A prime example of wrong expectations after a completely different first, very successful novel. And, ok, it´s an average piece of literature too
It´sA prime example of wrong expectations after a completely different first, very successful novel. And, ok, it´s an average piece of literature too
It´s so average because Weir is an outstanding author who doesn´t care about conventions. And this works great with The Martian and Projekt Hail Mary, who are quite the same funny, fast, easy to read nerdgasm overkills. No average sci-fi tropes, no big alien factions, wars, military or hard sci fi attitudes, just pure fun and freaky science facts transported through the characters´ actions and motivations.
Artemis isn´t like The Martian and Projekt Hail Mary It´s Weir trying to write a real hard sci-fi novel, which is a problem for both him and his readers who feel betrayed because he doesn´t deliver what they want, The Martian 2, aka known as inofficially called Project Hail Mary. They don´t want an average, clunky sci-fi piece without any outstanding elements, something Weir probably produced because he wanted to or because his publisher told him to write something different to diversify his audience or strange stuff like that.
It´s too hard While, in Martian and Mary, the hard sci-fi part was perfectly orchestrated with character is plot is action, Artemis fails in this regard too. Too many technical details without relating to protagonists or actions, too many lengths, infodumps, and just not enough momentum to ever really lift off or reach real literary heights and especially be entertaining, although it´s at least funny.
If you´re really into sci-fi, it´s ok, but there is much better poison out there. Look at the listopia sci fi lists, that are really big deals, especially Banks, Hamilton, Reynolds, Suarez, Stephenson, Scalzi, etc. This one is nice, but it will always feel inferior between Martian and Mary, so don´t torture the poor thing and avoid putting digital or physical copies beside each other.
AI, Aliens, MacGyvering, global cooling, and corpses combined to another astonishing Robinsonade soon escalating to more complexity and depth than WeiAI, Aliens, MacGyvering, global cooling, and corpses combined to another astonishing Robinsonade soon escalating to more complexity and depth than Weirs´ already great, first work The Martian.
Good old flashback amnesia who where what why wtf. Combine this with the right, cynical, auto self sarcasting worldview POV and one gets tons of humor and edutainment, mixed with a suspenseful saving the earth plot, and the pages can´t be turned over fast enough, at least if there is still enough light because of the
Dimming, dimming little star… What a great metaphor for exaggerated climate change reversal (more on that later) and what an ingenious double use for both the main plot and delivering a message by icing the badass factor to ultra cool absolute zero.
(view spoiler)[ Alien friends (hide spoiler)]are the best I can´t remember many similar, perfect matches from somewhere else in sci-fi, maybe because not many authors ever considered risking balancing the plot on such an (view spoiler)[ interspecies (hide spoiler)]relationship. Weirs´gags unfold thanks to good, old cultural differences, innuendos, social criticism, and contrasts, letting the reader permanently question what cool idea might come next and how Weir continues the sci-fi tradition of ironizing the heck out of the dysfunctional human society.
Should one freeze or should one sweat, science isn´t clear on that. Global cooling or warming, glaciers or tropical greenhouse fun, it´s tricky to choose between the devil and the deep blue sea. Another of Weirs´ingenuities is to draw a completely different picture of our current climate crisis, by just reversing it to something some might hope for, at least for the time until all the damage we´ve done to earth´ weather, soil, ecological, etc systems can be fixed thanks to better tech. For instance with Dysonswarms of billions of small, automated, collective super AI automated, coordinated drones that block sunlight in the space around earth or do some work in the atmosphere like adding or removing the right chemicals from air and water, greening deserts, building superstructures, etc. Until then and tech saves us, each book awakening more public awareness regarding the mixture of the sixth extinction, Venus style super global heating catastrophes, not ever to mention all the wars and humanitarian crises this will cause, is important.
The irony is that we already have many of the technologies that could reduce the speed of self cannibalization, but prefer to put billions and trillions of fiat money in economic systems destroying and worsening the situation, although a simple shift of all the subsidies and central bank made fantasy money, not even physical anymore, just numbers, to use it to green everything in a sustainable way, could be made overnight. Economics is a fringe voodoo scam, one can do everything good or bad with it by just changing the dogmas and boring, badly written holy texts of macro economical yada yada yada. But that all goes too far, back to the show.
People happier with the Martian and Project Hail Mary than Artemis Duh, Project Hail Mary, and The Martian are different styles, one could say different subgenres, full of humor and totally character and tech survival focused, while Artemis is more of a normal sci-fi novel with its conventions. People shouldn´t expect the always same writing style of evolving, new authors and consider that it might just subjectively not be their kind of subgenre of a genre new to them, but still a good book. It´s true, Martian and Mary are better, but that doesn´t make Artemis a bad book, it´s just not as accessible for not sci-fi heads.
Less is more Like in many great works, Weir just uses humor, science, some tropes, characterization, social criticism, and innuendos to compress such immense space freighter loads of philosophy, ideas, creative thought experiments, and charm in this short work that one would like to know how long it originally (not just the kind of space opera ( would it have been a megahit or kind of flopped like Artemis instead? We´ll never know) he stopped writing and used elements of it in this one) was before he began finetuning and cutting it to perfection. Or did he first plot everything and didn´t creatively free write too much, I don´t even know what kind of writer he is, what a shame, I should be infected with Astrophages, proto molecules, T Virus, melding plague, etc. at the same time as an appropriate punishment.
