Review: Artemis

Artemis by Andy Weir
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Artemis by Andy Weir is a fun read. It's a fast-paced, sci-fi adventure story with an intelligent, but down-on-her luck heroine (Jazz Bashara) who is trying to make up for past mistakes while making a living as a porter/part-time smuggler in the Lunar city of Artemis. She seizes the opportunity to finally get ahead by accepting a job from a wealthy businessman to help put a rival company out of business. It's a dangerous job that could get her deported back to Earth if she's caught, but the reward is too great to pass up.

It's a decent story, with plenty of humor, wise cracks, action and surprises that reminds me in many ways of some of Heinlein's young adult stories.

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Review: Project Hail Mary

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ryland Grace is an unlikely hero tasked with saving Earth from a space-born catastrophe that threatens to plunge the world into another ice age. He and the other members of the crew undertake a multi-year space mission to find a solution and get the information back to Earth in time to save it. His job is further complicated by the fact that the other crew members have died, and he suffers from amnesia that only slowly resolves itself as the story unfolds.

In spite of a couple of minor quibbles** I have, the story is fantastic - optimistic in tone in spite of, or perhaps because of, the consequences of failure. Weir reveals the characters and circumstances in a compelling way, building tension while unraveling mystery as he goes. The conclusion was an extra treat, well conceived and executed!

**My quibbles: The first is the relative ease Grace has accomplishing multiple EVAs during the course of the mission, some under incredible conditions. The second is the ability of the alien engineer, Rocky, to construct any object needed at will - in some ways a series of Deus ex machina moments.


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