Devouring Books

I received a copy of this from Netgalley and Crown Publishing.

I initially requested a copy of this book because Andy Weir also wrote The Martian. Now I never read the book, but I did see the movie and thought it was great. Well once again Andy Weir created what I would refer to as a science fiction masterpiece. Seriously, keep your eyes peeled because this would make for a fantastic movie and Andy Weir has already written a book that made it in Hollywood.

With science fiction there are some things that I look for. I like things to be believable, and also well researched. Science heavy books need to be explained well. I have read plenty of books that aren't and it leads to confusion and irritation. But there must be a balance, so the book can't be overwhelming science heavy, as then the story will get bogged down with details and the result is boredom. Andy Weir walked this tight rope act as skillfully as Michael Crichton once did. 

The characters were also developed exceptionally well, which is not always true or entirely necessary for science fiction, but is an added bonus here. Jazz was an incredibly fun character to read about, she was snarky, sarcastic and down right diabolical. Svoboda was also one of my favorites. He was a character that embodied a dorky scientist, yet with plenty of adorable quirks. I found myself wishing for more of a romance between these two. 

The world of Artemis, the city on the moon, was built well. The writing was descriptive, but the map of the city was also helpful. I could picture most everything, but I also found myself referring to the map at times while reading for a more complete visualization. 

I was reminded of Six of Crows while reading this. They might be completely different genres, but they both pulled off incredible schemes in imaginary worlds with casts full of very interesting characters. They both had masterminded main characters who make you feel like at times you may be rooting for the villain. 

The plot was very well planned. The pacing kept me flipping pages, yet the writing never lost details necessary to understand the science. There were many twists along the way that kept you on your toes guessing what would come next. Andy Weir is a genius to have come up with this plot.

The cover kind of sucks though. It is kind of dull and doesn't convey that this story will be exciting. I nearly passed this book up because of that. I would recommend this to fans of Michael Crichton, Six of Crows and all science fiction lovers. Andy Weir is a  Science fiction genius and I really hope this becomes a movie.