Literary Progress goes “PING”
A short review of Artemis by Andy Weir by R.A. Stark
I am secure enough in my reading list to say that I have had a copy of Artemis sitting on my “To Read” list for months and I have totally failed to pick it up. This would be normal in my life except for one thing, I have consumed The Martian in all three forms I have it (Physical Copy, Audiobook, and Movie) nearly a hundred times, quite often while eating freshly cooked potatoes. (A fact that many have commented on as being “sick”)
So finally, instead of doing my usual work of writing or working on editing tasks, I picked up Artemis and said “what the heck, lets see if Andy does it again.”
GUESS WHAT FOLKS! I have a new regular read. Be warned, there may be some LIGHT spoilers but I will avoid plot as much as possible.
Now be prepared, this isn’t your granddaddys moonbase we’re talking about here, and I fell in love as much with Jazz’s narrative as I did with the fact that we’re basically talking about a transplanting of the Human Condition to our nearby celestial sibling and all the disappointing slime that comes with it (and that they eat, #gunk anyone?). This isn’t distant this is real and the people and players here, unlike in The Martian, aren’t motivated by science or “saving a life” but by cold hard cashy money, and Artemis is the wild west on the moon. You’ve got guilds, smugglers, crime, a lone officer of the law, a clever and ruthless overlord, criminal syndicates from the old world, and a fantastic new thingy that’ll change the universe. Oh, and explosions. But, ya know, space explosions, so more like “Whump” instead of “KABLOOM!” but just as big.
In fact, my only complaint is there was a horrible under-representation of Potatoes in this one. I’m gonna have to think of something else to eat when it inevitably comes out on DVD.
Oh yeah, Rosario Dawson narrates the audiobook - Wow! 10/10 great job.
