In the not too distant future, Andy Weir imagines the town of Artemis, 2,000 inhabitants living and working on the moon. A sort of wild west town, with few laws, an unregulated currency, a haven for people tired of life on earth, who want to live on their own terms. The setting is modeled on the territorial West of US history, a place ripe for making a fortune, legally or not. Jasmine Bashara, who prefers to be called Jazz, is wickedly smart, but cannot follow rules or live conventionally, even when it is in her own best interest. Her father, a Saudi Moslem welder, lives a peaceful life perfecting his skills, building an impeccable reputation, following rules of morality, society, and his faith completely, a man of honor. He has been at odds with his rebellious child, from childhood on to the present day. In spite of her intellectual gifts, Jazz makes her living as a porter, a lowly position in Artemis society, made slightly more profitable by her smuggling enterprise. Tobacco, and certain other luxury items are always in demand, and Jazz has built a small business supplying them. She is careful to not allow truly harmful items, such as guns or hard drugs, to enter the Artemis underground economy.

Trond, a wealthy (and shady) fellow who seizes and creates lucrative opportunities, enlists Jazz to sabotage Sanchez Aluminum, the sole lunar producer of aluminum for construction, and oxygen for the town’s inhabitants, so that he can step in, force a take-over, and make a ton of money. Trond offers Jazz a million slugs (lunar currency), an offer she cannot refuse. Trond does not inform her of Sanchez’s backers, a mafia-like group back on earth, who unknown to Trond, already have one assassin in Artemis, who is coming after him. Also, unknown to Jazz, the real reason behind the timing of his takeover—a technological change that only the moon’s environment can produce, will soon explode Artemis’ economy, making Trond very rich.

Following the pacing of his first action, adventure, science fiction novel, The Martian, Weir creates challenges for his protagonist and the team she assembles, getting them into complex troubles that require all Jazz’s quick thinking to survive and succeed. He manages to give the reader all she needs to follow the quick pace, understand the perils, grasp enough science as rapidly as Jazz must respond, to hang on and enjoy the hair-raising risks and adventure. Weir lives up to expectations with this novel, with a funny, engaging protagonist, her crazy schemes, and cool science stunts for the geeks. A must read!