"Artemis"

“Artemis”

Written by Andy Weir

Reviewed by Diana Iozzia

 

“Artemis” is a very well-crafted, researched, and interesting novel, but unfortunately, I was highly disappointed with the plot, main characters, and most of the dialogue.

Andy Weir, most notable for his first novel, “The Martian” is a writer, scientist, and all-around brain. Weir creates complex and strong science fiction, which cannot always be understood, for those who do not understand complex science. His first novel was easier to understood, because his character, Mark Watney, explained everything that he was doing in his Sol diary. However, Jazz Bashara, main character of “Artemis” explained very little.

Jazz’s motivations in “Artemis” were interesting. Growing up as a poorer individual, whose parents worked their way up into success, Jazz was not particularly motivated to succeed. After she and her parents moved to Artemis, the first colony on the moon, she seems to have fallen a little from grace. As an adult, Jazz is a smuggler, working illegally to move items to the moon from her sources on Earth. Jazz becomes embroiled in a government conspiracy, as she takes on a difficult and highly dangerous mission.

Heist stories are not within the realm of my interest. Space and science fiction are interests of mine, however, I struggle to understand most of the science aspects in this story. This is a “me problem”, but I wish that I was able to understand the story more. Thus, I do understand that to enjoy the extent of the story, you might need to be more science-minded than I am, but I felt that there is a select group of science fiction readers that could understand every aspect of this story.

Elements of “Artemis” are highly interesting and appealing to learn about. I enjoyed learning about the world within this story more than I enjoyed the story. We learn about the currency, locations, laws, politicians, and history that would exist after we humans live on Earth. Catching up on this fantastic piece of science fiction was really enjoyable. The world of “Artemis” was so unique and well-created, especially the different factions of people and the cities in which they lived. Unfortunately, the plot let this story down for me. I hope that Weir continues Jazz’s life in following books, because I did see some potential for sequels. However, if it was created maybe a little less complex and with a different type of story, I think I could really enjoy a continuation.

In conclusion, I was not a big fan of this story. I like reading modern science fiction, and I absolutely plan to continue reading future works of Weir. I rated this book at 3 out of 5 stars. Weir’s comedy and great dialogue still absolutely shone through, and I’d love an adaptation, similar to the film made from “The Martian”.

"The Martian"

"The Martian" by Andy Weir
Review written by Diana Iozzia




I read this book last summer, 2016, during my lunch breaks at work and when my preschool students were sleeping. For a book to read while eating a sandwich, it wasn't too bad. I enjoyed the plot, I'm always interested in reading about a rescue mission. The idea that it was on Mars added to the appeal. The story starts out with Mark Watney being left for dead by his team, as they head back to Earth. Luckily so, he is alive. Mark finds himself hurt, but not hurt enough to be in complete danger.

Mark uses his botany skills to assess how he can conserve his food and survive on Mars in his HAB unit, which is the leftover hut that they used during their mission. He plants potatoes, conserves food, works out, repairs the HAB, and tries to restore communication to NASA.

This book is interesting, because it paints a seemingly realistic portrait of what it would be like to be lost on Mars. Each diary entry of his is told, keeping tracks of the days as "sols" rather than Earth days, which makes sense. I personally enjoyed this book also, because the public relations team on Earth and the NASA unit on Earth are very funny. This book is very comedic and charming.

The most important part of the book is unfortunately the most boring part. Him learning to survive! Planting lots and lots of potatoes. Oh, no. That's broken. Gotta go fix that. Oh, no, the potatoes are in danger. Oh, no, something else broke. I feel like a solid half of the book is literally just about broken space parts and potatoes. 

I would personally just recommend watching the film. I read the book before the film, and I felt that all of the important prose in the book was in the film. All of the nonimportant prose was shown in montage sequences and talked about in Mark's short diary entries onscreen.