THE BASICS
- Title: Artemis
- Author: Andy Weir
- Genre: Science Fiction
- Structure: Linear first-person
- First Line: “
Synopsis: 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.
THE GOOD
Okay, to be frank, I think I had high hopes for this book because of the cover. The cover is gorgeous. And I know the age-old saying “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover”. But, I think there is the ever so slightest correlation of a good cover with a good book. A good cover signals that the publishers thought that this book was good enough to make pretty. At least, that’s how I take it as a reader. However, I’m going to be giving this book a low rating and you’ll see why below. Here are a couple things I did enjoy about the book:
- The book is witty and funny. Weir obviously has a sense of humor and I appreciate it. It’s more of a cynical, dark sense of humor, but still good.
- I’m super nerdy and any time someone gets science-y in a book, I’m all for it. For a lot of people, this was a turn-off and they skimmed through the science. I don’t mind it. If you were a nerd in school, you’ll like this part.
THE UNFAVORABLE BITS
There’s a significant amount of things that I did not like in this book. So, I’m just going to go through point by point.
First, I had no idea that the narrator and main protagonist was a woman until 20 pages in. Then, it’s like Weir had to keep reminding us that she is a “she” by putting in awkward phrases like “I’m a girl so” or “As a girl”, etc. This guy has no freaking clue how to write from a woman’s perspective. It’s frustrating as hell to read male authors that think that women must think like men because what other way is there? This is truly a male problem in the publishing community. Women don’t struggle with this. I think it’s very telling of how much misogyny is laced through this work.
Let’s not stop at misogyny. I mean, why when you can also throw in racism? The main character is supposed have family origins from the Middle East. At one point in the novel, she has to disguise herself and puts on a nijab, followed with a line taking a jab at the entire Muslim population: “Great way to wear a mask without raising suspicion”. You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. I thought things that insufferably ignorant were saved for online forums filled with people who couldn’t pass an 8th grade spelling test, not published work by a recognized author. I have zero respect for Weir and any of his past and future work.
In addition, the town pod thing (this book is set on the moon) is supposed to be run by Kenya. There’s no mention as to how Kenya came to running it or why Kenya. Even though it’s run by Kenya, the culture is distinctly American, which is another pitfall of Weir’s blatant racism and ignorance.
As always, I give you a heads up about strong language or graphics in case you’re sensitive, or if the person you’re recommending the book to is sensitive. This book does have some strong language and graphics, but honestly, why would you recommend this book anyway?
CONCLUSION
I rate this book 1/5 stars. I love the concept of life on the moon and what that would be like. I think the book has some witty moments. But I’ll be damned if I ever recommend this book. This piece of garbage is steeped in misogyny, racism, and ignorance that is the core everything wrong with the world. After reading this, I have zero respect for Weir and any of his past and future work. I’m not even going to put in my usual links to buy the book, minus the one above.
