Artemis by Andy Weir

WELCOME TO ARTEMIS. The first city on the moon.
Population 2,000. Mostly tourists.
Some criminals.

Jazz Bashara is a criminal. She lives in a poor area of Artemis and subsidises her work as a porter with smuggling contraband onto the moon. But it’s not enough.

So when she’s offered the chance to make a lot of money she jumps at it. But though planning a crime in 1/6th gravity may be more fun, it’s a lot more dangerous…

I was blown away by The Martian so I have been eagerly awaiting the next release by Andy Weir. Artemis is his latest release and having just finished reading this book I am going to start this review with a warning do not buy this book ready to compare to The Martian as you will be disappointed if you are expecting to experience the same adventure that book took you on having said that I was so captivated by Artemis but in a completely different way than I was with The Martian.

Artemis is the first city on the moon and even with a small population there is those who are intent on breaking the law. Jazz Bashara is a criminal who is involved with smuggling and she is determined to get rich and so when an offer that promises an obscene amount of money arises she accepts without realising that her life is about to be put in jeopardy.

This just HAS to be made into a film, even just a few chapters in I found I could visualise the whole setting and this is just going to be a visually noteworthy film. It was such an action packed fast paced read that had me hooked from the start to the finish. We see a determination in the main character Jazz Bashera, her character is unlike one I had read before and do you know what I loved her! She is such a flawed character who is so pig headed and has made extremely bad decisions in the past but you can’t fault her determination. She is fowl mouthed and rough around the edges but is also a very intelligent individual underneath it all.

I am not sure who this book is aimed at because I absolutely loved it and found it so entertaining and addictive but it also had a YA feel to it so I think a broad range of readers will enjoy this book. There is a lot of scientific references which I thought would just go straight over my head but I actually found quite interesting. The author describes everything in such great detail that you don't need to use your imagination as he brings everything to life even the disgusting gunk! 

This book isn't the type of book that I usually read but I haven't read a book in so long that has had me so excited and entertained I was captivated from start to finish and was actually disappointed to have finished and I haven't manage to settle into another book since.

I would definitely recommend this book and it is one of those books that I wish I could go back and read again for the first time. This is one of my top 5 books of 2017.

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