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Andy Weir - Blog Posts
I’ve seen some more idiotic readers go “Mark and Grace are just the same people.”
if they’re the same people, explain this:
Mark Watney: *at any minor inconvenience * FUCKING FU— Ryland Grace: *world-ending, life-threatening news* holy moly
Michael Crichton’s idea that humans are inherently selfish and will look out for their own survival vs. Andy Weir’s idea that as social creatures humans will connect with and help others, fight.
The Martian by Andy Weir
Been thinking a lot about this book as of late and wanted to do a fun cover art mockup for it
(Who else is very excited for the film)
Finished it. This was a wonderful book.
Why did I wait so long to read this?
Darcy Reads: Artemis by Andy Weir
So this is my first book review on this account. Full disclaimer, I have no plans of keeping a tight schedule for these things. My goal is to finish at least 24 books in 2025 and this is book #1. If you're still reading this, let's jump into the actual review...(Spoilers ahead)
Storytelling (4/5): While Jazz is bouncing around on the moon (sometimes literally), she explains in excruciating detail the many mechanisms required to live in Artemis indefinitely. Ever wondered what would happen if there was a fire on the moon? Or maybe you wondered what kind of industries could operate up there. Jazz doesn't answer every question, but she sure covers a lot of ground. You start to feel like your are visiting Artemis for the first time and Jazz is your personal tour guide. In fact, there's a scene where a tourist asks EVA master Bob several questions about walking on the moon and somehow it seems a lot more forced than just listening to Jazz silently explain everything herself. I'm not a scientist, so I'm not going to even pretend to know whether or not her explanations make any sense. I can however say that Jazz's scientific rantings are entertaining and I feel like I might know just a smidge more about astronomy than I did before reading.
Plot (2.5/5): Science jargon aside, the plot itself is very transparent. It's a double heist feature. Heist one: Jazz is commissioned to sabotage Sanchez Aluminum. She's confident that she can get it done, but we're not even a third of the way through the book yet. Jazz fails due to a series of unfortunate accidents, but at least she was able to make it back to Artemis in one piece and nobody got hurt. Heist two: Jazz's client gets assassinated and she uncovers a plot by the Brazilian mafia to take over the moon. She pulls together a ragtag team, including a Ukrainian mad scientist, her ex best friend, her genius father, a teenage billionaire, and Bob. She even takes a moment to give an inspirational speech about saving Artemis and working as a team (she also pokes fun at herself for saying such a speech, but this still a sin in my humble opinion). Their plan works despite some asteroid sized hiccups. Jazz makes a heroic sacrifice, but you don't even have to finish the novel to know that she will survive and that Artemis will be saved.
That's all. I can think of at least a dozen pieces of media that follow a very similar if not identical path as Artemis. With that being said, clichés exist for a reason. We like them. At least having it all play out on the moon makes it more noteworthy than Ocean's 26. I am also happy for any futuristic science fiction story that does not immediately ooze misanthropy and depression.
Characters (3/5): I don't like Jazz - wait here me out. I also don't hate her. Jazz is a well developed character. She's competent and she's flawed. She's ambitious and she harbors some doubts. She has a backstory that I think many people can sympathize with. I appreciate that even after everything she experienced before the start of the novel, Jazz is still the same smartass that got her into that trouble. Does she regret anything? Yes. Will she stop all of her antics and live a peaceful, law abiding life? Absolutely not.
If you like Jazz, that's great. My reasons for disliking her are completely personal. I wouldn't ever want to be friends with her, but that doesn't make her a bad character by any stretch.
As for the other characters, they are very much like the plot itself. While detailed and entertaining, there truly are no surprises. Svoboda is a lovesick nerd, Ammar is the cranky but devoted father, Rudy is a no nonsense cop, etc. Everyone has a specific role that they play out perfectly. It's disappointing. To the very end, I hoped for at least one surprise either in the form of a turncoat or an unexpected ally. How much more interesting would it have been if Jazz's longtime pen pal Kelvin was actually working with O Palácio right from the start? Or what if Rudy joined in on their plans? Instead, we get characters that are only there to help develop Jazz's story. What kind of person is Dale? He's Jazz's ex best friend, he's gay, and - oh yeah he's Jewish. I guess that counts as personality trait (NOTE: it definitely does not). We don't learn anything else about him because nothing else matters. It would have been a lot more interesting to hear how exactly he and Jazz became so close and what happened when he stole Jazz's then boyfriend. Alas, that's an entirely different story that just doesn't fit well into Weir's moon heists.
Final Thoughts: Overall, I didn't have any expectations for this book. I stumbled across it in a used bookstore and my first thought was "Wait, that guy who wrote The Martian has other books?" (I have not read The Martian). Even after finishing this book, I feel very neutral. The characters are entertaining and the worldbuilding is top notch, but I'm not compelled to look for anything more. I can say that the most interesting thing about this book is the amount of thought and research Weir put into it to justify an entire civilization living on the moon. But again, I am not a science person, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.
Artemis feels like the start of something bigger. It's laying down the groundwork for what could potentially expand into something much much bigger than it currently is. If humans can live on the moon, what's to stop anyone from colonizing other planets? What happens if they put more than one city on the moon? I'm not saying that this has to be expanded into a series, but it would be a prime setting for some good old RPG. Like Jazz herself, there is some potential there, waiting to be expanded upon.
