Goodreads Choice Award Winner for Science Fiction
Bewertet mit 3 Sternen
What's it about:
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.
“It’s a simple idiot-proofing scheme that’s very effective. But no idiot-proofing can overcome a determined idiot.”
My opinion:
9 things you need to know about Artemis
1. Artemis is the second novel by Andy Weir. Like The Martian, the book is undated but set roughly seventy years in the future.
2. This time we’re on the moon. The title Artemis refers to the name of the first lunar city, population 2,000.
3. As in any city, there’s dirty politics and an underclass of workers, criminals and chancers.
4. You might be surprised by who is winning the space race…
5. The moon has 1/6th of the Earth’s gravity. Which means that on the moon anyone can run faster, jump higher.. it's basically like being a superhero.
6. Duct tape is back! But no potatoes. There is gunk though…
7. Gunk is a food substance derived from algae and grown in vats. It’s made palatable (barely) by flavourings. It’s what most average people eat in Artemis. (Unless you’re rich and can afford to import those potatoes).
8. The main character is Jazz Bashara. She’s a young criminal - witty, awesome and every bit as memorable as Mark Watney.
9. Artemis is a standalone novel. It doesn’t feature Mark Watney - though we do wonder what would happen if Mark met Jazz in the future...
With this note I've been approved to read Artemis thanks to Netgalley. As you can see on my blog, I'm usually not that much into Sci-Fi, so when I got to read The Martian some years back, it was out of my norm. I tremendously enjoyed it, as you can read here.
So, Artemis huh?! Let's see... What probably everyone knows is, is that Andy Weir got rejected with the Martian so many times, that he started selfpublishing. What i want to say: professionals thought his writing wasn't good. Guess what? I agree to that.
I'm sure he is a funny guy, I do like some of his ideas. What I loved about the Martian was that you really never knew if Mark would survive or not. That the technicalities were nescessary to the story. That his humor made kinda sense.
Jazz on the other hand... is basically Mark in a female body, but without all the rest. So while I read that she is a woman, she never felt like one to me. I don't care all too much if the narrative is female or male, so for me Jazz was just genderless most of the times.
Her humor was way out of place and most of the time not funny.
"I knew what I had to do- I just didn't like it. I'd have to blow the remaining two at the same time.
Please don't quote that last sentence out of context."
My critic with Mark had been that he never really had a meltdown. The answer: He only recorded a log when he was in a stable mood.
Jazz isn't recording anything, but is still talking to the audience, it's still all treated as a journal kind of thing. Which doesn't work. She's the local lunar tramp, poor, and willing to smuggle for a little extra cash. She needs a certain amount of money and agrees to do a bigger heist for 1 Million Slugs ( Artemis money). Problem with this? I really don't care. She doesn't either, or so it seems. And for someone poor she sure is using a lot of money!
Oh, and she is super duper smart. Yeah, ok. And the many hints on her being a tramp were really unnecessary. Especially this conversation with her father:
"This may shock you, but I haven't had sex with anyone in this room."
"Well, it's a small room."
Side Characters were ok, but the interactions always felt weird. For ones I was sure I had her eventual Love interest figured out as she is mentioning how hot he is all the time. But the guy who's getting the part was really surprising, at least for me. And unnecessary. This book wouldn't have needed a lovestory.
Andy Weir also puts in many many diverse characters from so many different races. It's really greatly put together, without much fuss about it! I loved this and wished it would always be this naturally included. Jazz being from Saudi Arabia didn't do anything special to her character, except her father being muslim, and that's how I think it should be treated. We're all from earth either way, even the artemisians.
Don't get me wrong, I finished the book in 3 days. It really entertained me. The way Ben Stillers Tower Heist did. You can relax, don't think to much ( because Andy tells you everything), eat a snack. Nice and easy, no drama.
I liked the bits that actually involved information on living on the moon and the society structure.
So, you get humor, some action scences involving science, a little bit of moon, not so deep characters, and not so many feelings. Sounds like a book for you?