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Artemis (novel)

This article is about the 2017 science fiction novel by Andy Weir. For other topics, see Artemis (disambiguation).

Artemis is a 2017 science fiction novel by American writer Andy Weir.[1] It takes place in the late 2080s in Artemis, the first and so far only city on the Moon. It follows the life of porter and smuggler Jasmine "Jazz" Bashara as she gets caught up in a conspiracy for control of the city.[2]

Artemis
AuthorAndy Weir
Audio read byRosario Dawson
Cover artistWill Staehle
LanguageEnglish
GenreScience fiction
PublishedNovember 14, 2017 (Crown)
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint, e-book, audio
Pages309
Awards
ISBN978-0553448122

The audiobook edition (published by Amazon.com) is narrated by Rosario Dawson.

Plot

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In Artemis, the first city on the Moon, porter and part-time smuggler Jasmine "Jazz" Bashara is offered an opportunity by a regular client, wealthy businessman Trond Landvik, to assist him with a new business venture. While meeting with Trond, Jazz briefly encounters an associate of his named Jin Chu who attempts to conceal a case marked with the name ZAFO. Trond intends to take over Sanchez Aluminum, which currently enjoys a lucrative permanent contract with the city for free energy in exchange for providing the city's entire oxygen supply as a by-product from aluminum production. Trond asks Jazz to sabotage the company's anorthite harvesters so he can step in with his own, and when he offers her a life-changing sum of money to carry out the criminal activity, Jazz accepts.

Jazz borrows some welding equipment from her estranged father Ammar, and a small robot called a HIB from a business associate of his. She visits the Apollo 11 landing site disguised as a tourist, leaving the HIB in place outside the airlock so that it can open the hatch for her without the assistance of a human EVA master. The next day, while an electronic device created by her scientist friend Martin Svoboda makes it seem as though she is in her living quarters, Jazz treks across the Moon's surface to where the harvesters are collecting ore. She successfully sabotages one, but is spotted by the camera of another. Jazz destroys two more, but flees to avoid capture by an approaching EVA team before she is able to disable the last harvester. With EVA masters guarding every airlock, Jazz is discovered by her former friend Dale, whom she despises for stealing her boyfriend Tyler. Dale offers not to report her if she would put aside her resentment and try to rekindle their friendship, which she reluctantly agrees to do. Finding Trond and his bodyguard murdered, Jazz looks for Jin Chu at an expensive hotel. She is attacked by Trond's assassin, but manages to escape with Jin's ZAFO case, which she gives to Svoboda to study. Jazz learns that Sanchez Aluminum is a front for O Palácio, Brazil's largest and most powerful organized crime syndicate, and that the killer, named Marcelo Alvarez, is now after her. Jin agrees to meet Jazz, but betrays her to Alvarez to save himself. Jazz, anticipating Jin's deception, executes the trap she set, incapacitating Alvarez and then turning him over to the city's de facto police chief, Rudy.

Svoboda discovers that ZAFO is a virtually lossless cable ("Zero Attenuation Fiber Optic"), which will allow long-distance transmission of data without the need for repeaters, revolutionizing communications infrastructure. As the manufacturing process requires low gravity, Artemis is an ideal location, and the new industry would significantly boost the city's stagnant economy. Jazz confronts the city's administrator Ngugi, who reveals she has been using Jazz as bait to flush out O Palácio's operatives, not wanting to allow Artemis to be seized by a crime syndicate. Jazz then enlists her reluctant friends and father to stop O Palácio by destroying Sanchez's smelter, which will allow Trond's daughter Lene, who inherited his fortune, to seize the pertinent contracts and rebuild. Dale helps Jazz break into the plant, where she sabotages the smelter to overheat and destroy itself, but in doing so unwittingly creates deadly chloroform that is pumped into the city's air supply. With under an hour before the unconscious residents of Artemis die from their exposure, Jazz races to access Trond's stockpile of untainted oxygen. She attempts to sacrifice herself to save the city, but Dale is able to save her. Lene pays Jazz for her services, and she finds herself temporarily wealthy. After buying her father a new welding workshop to replace the one she accidentally destroyed as a teenager, Jazz is called to Ngugi's office, where the administrator informs her of her impending deportation. Jazz convinces Ngugi of her value to the city as an "authorized" harmless smuggler whose monopoly of the illegal trade would keep out other, more dangerous criminals. Ngugi relents, but forces her to pay most of her remaining money to the city as a fine. Jazz and Dale rekindle their friendship. Jazz tasks Kelvin, her smuggling partner on Earth, to discover which company Jin works for and invest in it before ZAFO and its earning potential is announced.

