It seems unlikely that local management would overlook all her transgressions, and the deal she offers Ngugi to avoid deportation at the end doesn’t hold water. Jazz knows she’s made poor life choices, but instead of trying to fix this, she doubles down on fast talking and just gets in deeper with worse decisions. First, it seems like Weir might be trying to send a message here about teen rebellion and poor life choices, but he doesn’t follow through. On the not so great side, there are some questionable issues in the execution. Bashara is a Saudi Muslim, but clearly not very much in touch with her roots. Weir has turned a few usual expectations upside down, as the moon-city is established by an African businesswoman and the crime syndicate behind Sanchez Aluminum is Brazilian. The setting and the characters really come alive as Jazz moves through the dingy corridors of the moon city and interacts with her friends, acquaintances and enemies. Artemis has a frontier feel and law enforcement and administration are very small-time. It’s entertaining it has a fast pace, a great plot, plenty of action and tech-based problem solving. Can she figure out what’s going on and turn this into a victory somehow? However, Lanvik and his bodyguard turn up dead, and Jazz is next on the killer’s list. She gets caught, but talks her way out of trouble for the time being.

She accepts his offer, and the sabotage effort is nearly successful. She is approached by local businessman Trond Landvik, who offers her a huge sum to sabotage Sanchez Aluminum’s harvesting equipment so he can buy the company. Jazz is smart and capable, but because of poor life choices, she has ended up working as a low-paid porter and supplements her income with a sideline of smuggling. Jasmine Bashara is the daughter of a master welder and lives in Artemis, the moon city. Artemis won the 2018 Dragon Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. It was published by Broadway Books on Novemand runs 352 pages. I’m going to pronounce this novel hard science fiction.

Artemis novel reviews