Switching between nerdgasm, tragicomedy, and DIY tutorials Thereby, Weir can be educational, funny, hopeless, and change tone and impact in perfect balance, to always keep all kinds of readers interested. In other cases, social sci-fi gets too sentimental without technobabble, which is itself too static and cold while nobody laughs, but here, all kinds of audiences get some individualized world saving plot possibilities served as stylish as possible.
Astrophaging Did anyone notice that viruses aren´t just bad in real life, but great for all kinds of sci-fi, video games, and series? Especially if a unique, new combination of theoretical physics, science fantasy, real biochemistry, clarketech, and some billions of years of evolution are thrown into the mix, close to everything can come out and be used as unique, new, never before seen, or thought of plot device. What an incredible microorganism, even able to teach some hard STEM science just by its existence.
Friendship and relationships Especially in contrast to the hard science focus, it´s astonishing that Weir shines where many sci-fi writers struggle. Creating living, credible characters with everyday problems while making the science accessible, funny, and more infotainment than soporific. Readers prone to both sides of the empathy scale can get so much out of this, because it offers the different perspectives of both cold, hard knowledge and emotional, soft vertebrate behavior.
Combine this with the accessibility to make it easy to love for everyone new to the genre and space science and what comes out is one of the possibly best and masterfully executed new ideas in modern sci-fi.
McGivering ones´ way through the space Robinsonade with full focus on fun, celebrating science, nerdism, and the extra trope vitamins fight against tiMcGivering ones´ way through the space Robinsonade with full focus on fun, celebrating science, nerdism, and the extra trope vitamins fight against time, poopy DIY, and rescue mission
The love for science The authors´ affinity for science drops from every page and is combined with definitively very fine plotted, interwoven tech plot arcs, making protagonist(s), story, and world one astonishing unit. Weir said in an interview that what he enjoys most about being a writer is doing very detailed research about all the hard science he shovels into each chapter, which results in even many gags, accidents, and almost catastrophes being based on wrong calculations, forgotten physics, or just sheer bad luck. Fusing theory and practice, cold math, and real results, makes the complex technical and physical details much more understandable, especially when it includes unwanted slapstick stunts with a touch of black comedy because it's nearly fatal.
Immense concentration of greatness in a very small space, I hope it won´t explode I can´t believe how short this thing is, it´s so densely packed with all that makes sci-fi great, one sometimes finds in books or even parts of series combined to not close that quality with lengths and stuff. But Weir even puts in some, seemingly, essential human needs such as social interaction, the badass protagonist Chucks away like if it was nothing. Unrealistic? Nope, it just depends on character, each introvert balancing on the thin, red line towards the autistic spectrum will fully agree while extroverted human lovers may find it unlikely that there aren´t more mental issues. As so often, it´s the subjective perspective that counts most.
Its place in the big sci fi picture It´s doing an immense job in spreading the sci-fi genre, although people reading it might expect something completely different from it than it usually means, especially not being that accessible, funny, and easygoing. Sci-fi is often more exposition with the length of an average novel, complicated concepts interwoven with different fractions and protagonists, and sometimes a struggle to keep following the plot and understanding the science and meta political economic ideological in world constellations and real world implications and innuendos, not to speak of inside gags aimed at the target audience. I guess that´s the reason why some sci-fi prone readers don´t appreciate The Martian as much as sci-fi rookies who are still open minded and not that picky about defining the rules and possibilities of the genre.
Funny as heck while doing edutainment As so often in funny as heck satires, the first person perspective adds the extra layer of making fun of oneself, something impossible with the more widespread third person perspective. Our protagonist doesn´t just make the reader giggle, but motivates himself with cynic pragmatism while giving the rest of humanity watching his endeavor hope with his optimism and jokes. It´s great for learning too, because a relaxed and happy mind integrates the shown science much better than one bored out by clunky hard sci-fi or school.
This isn´t your average sci-fi book and why Weirs´second novel Artemis didn´t live up to the expectations of broad parts of the audience while Project Hail Mary did. As mentioned in the big sci-if picture department, it´s far too accessible and easy to read for that genre. That´s, I guess, the reason why people expected a second Martian and were disappointed when they got Artemis, that is more of what sci-fi readers are used to, using more of the common tropes and conventions sci-fi heads love, while others might shy away from the reduced usability by far more complex storytelling.
These groundbreaking new and old voices of sci-fi are so amazing Just as Jemisin, Chambers, Butler, Okorafor, etc. Weir is reinventing the genre in ways one could have found much earlier, but didn´t, showing the immense potential of the best genre to rule them all, especially when made science fantasy or social sci-fi. Hard sci-fi, cyberpunk, and dystopic subgenres maybe not so much, because these exhausting and depressing subgenres just can´t get so many readers motivated to consume them and will never have the same impact as the funny, optimistic, utopic genres, especially some space opera series by Banks and Hamilton who find the perfect balance between world and characters, and even often cross that border and unite them to one, amazing overkill.
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