By Walter Kraatz
Artemis by Andy Weir is set in Artemis, the only city on the moon. It follows a smuggler named Jazz Bashara who sneaks contraband into Artemis. The contraband is mostly things that are flammable, like cigars and soundproofing. Flammable things are contraband because fire is extremely dangerous on the moon because people can't just go outside until things stop burning. Jazz says that she has standards on what she will smuggle into the city (hard drugs, plants, weapons), but is still endangering the residents of the city by smuggling in things that have the potential to kill quite a few people. Jazz's smuggling operation only used as expostition and backdrop and is the least ethically ambigious part of the story.
The main part of the plot of the story concerns Jazz's work for a billionaire as an industrial saboteur. Artemis is home to an aluminum smeltery that is also the source of the city's oxygen supply. The smeltery provides the oxygen to the city in exchange for free power. Jazz is hired to sabotage the production of aluminum, so that the smeltery breaks its contract and the billionaire can buy out the smeltery. The billionaire has stockpiled enough oxygen to supply the city for 1 year before he gets the smeltery running again.
Jazz fails in her first attempt at sabotage, and when she is caught she learns that the aluminum smeltery is being used to launder money for the Brazilian mob. She also learns that the aluminums smeltery is instrumental in the production of a new, secret fiber-optic cable that would be worth hundreds of billions of dollars. She than has to destroy the factory so that the mob will not have the opportunity control the new industry and as a result the whole city.
To sabotage the oxygen production Jazz has to overheat the smeltery and by doing so she puts workers at the smeltery as well as the entire city, and over two thousand lifes, at risk. When the smeltery overheats the resulting explosion causes a chloroform leak that makes the entire city pass out, except for a select few who are wearing spacesuits. Jazz fixes the leak and puts her life on the line by exposing herself to vacuum.
The sabotaging of the smeltery is kind of like the classic trolley problem where you can sacrifice one to save many, but in this case the deaths of those involved isn't certain. The mob taking over the city could lead to a large number of deaths through killings to maintain power, and also corrupt one of the greatest human achievements. Sabotaging the smeltery compromises the life support systems of the entire city had a lower chance of resulting in loss of life, but had the potentiality to kill thousands of people.
The decision to potentially sacrifice the entire population of the city is questionable, but I believe it to be the correct decision in this case, however I would be curious to know what others think the best solution to the situation would have been.
The story sounds really intriguing! I like when books provide situations where not only the character(s) have to tackle a tough decision, but you also think about what you would do in that moment.
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds really cool! (I also love that the city is named after the Greek moon goddess.) It's always interesting when author's present a slightly twisted reality than we live in, such as being in an artificial environment on the moon. Lemme just add this to my reading list real quick...
ReplyDeleteCool story, bro. This book sounds like something I would like to read. I also think that she made the right decision in that moment, even though it was a very weighty decision that could have bad effects either way. I'm impressed that the Brazilian mob is operating on the moon. What would be a good name for a mob on the moon? Lunar mob? The dark side?
ReplyDeleteThis is the type of review that grabbed my attention, and to me it seems like a really interesting book that I might have to look into reading. I always like reading books like this, ones with a different reality than the one we know, and replacing it with something that is beyond our imaginations.
ReplyDeleteI think that I might check out this book. I have read Andy Weir's short story, the Egg, which shows his skill in examining philosophical themes, and he also displayed scientific accuracy and a skillful use of tension in The Martian. The episode you describe in this review shows that he can apply those same skills to the genre of sci-fi.
ReplyDeleteI read this book, and I really agree with your summary and comparison. This is truly a one or the other situation, but I think that the sabotage of the smeltery and the risk for them all to survive was a good move. Nice job on this post!
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