Review of "Artemis: A Science Fiction Novel" by Andy Weir

 

Jasmine (Jazz) Bashara has been living in Artemis, the only city on the moon, since she was six-years-old.

The daughter of Muslim master welder Ammar Bashar, twentysomething Jazz is a bit of a wild card - a brilliant young woman who refuses to take up a 'laudable' profession.



Instead Jazz works as a porter, picking up and delivering goods. Mostly, Jazz conveys products shipped from Earth. When a shuttle arrives, Jazz picks up merchandise at the Port of Entry and brings it to the appropriate buyer.



Jazz - who's an enterprising young woman - takes advantage of her job to smuggle in contraband items ordered by her 'clients.' This includes things like: expensive cigars;



Cigarette lighters;



Pure ethanol;



Electronics;



Illegal chemicals;



.....and more. The money (called slugs) that Jazz earns by smuggling augments her meager salary, but the porter is still dirt poor. Jazz's living quarters amount to a bunk in a closet.....with a shared bathroom down the hall. And her food consists of gunk - mush made from algae.

Jazz is always scheming to make more money, because she has a debt of 417,000 slugs.....and she wants a decent apartment. So when one of Jazz's customers, Trond Landvik (one of the 'richest richfucks in town') asks her to sabotage Sanchez Aluminum - so he can take over the company - Jazz agrees to do it.....for 1,000,000 slugs.



Jazz plans a complex, dangerous caper to destroy Sanchez's equipment, but things go wrong and a murder ensues. Moreover, it looks like Jazz's life is in danger as well.



Turns out Sanchez Aluminum is owned by a Brazilian crime syndicate called 'O Palácio', whose leaders don't appreciate people messing with their factory.



Moreover, O Palácio is apparently scheming to take control of Artemis's economy by hijacking the manufacture of a valuable technology called ZAFO. Artemis's administrator - a Kenyan woman called Fidelis Ngugi - wants to stop the Brazilians.....so she gives Jazz 'the wink' to do something about them.



Jazz cooks up a complicated scheme to thwart O Palácio', and enlists the help of her family and friends. The dangerous escapade - which involves a lot of cutting and welding - is described in minute detail.....but I found it hard to picture. (Maybe it will be clearer when the movie comes out. LOL) Jazz's scheme doesn't unfold quite as planned, but she's a resourceful gal who can think - and act - fast.



To me Jazz is a likable, spirited saboteur who drinks beer, curses like a sailor.....and gamely agrees to test a re-usable condom invented by a friend/client. I enjoyed Jazz's correspondence with her Earth penpal, Kelvin Otieno, who she 'met' at the age of nine. Jazz and Kelvin become close friends, exchange confidences, and become partners in the smuggling business.

Other memorable parts of the story include: the author's description of Artemis - which seems like a place that could really exist;



....the manner in which Rudy - the head cop on Artemis - administers justice to a wife beater (this is stellar!); Jazz's interest in Arabic gossip sites - which she frequently cruises on her Gizmo (a sort of smartphone/electronic wallet); 



.....and Jazz's contentious but loving relationship with her dad.....who did the best he could in difficult circumstances.

My major criticism of the book is the over-description of Artemis's construction and the (often) hard-to-understand science. This is unnecessary and tedious.....and it slows down the story at the most exciting moments.

Overall, this is an entertaining adventure story in an unusual setting - with a large array of engaging characters. I'd recommend the book to fans of science fiction/action novels.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author (Andy Weir), and the publisher (Crown) for a copy of the book. 

Rating: 3.5 stars