Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. Simon Kinberg and Aditya Sood, who both helped produce The Martian for Fox, are confirmed to be attached to Andy Weir's next book, Artemis. This isn't a sequel to The Martian, and a whole universe away from the kind of story that was. This one seems to be more of a space noir thing taking place in a seedy city on the Moon.
The book doesn't come out until November 14th, 2017, but Crown Publishing released a plot description today in a big press release that also celebrated the feature rights being bought by Fox and many of The Martian producers returning to bring this one to the big screen as well.
Here's the rundown:
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.
What was beautiful about The Martian was the simplicity of the story. An inventive astronaut is trapped on Mars and has to science his way out of it. Boom. Clean. This one is a bit more dense with its plot. That's not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, this set up is quite intriguing, especially if Weir's bringing his trademark "real science" approach to a classic B story. It's just in this case the pulpy story getting the realistic makeover is a sci-fi crime story instead of a Robinson Crusoe story.
Much of the success of The Martian was the A-list talent involved. You had Matt Damon in front of the camera and Ridley Scott and Drew Goddard behind. I suspect if Artemis is going to be as good they'll have to aim just as high this time out. What do you folks think?
-Eric Vespe
”Quint”
quint@aintitcool.com
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