Artemis

But notably while The Martian was a mixed bag of science focus, and Project Hail Mary is a lot of physics - Artemis is a lot of metallurgy. Welding mostly! Like: very specifics about how to weld different kinds of metals in different situations, as part of big plotty problem-solving.

Noted on August 19, 2025

Is this a hastily-written novel dashed off to capitalize on the success of The Martian? Probably. It's not as good, it's shorter, but I did really appreciate that the heroine is... not a scientist. And not a hero. It's still got the template: space adventure in a pretty hard-sci-fi situation, with an engineering focus and no new magical technologies. It's fine! Definitely a page turner, which felt like a really quick read after the classics I've been reading this summer.

Noted on August 12, 2025