Artemis

by Andy Weir

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To start out with the elephant in the room: Artemis is not The Martian. But that's okay. Very few books can be The Martian. Despite that Artemis is an extremely enjoyable, energetic, easily consumed sci-fi romp.

The story is simple, fast-paced, and exciting, and is written in a manner which allows it to take centre stage and be those things. There is little unnecessary depth, and most of the exposition along the way relates to the story in some way.
And while all these things could also have been criticisms of a book, Artemis just does it so well. It's perfectly paced, it's crafted in a way where the setups go on just long enough for the twists to be perfectly baked when they come out of the oven, and it's never boring. And, impressively for a story like this, it never gets predictable. Most of the time I had no idea what would be coming next, and if I did the book proved me wrong. It also has some great characters. While none of them are given much depth, they are all that they need to be. The main characters are likable, smart, and very enjoyable to follow. As with the book itself, they're just good fun.

Sure, anyone expecting The Martian will be disappointed, but if you're looking for a quick, easy, satisfying, forgettable-but-fun summer read, you could do much worse than Artemis.