Real life space racers may be setting their sights on putting a human on Mars, but author Andy Weir has been there and done that with his 2014 bestseller “The Martian.” So his next book, titled “Artemis,” will be set on the moon.
Crown Publishing has announced that Weir’s “near-future thriller” will be released on Nov. 14. In conjunction with news of the book, Fox announced that it was picking up the movie rights to “Artemis.”
“The Martian” was a hit in theaters in 2015 for Fox. The film, directed by Ridley Scott, starred Matt Damon as Mark Watney, the astronaut protagonist who is stranded on the Red Planet.
Here’s the description of the new book, from Crown’s news release:
An adrenaline-charged crime caper that features smart, detailed world-building based on real science and the charm that makes Weir’s writing so irresistible, Artemis introduces a protagonist every bit as memorable as The Martian’s Mark Watney: Jasmine Bashara, aka Jazz. Jazz is just another too-smart, directionless twentysomething, chafing at the constraints of her small town and dreaming of a better life. Except the small town happens to be named Artemis—and it’s the first and only city on the moon.
Life on Artemis is tough if you’re not a rich tourist or an eccentric billionaire, and Jazz is decidedly not a member of either category. She’s got debts to pay, her job as a porter barely covers the rent, and her budding career as a smuggler isn’t exactly setting her up as a kingpin, much to her disappointment. So when the chance at a life-changing score drops in her lap, Jazz can’t say no, even though she’s sure there’s more to the setup than meets the eye. And indeed, pulling off the perfect crime is just the first of Jazz’s problems as she finds herself in the middle of a conspiracy for control of Artemis itself.
Crown has high hopes for Weir’s work, noting that “The Martian” is a new science-fiction classic, with more than 3 million copies sold in North America.
In a video discussing “Artemis,” Weir shared some insight into what to expect:
