Book Review: The Martian by Andy Weir

About:

The Martian by Andy Weir is a science fiction novel taking place mostly on Mars. This book has been originally self-published in 2011.

  • 384 pages
  • Publisher: Crown
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0804139024

My Rat­ing for The Martian5

Buy this book in paper or elec­tor­nic format*

Thoughts:

The Martian by Andy Weir is not only a science fiction novel, but a survival story from the first page to the last. I knew I was in for a treat from the first line “I’m pretty much fucked”.

The book is told mainly through the logs of Mark Watney, our protagonist which is stuck on Mars accidentally, trying to survive. Mark leaves the logs in case someone will find them and they might help them understand how he survived. Waney has a fantastic sense of humor, a keen, intelligent mind and optimism which would leave most of us in the dust.

The logs include some fascinating math and science (which might not be easy to understand but are not difficult either and frankly, are part of the narrative but not the story) and the reader is rooting for Mark while he encountered much of what the difficult environment can offer. When Mark jury-rigs a rover, the reader roots for him and feels nervous as the folks at NASA tracking him going into a dust storm without the ability to inform him of such.

The real drama comes in about two thirds of the way in, when NASA realizes that they have a living astronaut on Mars and the infighting begins, the media frenzy and the not-so-good options which are now even worse.

I have heard some grumbling about the ending of this book, personally I thought it was perfect. I won’t ruin it, but I think it is consistent with the narrative and what the book is trying to say, as well as the character and attitude of Mark.

Most of all The Martian celebrates human inventiveness and ability to survive. It is an adventure book celebrating intelligence, done with intellect, wit and full of suspense.
Andy Weir is a genius and a brave writer to even attempt to pull this off.

Synopsis:

Mark Watney, astronaut on a mission to Mars, is stranded after his team left due to a huge storm and saw him impaled. Somehow Mark has to service on this inhospitable planet for the next 4 years until the next mission arrives, hoping NASA will realize he is not dead.

All is not lost, he has a place to stay, rations, 300 liters of water, a way to produce Oxygen and 12 potatoes.
And plenty of time.

Buy this book in paper or elec­tor­nic format*

 Zohar — Man of la Book
Dis­claimer: I bought this book.
*Ama­zon links point to an affil­i­ate account.

Summary
Review Date
Reviewed Item
The Martian by Andy Weir
Author Rating
5
Product Name
The Martian by Andy Weir
Man of la Book

A father, husband, avid reader, blogger, software engineer & wood worker who is known the world over as a man of many interests and to his wife as “an idiot”.

View Comments

  • This is one I'm planning on reading. I believe it's slated to be released in cinemas this year. I'm still going to read it!

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