Characters

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  • Jasmine "Jazz" Bashara – A citizen of Artemis who works as delivery woman and also smuggles goods to survive in the expensive city.
  • Ammar Bashara – Jazz's father, who does not approve of her rebellion; he is a Muslim who works as a welder in Artemis.
  • Trond Landvik – A wealthy businessman from Norway, who lives with his 16-year-old daughter, Lene.
  • Lene Landvik – Trond's daughter, who was unable to walk on Earth after an accident, but can move on crutches in low lunar gravity.
  • Martin Svoboda – A Ukrainian scientist who works at the European Space Agency office in Artemis.
  • Rudy DuBois – the Canadian head of Artemis's security.
  • Dale Shapiro – A professor from the EVA guild, with whom Jazz has a grudge.
  • Bob Lewis – A former US Marine, now EVA guild coach.
  • Fidelis Ngugi – The city's founder and administrator.
  • Marcelo Álvarez – A Brazilian murderer, who works for O Palácio.
  • Jin Chu – A partner of Trond Landvik from Hong Kong.
  • Loretta Sanchez – Owner of Sanchez Aluminum.
  • Kelvin Otieno – Jazz's pen pal from Kenya and smuggling partner.

Publication

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Artemis was released on November 14, 2017, and debuted at No. 6 on the New York Times Best Seller list in December 2017.[3] The book remained on the list for nine weeks,[4] and peaked at No. 4.[5]

Artemis debuted on the Los Angeles Times Bestseller List for Hardcover Fiction at No. 4 in December 2017,[6] and peaked at No. 1 the following week.[7] The novel stayed at that level for two weeks,[8] and remained on the list for a total of nine weeks.[9] Artemis also debuted on the Locus Magazine Bestsellers List for Hardcovers at No. 2 in February 2018,[10] peaking at number 1 for one month in March[11] and staying on the list for a total of four months.[12]

Film adaptation

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In May 2017, 20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios) and New Regency acquired the film rights to the not-yet-published novel, with Simon Kinberg and Aditya Sood attached to produce.[13] Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were announced as co-directors in September 2017.[14] In July 2018, it was announced that Geneva Robertson-Dworet would write the screenplay.[15]

Reviews

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Writing for The New York Times, science fiction author N. K. Jemisin gave a mixed review, writing that the book "is a heist narrative at heart—but it lacks the core elements of modern heist narratives: no team of charming specialists, no surprise plot twists. That may be fine for 'hard' science fiction fans who prioritize idea over execution, or who simply crave well-researched technical speculation presented as fiction."[16] In contrast, a reviewer for Salon called it "A sci-fi crowd pleaser made for the big screen."[17]

Awards

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Approximately 35,000 Goodreads readers chose Artemis as the best Science Fiction novel of 2017.[18] Artemis won the 2018 Dragon Award for Best Science Fiction Novel[19] and the 2019 Geffen Award for Best Translated Science Fiction Book.[20] The novel was also a finalist for the 2018 Prometheus Award.[21]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Namaste, Justice (November 13, 2017). "How Andy Weir Scienced the Lunar Colony in His New Book Artemis". Wired. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
  2. ^ Casey, Dan (May 8, 2017). "Here's What Andy Weir's New Book Artemis is All About". Nerdist. Archived from the original on November 16, 2017. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
  3. ^ "Hardcover Fiction Books – Best Sellers – December 3, 2017". The New York Times. December 3, 2017. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  4. ^ "Hardcover Fiction Books – Best Sellers – January 28, 2018". The New York Times. January 28, 2018.
  5. ^ "Hardcover Fiction Books – Best Sellers – January 7, 2018". The New York Times. January 7, 2018.
  6. ^ "Dec. 3, 2017". Los Angeles Times. December 3, 2017.
  7. ^ "Dec. 17, 2017". Los Angeles Times. December 17, 2017.
  8. ^ "Dec. 24, 2017". Los Angeles Times. December 24, 2017.
  9. ^ "Feb. 4, 2018". Los Angeles Times. February 4, 2018.
  10. ^ "Locus Bestsellers, February 2018". Locus Magazine. February 14, 2018.
  11. ^ "Locus Bestsellers, March 2018". Locus Magazine. March 14, 2018.
  12. ^ "Locus Bestsellers, May 2018". Locus Magazine. May 9, 2018.
  13. ^ Hipes, Patrick (May 8, 2017). "Launch Date Set For The Martian Author's Follow-Up Book Artemis As Fox Lands Movie Rights". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
  14. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (September 26, 2017). "Phil Lord & Christopher Miller To Direct Martian Author Andy Weir's New Novel Artemis". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
  15. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (July 13, 2018). "Geneva Robertson-Dworet Adapting Andy Weir Novel Artemis For Phil Lord & Chris Miller At Fox". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  16. ^ Jemisin, N.K. (November 3, 2017). "Magic and Moon Life: What's New in Science Fiction and Fantasy". The New York Times.
  17. ^ Rozsa, Matthew (November 12, 2017). "Andy Weir's Artemis: A sci-fi crowd pleaser made for the big screen". Salon.
  18. ^ "Announcing the Goodreads Choice Winner in Best Science Fiction!". Goodreads. Retrieved 2019-01-09.
  19. ^ "2018 Recipients – The Dragon Award". Dragon Con. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  20. ^ "2019 Geffen Awards Winners". Locus Magazine. October 17, 2019.
  21. ^ "Prometheus Award finalists chosen for Best Novel". Libertarian Futurist Society. March 25, 2018.
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