Book Club Discussion for May - Artemis

[minzy]

Thoughts on Artemis by Andy Weir?

[sassypants]

I liked it, though not as much as The Martian. I can see where he might be setting it up for a sequel, too. I also liked his use of a POC narrator. It was well done and not something he beat you over the head with but I appreciated the challenge to my usual visual prejudices of the main character's ethnicity. I find it easy to fall into the trap of visualizing MCs as looking like me-ish and I felt it added a depth to my comprehension. Not being a scientist, I wonder how many liberties he took with our willing suspension of disbelief and I just don't know enough to be certain, esp. the part near the end (not to give spoilers since I don't know if this is meant to stay a non-spoilery thread or not).

[rainbowchip]

sassypants spoil away!

I also liked it but not as much as the Martian. I love Jazz Bashera's name. I think it might be my favorite name ever on a book!
I feel like people either loved or hated this book.

[travella]

I thought the book was just ok. I liked The Martian much better. Unfortunately, I read this book quite a while ago so I don't recall much about the book. I have a note about the book saying that I had some issues with a few odd instances with Jazz's behavior/character. However, I don't recall what they were anymore.

[wesleycrusher]

3.5 stars. DH and I just finished it on audiobook, Rosario Dawson's narration was great. Overall I enjoyed the plot. I liked that there was an action sequence in the middle of the book, since sometimes you have to wait until the end for all the action to start and then things seem to wrap up really quickly (I'm looking at you, Armada). DH is science-y is and said it's sound.

I think the main character being female works with the plot- but Andy Weir really does not know how to write from a women's POV (even my husband agreed it was cringe worthy how the character talked about her own body- statement's like "I have to admit I looked pretty sexy"). Not sure if it's because 1. of Weir's background and he himself does not know much about women 2. he's way more into the science aspect of writing and just terrible at characterization 3. if it was written that way for a certain audience or 4. some combo of all of the above?

And we were both questioning the condom scene which added nothing to the plot.

[minzy]

I gave it 3.5 stars and agree that The Martian was the stronger book of the two. I thought it was an interesting concept (how life might exist on the Moon in 50 or so years, with a small town of only 2000 people, but with people from all over Earth). It was interesting to consider that Kenya, rather than some traditional space powerhouse, could be on the forefront of such a thing, based on its equatorial position and ability to cut through red tape. I liked how there were people from Saudi Arabia, Canada, China, Ukraine, Norway, Germany, Hungary, Vietnam, Hong Kong, yet was a little disappointed (?) how much the groups still seemed to separate by profession, class, neighborhood, the food or “gunk” they ate, original nationality.

As with The Martian, I think the strengths lie in his descriptions of how life there would differ from here - at least in The Martian, he tried very hard to get the science right (and apparently mostly succeeded). In this book, I appreciated the descriptions of slower internet, airlocks, radiation shields, filtration systems, how the lower gravity effected movement, lack of sound in space, the Earth waxing and waning into view, etc.

I found the actual sabotage storyline hard to believe. Jazz’s motivations weren’t too clear at the beginning. I also wasn’t sure how credible the author sounded as a 26 year old woman. I thought the sex jokes fell a little flat. Jazz reminded me a bit of Lisbeth Salander from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series - a disenfranchised “girl wonder” working the black market.

Their gizmo watches reminded me of Apple Pay/Disney Magicbands.

[sassypants]

May 30, 2018 20:43:02 GMT -5 wesleycrusher said:

3.5 stars. DH and I just finished it on audiobook, Rosario Dawson's narration was great. Overall I enjoyed the plot. I liked that there was an action sequence in the middle of the book, since sometimes you have to wait until the end for all the action to start and then things seem to wrap up really quickly (I'm looking at you, Armada). DH is science-y is and said it's sound.

I think the main character being female works with the plot- but Andy Weir really does not know how to write from a women's POV (even my husband agreed it was cringe worthy how the character talked about her own body- statement's like "I have to admit I looked pretty sexy"). Not sure if it's because 1. of Weir's background and he himself does not know much about women 2. he's way more into the science aspect of writing and just terrible at characterization 3. if it was written that way for a certain audience or 4. some combo of all of the above?

And we were both questioning the condom scene which added nothing to the plot.

Yes! I totally forgot to mention this. It drove me nuts the "breaking the fourth wall" comments about her body and the somewhat slangy ways she would refer to things. It reminded me of Joey on Friends trying to be a teenager when he clearly wasn't and didn't understand how to communicate about such things.

[aurora]

It hasn't come up on my library hold yet.

I'll be back... Soon, I hope.

[bex]

I was not a fan. I read it a while ago, so some of the details are hazy

I liked the premise, and thought it had potential. But I thought the drama between her father and Jazz was dumb (like I understood why there would be hard feelings between the two, but I thought the way Weir tried to keep it hidden with a big reveal was really lame; just come out and tell us.) I thought the whole thing with Jazz's boyfriend who fell in love with her other friend was weird - like, you've been carrying a grudge over that for years and years?

And so.much.welding.

I agree that I think there is going to be a sequel so this book was as much about world-building as the actual plot, and the world-building was good. but I lost track of the plot several times except to know that she had to do more welding.

I definitely preferred the Martian.

