''Artemis'' is a 2017 science fiction novel by American writer

Andy Weir Andrew Weir (; born June 16, 1972) is an American novelist. His 2011 novel '' The Martian'' was adapted into the 2015 film of the same name directed by Ridley Scott. He received the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2016 and his 2 ...

. It takes place in the late 2080s in Artemis, the first and so far only city on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

. It follows the life of

porter Porter may refer to: Companies * Porter Airlines, Canadian airline based in Toronto * Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets * Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer * H.K. Porter, Inc., a locom ...

and

smuggler Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. More broadly, soc ...

Jasmine "Jazz" Bashara as she gets caught up in a conspiracy for control of the city. The

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sch ...

edition (published by

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc., doing business as Amazon, is an American multinational technology company engaged in e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos in Bellevu ...

) is narrated by

Rosario Dawson Rosario Isabel Dawson (born May 9, 1979) is an American actress. She made her feature-film debut in the 1995 independent drama '' Kids''. Her subsequent film roles include '' He Got Game'' (1998), '' Josie and the Pussycats'' (2001), ''Men in B ...

Plot

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 Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...

supply as a by-product from

aluminum Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

production. Trond asks Jazz to sabotage the company's

anorthite Anorthite (< ''an'' 'not' + ''ortho'' 'straight') is the

calcium

welding Welding is a fabrication (metal), fabrication process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, primarily by using high temperature to melting, melt the parts together and allow them to cool, causing Fusion welding, fusion. Co ...

equipment from her estranged father Ammar, and a small

robot A robot is a machine—especially one Computer program, programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions Automation, automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the robot control, co ...

called a HIB from a business associate of his. She visits the

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 was a spaceflight conducted from July 16 to 24, 1969, by the United States and launched by NASA. It marked the first time that humans Moon landing, landed on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module pilot Buzz Aldrin l ...

landing site disguised as a tourist, leaving the HIB in place outside the

airlock An airlock is a room or compartment which permits passage between environments of differing atmospheric pressure or composition, while minimizing the changing of pressure or composition between the differing environments. An airlock consist ...

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 Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

's largest and most powerful

organized crime Organized crime is a category of transnational organized crime, transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a f ...

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 An optical fiber, or optical fibre, is a flexible glass or plastic fiber that can transmit light from one end to the other. Such fibers find wide usage in fiber-optic communications, where they permit transmission over longer distances and at ...

"), 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 Smelting is a process of applying heat and a chemical reducing agent to an ore to extract a desired base metal product. It is a form of extractive metallurgy that is used to obtain many metals such as iron, copper, silver, tin, lead and zin ...

, 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 Chloroform, or trichloromethane (often abbreviated as TCM), is an organochloride with the formula and a common solvent. It is a volatile, colorless, sweet-smelling, dense liquid produced on a large scale as a precursor to refrigerants and po ...

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 Fine may refer to: Characters * Fran Fine, the title character of ''The Nanny'' * Sylvia Fine (''The Nanny''), Fran's mother on ''The Nanny'' * Officer Fine, a character in ''Tales from the Crypt'', played by Vincent Spano Legal terms * Fine (p ...

. Jazz and Dale rekindle their friendship. Jazz tasks Kelvin, her smuggling partner on

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

, to discover which company Jin works for and invest in it before ZAFO and its earning potential is announced.

Characters

* 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 Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

who works as a welder in Artemis. * Trond Landvik – A wealthy businessman from

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, 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 The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member International organization, international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 ...

office in Artemis. * Rudy DuBois – the

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

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 The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the Marines, maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expedi ...

, 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 Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

and smuggling partner.

Publication

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

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' Bestseller List for Hardcover Fiction at No. 4 in December 2017, and peaked at No. 1 the following week. The novel stayed at that level for two weeks, and remained on the list for a total of nine weeks. ''Artemis'' also debuted on the ''

Locus Magazine ''Locus: The Magazine of The Science Fiction & Fantasy Field'', founded in 1968, is an American magazine published monthly in Oakland, California. It is the news organ and trade journal for the English-language science fiction and fantasy fields. ...

'' Bestsellers List for Hardcovers at No. 2 in February 2018, peaking at number 1 for one month in March and staying on the list for a total of four months.

Film adaptation

In May 2017, 20th Century Fox (now

20th Century Studios 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

) and New Regency acquired the film rights to the not-yet-published novel, with

Simon Kinberg Simon David Kinberg (born August 2, 1973) is an American filmmaker. He wrote and produced a number of films in the X-Men (film series), ''X-Men'' film franchise for 20th Century Studios, 20th Century Fox, and had produced a number of other projec ...

and Aditya Sood attached to produce.

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller Philip Anderson Lord (born July 12, 1975) and Christopher Robert Miller (born September 23, 1975) are an American filmmaking and acting duo. Their films are known for subversion of genre and detailed visual sensation, spanning various styles of ...

were announced as co-directors in September 2017. In July 2018, it was announced that

Geneva Robertson-Dworet Geneva Robertson-Dworet (born May 8, 1985) is an American screenwriter. She rose to prominence after being hired in 2015 to rewrite the script for the 2018 ''Tomb Raider'' reboot, starring Alicia Vikander and directed by Roar Uthaug. She co-wrot ...

would write the screenplay.

Reviews

Writing for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', 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." In contrast, a reviewer for ''

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...

'' called it "A sci-fi crowd pleaser made for the big screen."

Awards

Approximately 35,000

Goodreads Goodreads is an American social cataloging website and a subsidiary of Amazon that allows individuals to search its database of books, annotations, quotes, and reviews. Users can sign up and register books to generate library catalogs and readi ...

readers chose ''Artemis'' as the best Science Fiction novel of 2017. ''Artemis'' won the 2018 Dragon Award for Best Science Fiction Novel and the 2019 Geffen Award for Best Translated Science Fiction Book. The novel was also a finalist for the 2018

Prometheus Award The Prometheus Award is an award for libertarian science fiction given annually by the Libertarian Futurist Society. American author and activist L. Neil Smith established the Best Novel category for the award in 1979; however, it was not award ...

References

{{Andy Weir Works by Andy Weir 2017 science fiction novels 2017 American novels American science fiction novels Novels about smugglers Novels set on the Moon Novels set in the 2080s Speculative crime and thriller fiction novels Crown Publishing Group books