I couldn't understand why we were supposed to give a damn about this heist, or the whole conspiracy that develops out of it. Mark Watney talked science to explain how he was going to survive and feed himself on Mars Jazz talks science to explain the mechanics of welding. I was bored out of my mind with the random talk of gangsters, smuggling, some scientific sabotage blah blah and - oh my god - the welding.

The real problem for me, though, was that I could not get invested in this half-assed heist plot. “Billy, I’ve swallowed better-tasting stuff that came out of people.” I turned my head inside the helmet, bit a nipple (try not to get excited), and sucked some water out.

But her whole narrative is just plain awkward. She's the local lunar tramp, which is, apparently, so hilarious. Some of the comments she makes about her sex life and body are just. Her constant quips feel forced and unnecessary. Jazz has the sense of humour of a twelve-year-old boy. You can tell Weir really struggled to adapt his writing style in order to write from the perspective of that most alien of all species - THE WOMAN. With Jazz, it doesn’t work so well.Įven though Jazz is a woman in her twenties and Arab, she is basically Mark Watney. His inner narrative is conversational because he is talking to himself - and the reader - to avoid losing all hope. But, you know, Mark's narration worked for me because I could imagine this man in the middle of space needing to stay peppy and chatty. Look, I completely get why Mark Watney annoyed some readers and, given that Weir transplanted his personality and awkward sense of humour into Jazz, it might seem a bit contradictory to have a problem with her personality.

unfortunately, Artemis's plot is convoluted and less exciting. The scary scenario of being stranded so far away from everything and everyone you know, the very high probability that Mark Watney wouldn't survive, his chirpy sense of humour that keeps him going. A couple of years back, I gave in to the hype and read Weir's The Martian, and I have to say- I loved it.

Artemis book andy weir