Book review: Artemis

ANDY Weir is the author of the nail-biting yet scientifically-enlightening The Martian, which was turned into an Academy Award-nominated film starring Matt Damon.
In this book, he has created a believable hi-tech colony on the moon called Artemis, inhabited by all sorts of colourful characters who choose to make it home.
The chief protagonist is Jazz, a young woman of Arab descent who, despite being highly-intelligent, chooses a life that is frowned upon by her hardworking welder father.
Jazz’s main motivation is making money, and she does it by contraband smuggling while working as a porter in Artemis.
However, her latest job that is supposed to put her on easy street makes her the target of mobsters, who not only kill the man who hired her, but also plan to eliminate her.
With some help from friends and her poor dad, Jazz discovers a huge cover-up and it is up to her to put things right.
Weir’s heroine is highly likeable and relatable, even though she behaves like a child most of the time.
He also injects enough science to keep us riveted on how Artemis is run, and how this new world can exist so far from Earth.
The best parts of the book are the humorous and heartfelt correspondence between Jazz and her earth-bound Kenyan pen-pal Kelvin that not only give us a better insight into Jazz’s life, but also shows you that having a friend to lean on is always a good thing no matter how far away he/she is.