And in case anyone else is wondering: I would never ever want to live in Artemis. I wouldn't even want to visit it. It's a bouncy castle prison with terrifyingly poor safety measures.
Thinking about how the Andy Weir Space Trilogy all end in basically the same place they started. The problematic status quo is now the soft landing.
Watney is isolated and relying on the help of others to survive. At the end of the book, he is isolated at home and relying on the help of delivery people to get groceries and maintain his health.
Jazz Bashara is broke and in debt to her father. Thee crimes, a heroic rescue, a self sacrifice, and a million credits later, and she's broke from fines and in debt to her friend.
Ryland Grace is an asocial teacher with exactly 1 friend. Two saved worlds later, and he's a teacher on a new planet with exactly 1 friend.
And that's ok. You don't need to move up or down to change.
Just thinking about it a lot
Edit: this blog loves and supports trans people! Always and forever!
Redesign of Eridians for the PHM Fantasy AU!
was too lazy to draw the front/back/side profiles haha. worldbuilding questions are always welcome!
I just finished the first chapter of my Project Hail Mary fairytale AU! It's only about 700-800 words rn but this is something I've been working really hard on and I'm really proud of it :)
:3
Hi I've been stranded on Mars for about the equivalent of 1 Earth week and my crew probably thinks I'm dead by now. It's really boring up here. Is Poob available in space? I have access to a computer but if that doesn't work I plan to dig up and refurbish a rover.
Poob is available in all planets, moons, and dimensions!
8 hours of sleep? 2-day weekends?? Not. Enough. I need to be put in a medically-induced coma for roughly 4 years and wake up alone in space with no memories
Hi I've been stranded on Mars for about the equivalent of 1 Earth week and my crew probably thinks I'm dead by now. It's really boring up here. Is Poob available in space? I have access to a computer but if that doesn't work I plan to dig up and refurbish a rover.
Poob is available in all planets, moons, and dimensions!
Context: I'm working on a fantasy/fairytale AU for PHM in which the Hail Mary is a giant ship (the Lightark) and the sky is the ocean but funky. I make these choices because I want to feel.
I don't want Rocky to be anything too humanoid because (IMO) his dynamic with Grace works best as two individuals who have completely different bodies but are otherwise kin.
the urge to design a logo for a Vietnamese space agency that only exists within the bounds of the PHM fanfic you're ""writing"" (read: Vaguely Thinking About) and will likely never show up on the fic itself
"I ask for a picture and I get the Fonz?" - The Martian
Mark Watney is my space pirate hero.
Been thinking a lot about this book as of late and wanted to do a fun cover art mockup for it
(Who else is very excited for the film)
kudos to Ryland Grace for finally being the true “I am alone in space” representation we deserve by sobbing his eyes out every chapter. Relatable. I do that and I’m not even light years away from my bed
also just realized and dont feel like editing the last one: why the fuck do eridians count in base 6?
like the reason humans count in base 10 is bc we have 10 fingers, but eridians have 5 limbs with three fingers on each. it would make more sense for them to count in base 3, 5, or 15. so why 6?
i got project hail mary yesterday so everybody better be ready for YAPPING!!!!!!!!
book has been finished (this morning). holy shit. wowee
i took a lot of notes about my thoughts at the moment in my sketchbook and i feel like it'd be easier to send them directly than decipher my thought process (spoilers btw i hope thats obvious)
also i looked at the movie trailer out of curiosity and they did Rocky DIRTY!!!!!!!!!! Like ik his name is Rocky and "oh he has stony skin" yknow what else has stony skin? ECHINODERMS. THATS WHAT IT FUCKING MEANS. And you know whats an echinoderm with radial symmetry, a (typically) pentagonal central portion and five limbs? STARFISH. THE ERIDIANS ARE FUCKING SPACE STARFISH NOT CHUNKS OF CONCRETE WITH PIPECLEANER LEGS
edit: thank fuck that trailer was fake holy shit audio is so important in telling if something is fake now
i got project hail mary yesterday so everybody better be ready for YAPPING!!!!!!!!
okay so the story is kinda reminding me of Space Station Weird. Its probably the "guy trapped on ship with weird ai and shit keeps getting weird also he has no idea what to do"
i got project hail mary yesterday so everybody better be ready for YAPPING!!!!!!!!
Aliens??? Alien pussy? AL-AN????? THE AUTISM IS OFF THE CHARTS
i got project hail mary yesterday so everybody better be ready for YAPPING!!!!!!!!
this book is making me realize that maybe adult fantasy isnt bad its just most adult fantasy has super shitty pacing because this is BAM BAM BAM THINGS STUFF HAPPENS WOOOO and most adult fantasy is super slow and boring
i got project hail mary yesterday so everybody better be ready for YAPPING!!!!!!!!
GRAHHH!!!! SPECULATIVE BIOLOGY!!!! FUCKED UP EXTRATERESTRIAL LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i got project hail mary yesterday so everybody better be ready for YAPPING!!!!!!!!
i got project hail mary yesterday so everybody better be ready for YAPPING!!!!!!!!
I will be seeing this movie opening night just you wait
I know they can’t hug but they deserve it