Book Review: “Artemis” by Andy Weir

Jul 10

Håfa adai! Welcome to my review of Artemis, by Andy Weir.

This book review consists of two parts: a spoiler-free plot summary and my thoughts on the story. In the second part, I give my personal rating and break down the setting and worldbuilding, storytelling, cast of characters, and themes. There may be some lightweight spoilers—such as how characters interact with each other and the world around them—but I will not give away any major plot twists or endings. I want to share my opinions of the book and maybe encourage you to purchase a copy of your own.

Click on the tags at the bottom of this post to see all reviews with the same tags in the Science Fiction bookshelf.

Spoiler-Free Plot Summary

Artemis is human kind’s first terra-formed city on the Moon. As a lone frontier society, life on this isolated lunar community is hard for those not suspended in wealth. It is especially hard for petty criminals like Jazz Bashara. Having gone from a girl with so much potential to a woman estranged from her father, Jazz is looking for a way to finally get ahead when she is presented with a wild yet incredible opportunity. But what was supposed to be a quick, easy, and extremely illegal job becomes immensely complicated when the eyes of Artemis turn their gaze to Jazz.

My Thoughts on Artemis: 2.75 stars

Andy Weir’s Artemis is set on a terraformed city on the moon, an extraterrestrial frontier society called Artemis. Told from the first-person perspective of protagonist Jazz Bashara, Artemis utilizes storytelling techniques seen in many works of science fiction including narration that speaks directly to the reader, explaining the science (real and fictionalized) behind what is going on. Fans of this genre will also notice subtle nods to stories written by Robert A. Heinlein, an American aeronautical engineer and prolific contributor to 20th-century science fiction. In Artemis, Andy Weir utilizes complex worldbuilding to explore the effects of diaspora on family dynamics, the role of “small-crime” monopolies in a growing society, and the invisible networks behind creating large-scale economies.

In spite of the aspects of Artemis I appreciated and enjoyed, there were many things I could not get past: (1) the strange explanations of law and order on Artemis, (2) Jazz’s emotional immaturity and her dynamic with others, (3) the constant slut shaming, (4) a subplot that is never followed through, (5) a trope I do not care for, and (6) the ending. Artemis was the first book I read from Andy Weir. The reasons I removed stars from my rating of this book are entirely based on the story presented in this book and are not a comparison to other works from Andy Weir. Unless a book is a part of a series, its rating is a reflection of its own content.

The first thing that stood out to me was that the city of Artemis has absolutely strange laws. Things that would be grossly illegal on Earth are somehow legally not so bad on Artemis because of its perception as being on the “frontier” of human societies. But this city on the Moon is not 1885 Hill Valley, California, depicted in Back to the Future III. It is supposed to be the future! Perhaps this is me being nit-picky, but I would hope that a future society would have a better balance of legality and morality than popularized Hollywood notions of life on the frontier.

Second, Jazz and her dynamic with others feels off. Artemis is told from Jazz’s first-person perspective, so the reader only sees her thoughts and her side of every interaction. Jazz’s banter with other characters feels ill-timed at some parts and inappropriate at others. I felt both annoyed at Jazz’s emotional immaturity while also feeling upset for what others were putting her through. One character is her former best friend who tries to force a reconciliation of their friendship after he did something that I (personally) would never be able to look past. For me, forgiving her former best friend for what he did would be mean letting him go and saying goodbye.

Third, the amount of slut shaming throughout Artemis is completely unnecessary. It is weird that so many characters feel the need to directly or indirectly reference the amount of sex and/or number of sex partners Jazz has had in the past. Even in front of her own father! I would be livid if anyone felt the need to comment on my sex life in front of my parents! The majority of the slut shaming is aimed at Jazz, but some of it is aimed at a character who happens to be a gay man simply because he is a gay man. The alleged promiscuity of Jazz and this other character contribute nothing to the story and seem more like gross word filler.

It is not possible to fully explain why points 4, 5, and 6 do not sit well with me without giving away spoilers, so I will be intentionally brief and vague. Fourth, in a subplot that feels like an extension of the slut shaming, Jazz is repeatedly asked to use something she is clearly not comfortable using. This subplot contributes nothing to the overall story and is essentially forgotten before the end, never seeing a conclusion. Fifth, Andy Weir employs the trope of the main cast of characters having to fix a major problem that they themselves caused, which is a trope that makes me roll my eyes. And sixth, the ending is absolutely illogical!

I give Andy Weir’s Artemis 2.75 out of 5 stars. I finished the audiobook of Artemis long before creating the Bookmarks & Armchairs blog but knew I wanted to include it among my reviews here. Andy Weir’s world building weaves physical sciences, economics, and complex human dynamics into a vividly painted science fiction. The entire concept of a heist on the moon was so intriguing to me. And I appreciate (what I interpret to be) a subtle nod to Robert A. Heinlein’s work. But there are so many things about it that I just cannot look past. I re-listened to Artemis to ensure I was composing an accurate book review—and because the audiobook is so fantastically performed by Rosario Dawson—but I go back and forth about whether or not I would recommend it. Ultimately, I would say that Artemis is a great example of science fiction worldbuilding but a bad example of how to write certain types of characters, subplots, and endings.

Dångkulo' na' saina ma'åse'! Thank you so much for reading my review of Artemis by Andy Weir.

Rating Cheat Sheet

4.75 - 5.00 stars: Everyone should read this book! (If you’re into that sort of thing.)
4.00 - 4.50 stars: I appreciated many aspects of this book. I recommend it!
3.00 - 3.75 stars: I liked some aspects of this book. I won’t revisit it, but someone else might really like it.
2.00 - 2.75 stars: There were some things I appreciated about this book, but I do not recommend it.
0.25 - 1.75 stars: I do not recommend this book. I did not enjoy or appreciate the experience of it.

Post Date: 30 December 2024