Artemis: A Lunar Thriller That Doesn't Quite Lift Off

Andy Weir’s Moon colony tale blends science and suspense but struggles to create characters worth rooting for.

Key Points:

A Moon colony where wealth, work and opportunity are unevenly distributed.

Jazz, a small-time smuggler, risks everything for a chance at money and a better life.

An ambitious espionage plan raises the stakes, but the characters and outcome don’t fully satisfy.

This is Andy Weir’s second novel, also set in space. His first one, The Martian, was a huge success and of course became a successful film starring Matt Damon. I have seen the film but haven’t read the book, so I was unfamiliar with Andy Weir’s writing.

Weir’s book, Artemis, is also set in space, but this time much closer to home – on the Moon. 2000 people now live on the Moon. Some people are very rich, but most are working in supporting the structure and the industries there. There are also tourists on the Moon and of course some criminals.

Jazz is our protagonist. She is a porter on the Moon, which means, she shuttles deliveries from the arrival port throughout the various buildings that make up the moon colony. She has a little smuggling operation going on for those who need extra things that might be illegal, such as, high end products and luxuries. She has a contact on Earth who makes it happen.

A couple of very interesting contextual things to note. The first is that Kenya has become the powerhouse in space matters and is the launch point for all matters going to and from the Moon. Secondly, the way the science about gravity, pressure, oxygen and living conditions is explained is very interesting and adds to the story. It’s technical enough without being too detailed.

Jazz is very bright but bored with the day to day and has fallen out with her dad who is a welder on the Moon. The hierarchy and allocation of jobs is also explained and like on Earth, people with different national backgrounds have gravitated to particular specialist fields. Jazz has been on the moon since she was 6, and she is now in her late twenties, so she is definitely fully acclimatised and returning to Earth would be the worst thing that could happen to her, the ultimate punishment.

Also interestingly there is no official law enforcement nor weapons, but there is justice and it seems to work cleanly and nicely. The boundaries are clear.

The story moves along at a good pace, once it finally gets going. Backgrounds are laid out and relationships and professional hierarchies are clear.

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For me Jazz is just a bit unrelatable. And as such I don’t feel the need to cheer for her, nor her plans and the outcome of an enormous espionage plan that occupies the back third of the book. I just don’t really care enough about them. This is not because she is a petty criminal. She cares about people and her impact on them. She is conscious of her poor choices and is hurt by various relationships and wants to compartmentalise them which is all very relatable.

But in the end, it just didn’t really matter. The big plan is bold, full of things that could go wrong, and unexpected events which causes the plan to pivot. This results in outcomes and solutions which are a bit too far-fetched. (Yes, I know the concept pf a Moon colony still seems far-fetched, but not impossible). People rise to the occasion, and we get to a conclusion. No spoiler alerts here, but will Jazz come out OK and get what she really desires? You need to get very close to the end to see what happens.

I love a fast paced thriller. But the lack of substance, and for me, likeability of the characters just didn’t work.

⭐⭐(2.5)

Feature image: Penguin Books