[hurricanedrunk]

I enjoyed this book but not nearly as much as the Martian. The plot was fast moving and an easy read. I don't read much science fiction and the overall premise of life on the moon and what that looks like/ how it works was very intriguing to me. Like others I found the main character to be off putting at times and was surprised when I realized how old she was, thought she was much younger.

[kelliebeans104]

This book was okay for me.  I totally agree The Martian was way better.  I was actually through most of the first chapter before I realized the main character was a girl.  I was totally picturing a guy.  I think he did a terrible job with a woman's POV.  It was clunky and unrealistic and really unnecessary in my opinion.  A few tiny story line changes and it would've worked with a guy character.

I did enjoy the first two thirds of the book the most but once Jazz and that other woman got in a fight it totally went down hill for me.  That was so stupid and I couldn't get back on board with it.  Too many things were annoying me already and that was the final straw.  It just seemed like a lot of people were unprofessional and just had these rules, written or unwritten, that just didn't seem like they would fly, even on the moon.  

I don't know.  I gave it two stars.  It was a quick read and I do enjoy Andy Weir's humor and science knowledge and the way he delivers it in a way that makes it interesting but  I just think he needs to stick to male POVs in the future.  

[ufcasey]

Two months in a row I failed to remember this! Bah! Thanks for doing it

Ok, so I really disliked this book, it definitely was no Martian which on the other hand I really liked. Here's my issues with this book:

- I completely agree that Weir cannot write a female character believably. Or maybe it was just bad characterization in general and not even related to her being a girl character. Jazz just had no emotional reactions to anything it seemed. She was mad at people and she was scared and hiding, but it felt like those things were just told to us and not shown. We were told she was mad at her ex-friend for getting with her boyfriend, but there was no flashback/reminiscing to actually show us the emotions she had at the time when it happened.
- I didn't feel any emotional connection to the plot. In the Martian book, even when he was doing things that should have been boring (figuring out how to grow enough potatoes to live) it felt like there was an undercurrent feeling of dread or worry because if he failed at what he was doing he could die. In this book the repercussions of her blowing up those rock pick up machines was - she would go to jail via being sent back to Earth. The stakes weren't high and so I wasn't really caring if she failed because I thought what she agreed to do for the rich guy was dumb in the first place. Even at the end when the stakes did get higher because the place was about to blow up or everyone was passed out and at risk of suffocation, I didn't feel connection to any of the secondary characters (or for Jazz) enough to care about the outcome.
- The characters and dialogue felt unbelievably cheesy at times. Almost everyone acted immature. The dad was the only one who seemed legit. The 'villain' leader person was a joke with that whole 'discovering the truth' scene in her office. The rich murdered guy was murdered before I could get to the point that I would care that he was dead. The 'villain' rich guy's double facing friend was absolutely immature when he was caught and was not at all believable. I did think the hit man was a strong character, but maybe that was because he basically never talked? The level of quirkiness with the bad alcohol creating bar tender, the condom creator dude, and Jazz herself was too much for me personally.
- A lot of time was spent explaining technical things, which again worked well in Martian because it was all stuff vital to his survival. Here, we are told things without any explanation of why the outcome would be important other than for her financial gain, which wasn't a good enough reason to have to hear all the details about rocks and aluminum and oxygen and optic cables and whatever.

Things I liked:
- The whole system of the bubbles they lived in with the train for the tourists and the bubbles they were in - that all seemed very real and interesting to me. Plus all the little details like the gravity and it's effects, the internet being slow, the park area, etc. That was all very believable.
- The letters to the guy back at home had some strong moments, though it didn't tie into the main plot as much as I would have liked.

[ufcasey]

May 30, 2018 20:46:33 GMT -5 minzy said:

Their gizmo watches reminded me of Apple Pay/Disney Magicbands.

OMG I totally pictured them the same way!! So funny.

[MrsAxilla]

Hey guys, can I make a request? Can you post a reminder at the beginning of the month? I know there’s a sticky and all, but I’m very impulsive with my reading choices and I never think to look what’s up. Usually I just pick from my kindle library or recommendations from the weekly threads, but I would love a ping from the book club!

[expectantsteelerfan]

May 30, 2018 20:43:02 GMT -5 wesleycrusher said:

3.5 stars. DH and I just finished it on audiobook, Rosario Dawson's narration was great. Overall I enjoyed the plot. I liked that there was an action sequence in the middle of the book, since sometimes you have to wait until the end for all the action to start and then things seem to wrap up really quickly (I'm looking at you, Armada). DH is science-y is and said it's sound.

I think the main character being female works with the plot- but Andy Weir really does not know how to write from a women's POV (even my husband agreed it was cringe worthy how the character talked about her own body- statement's like "I have to admit I looked pretty sexy"). Not sure if it's because 1. of Weir's background and he himself does not know much about women 2. he's way more into the science aspect of writing and just terrible at characterization 3. if it was written that way for a certain audience or 4. some combo of all of the above?

And we were both questioning the condom scene which added nothing to the plot.

This exactly.  I wanted to like this book so much because it was interesting, but my review of it was that Weir was not able to convincingly write from a female point of view, and it distracted me so much at times.  Jazz reminded me a *little* bit of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum, but not in a good way.