# Artemis *A novel by Andy Weir.* > I read Wikipedia's article on the novel and on Weir, the Open Library record, and the vault notes for the two videos. I did not read the book, so the summary follows published plot descriptions and I could not verify chapter titles or quote the text. ## 1. Book facts | | | |---|---| | Title | *Artemis* | | Author | Andy Weir | | Publisher | Crown (US) | | Published | 14 November 2017 (Wikipedia) | | ISBN | 978-0553448122 (Wikipedia; Open Library also lists this ISBN for the Crown edition) | | Pages | 309 per Wikipedia; Open Library's Crown record says 305 | | Genre | Science fiction, a heist and crime thriller set on the Moon | | Setting | Artemis, the first and only city on the Moon, in the late 2080s | | Audiobook | Narrated by Rosario Dawson, published by Amazon.com (Wikipedia) | **Where it came up.** - Video: [You Sent Me Your Query Letters…They ALL Would Get Rejected](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_Vsz09AWdY&t=231s), Alyssa Matesic. At 3:51 a subscriber's query letter comps *Artemis* (with Becky Chambers's Wayfarer series); at [11:51](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_Vsz09AWdY&t=711s) the hosts say 2017 is too old for a comp title (ideally the past five years). Vault note: [[Video Summaries/Alyssa Matesic/You Sent Me Your Query Letters…They ALL Would Get Rejected]]. - Video: [Time Dilation Visualized](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FT-oz9aZU4), The Overview Effect. This video concerns Weir's *Project Hail Mary*; it names Weir, not *Artemis*, in the vault note's author blurb. Vault note: [[Video Summaries/The Overview Effect/Time Dilation Visualized]]. - Companion dossiers: [[Book Summaries/Weir, Andy/The Martian - Andy Weir|The Martian]] and [[Book Summaries/Weir, Andy/Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir|Project Hail Mary]]. ## 2. Book resources - [Wikipedia: Artemis (novel)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemis_(novel)) - [Open Library record (Crown edition)](https://openlibrary.org/books/OL26424863M) - [Wikipedia: Andy Weir](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Weir) **Where to get it.** The book is in copyright. I did not find a legal free copy. Borrow it from a public library (an ebook or audiobook lending app is the usual route) or buy it. I did not verify any library availability. ## 3. Author biography Source: Wikipedia, Andy Weir. - American novelist, born 16 June 1972 in Davis, California; grew up in Livermore. His father was a physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and his mother an electrical engineer. - Studied computer science at UC San Diego without graduating. Worked as a programmer for companies including AOL, Palm, MobileIron and Blizzard (where he worked on *Warcraft II*). - Wrote the web comic *Casey and Andy* (2001-2008) and published fiction on his website. His first novel attempt, *Theft of Pride*, went unpublished. The 2009 short story "The Egg" was his first widely noticed work. - *The Martian* began as a free web serial, then a 99-cent Kindle edition, then a Crown contract. He received the 2016 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. *Project Hail Mary* was a 2022 Hugo finalist. ## 4. Author interviews and talks - [Andy Weir on David Perell's *How I Write*](https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/andy-weir-project-hail-mary-author-teaches-writing/id1700171470?i=1000792387666), 30 September 2026, about 1 hr 10 min (episode page loads; I read the published description and part of the transcript excerpt shown by search, not the whole interview). Covers how he builds science-fiction premises, plotting and the science. - [Science Friday, "'Project Hail Mary' brings a new kind of alien to the big screen"](https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/project-hail-mary-rocky-the-alien/), 20 March 2026: Weir and astrobiologist Mike Wong on Rocky's biology (page loads; segment transcript not read in full). ## 5. Summary **Premise.** Jasmine "Jazz" Bashara, a 26-year-old porter and part-time smuggler, lives in Artemis. She is offered a large payment to sabotage the harvesters of the company that supplies the city's oxygen as a by-product of aluminum production, and the job pulls her into a conspiracy for control of the city. (Wikipedia plot summary.) **Outline from the published plot summary (no chapter list verified)** 1. Jazz takes the sabotage job from wealthy client Trond Landvik, borrows welding gear from her estranged father Ammar, and crosses the lunar surface to destroy ore-harvesting machines. 2. Trond is found murdered. Jazz escapes a killer with a case labelled "ZAFO", which her friend Martin Svoboda identifies as a "Zero Attenuation Fiber Optic" cable that needs low gravity to manufacture. 3. Jazz learns Sanchez Aluminum is a front for the Brazilian crime syndicate O Palácio. The city administrator Ngugi reveals she has been using Jazz as bait. 4. Jazz and her friends sabotage the syndicate's smelter. The residents of Artemis are left unconscious from exposure, and Jazz races to reach a stockpile of untainted oxygen. 5. Afterwards Jazz persuades Ngugi to let her stay as an "authorized" smuggler instead of being deported. **Themes.** A heist plot on a city whose economy depends on oxygen and aluminum production, with a smuggler narrator. (Inferred from the plot summaries, not from the text.) **Reception.** Mixed critical reviews. N. K. Jemisin (The New York Times) wrote that it is "a heist narrative at heart" lacking a team of charming specialists and surprise twists; Salon called it a crowd pleaser. It debuted at No. 6 on the New York Times list and peaked at No. 4 (Wikipedia). Awards: 2018 Dragon Award for Best Science Fiction Novel; finalist for the 2018 Prometheus Award. ## 6. Fact-check Overall verdict: **supported** (the claims about the book are facts; the comp advice is opinion). | Claim (video) | Verdict | Evidence | |---|---|---| | *Artemis* is by Andy Weir and was published in 2017 | Supported | Wikipedia: released 14 November 2017 | | *Artemis* is a science-fiction novel (the comp for an adult sci-fi query) | Supported | Wikipedia: science fiction novel set on the Moon | | A 2017 book is too old to comp | Not empirically testable | Industry advice from the hosts; I did not look for agent guidance | | Weir's other books are blockbusters better not comped | Not empirically testable | Opinion. Both are best sellers per Wikipedia | Discrepancy recorded: page count 309 (Wikipedia) versus 305 (Open Library Crown record). ## 7. Citations and references - [Wikipedia: Artemis (novel)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemis_(novel)); [Wikipedia: Andy Weir](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Weir). - [Open Library OL26424863M](https://openlibrary.org/books/OL26424863M). - Videos: [You Sent Me Your Query Letters…They ALL Would Get Rejected](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_Vsz09AWdY); [Time Dilation Visualized](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FT-oz9aZU4).