Artemis is a colony, population 2000, on the moon.

Artemis has everything…scientific accuracy, intrigue, nail-biting non-stop action…even romance…and an ending that’s a little bit moralistic and a lot satisfying.