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Showing posts from October 25, 2017

Lunar Conspiracy Sciences the $h!t out of me... but Lacks the Same Spark

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So let's get this out of the way, right off the bat: anyone expecting a stellar follow-up to Andy Weir's immensely-entertaining debut, The Martian , with his sophomore outing (the soon-to-be-released Artemis ), may be a little disappointed... not because it isn't a fun read, but because the bar was set SO very high from the get-go. The Martian was in my top-five books for 2014, because it hit on all cylinders. Smart, funny, smart-ass, regular-guy hero? Check. Fascinating setting, depicted in glorious detail so that it felt like I was there, too? Check. Seemingly-impossible snafus to get out of? Check. Thrilling, edge-of-my-seat kind of ending... that also seemed plausible? Yep, check. On paper, Artemis has most of the same kinds of things going for it. Bright, wise-acre, ordinary-gal hero (a young female protagonist who's on the shady side, but close enough)? Roger that. Cool setting, given ample descriptions to make it "real" (a little town on the moo