The Martian: A Novel

This is a truly marvelous and wonderfully entertaining book. It is also “gripping” in a good way. As some other readers noted, I stayed up way too late some nights because I simply had to find out what was happening as Mark Watney, the Mars-stranded astronaut, struggles not only for survival but hopefully for ultimate rescue. It is not Science Fiction. It is Science. Fiction. Subtle difference. The author, in addition to possessing tremendous knowledge about interstellar details, also put a lot of time into research and his own computer simulations to ensure the details of the story are as accurate as possible. What makes the story work is the situation, an astronaut stranded on an essentially uninhabitable planet far from Earth, and the lead character Mark Watney. He's a veritable “MacGyver” in terms of his ingenuity in figuring out not only how to survive, but also to overcome the inevitable series of mishaps and anomalies that occur throughout his time on Mars. The book starts out with a 'grab you' opening: "I'm stranded on Mars. I have no way to communicate with Hermes or Earth. Everyone thinks I'm dead. I'm in a Hab designed to last 31 days. If the Oxygenator breaks down, I'll suffocate. If the Water Reclaimer breaks down, I'll die of thirst. If the Hab breaches, I'll just kind of explode. If none of those things happen, I'll eventually run out of food and starve to death. So yeah. I'm f----d." The next several opening pages dwell a lot on the scientific aspects of space travel and the Martian environment to the point that I was thinking “geek book.” But the story soon transitions into the rhythm that makes it such a wonderful read. Much of Mark's narrative in the book consists of his Daily Log entries – a writing perspective well-suited to the book, since he has literally no one with which to communicate. What comes through is his strong positive attitude spiked with a wicked sense of humor. You will really come to not only admire Mark, but genuinely like him as well – which means you will be “pulling for him” throughout the book - “C'mon Mark!” Every “up” in the book (e.g. he is finally able to establish communication with Earth) is soon accompanied with a corresponding “down” (e.g. his Martian dwelling – the “Hab” - explodes), etc. Most of us would just give up; I mean it's another four years before there's another Mars mission planned, and he has neither the food, water, or other means to last that long or travel to the planned landing site. But not Mark – he takes each problem in stride, puts his logical (and ingenious) mind into action, and, well, somehow survives another day – and longer, and even does it with a sense of humor. The dialogue beyond Mark's Daily Log is excellent, the plot sublime, and the story would make a wonderful movie. But wait, it IS going to be a movie, starring Matt Damon (great choice!) coming out in November 2015. Can't wait to see it. Read this book!!!

UPDATE - Even if you saw the movie, READ THE BOOK! Since reading this book, we have watched the movie at least ten times. It's wonderful of course, but incapable of including all the wonderful bits and pieces, and events, that the book has. Many things have to be left out to produce a movie that isn't four hours long. You will not be bored or disappointed reading this at all if you saw the movie but didn't read the book. It will be even better, and give you all the bonus scenes the movie couldn't. ORIGINAL REVIEW: Absolutely fabulous story. An astronaut that gets stranded on Mars and needs to find a way to stay alive as time passes and supplies & equipment run out or degrade. Instead of giving you any "summary" of the rest of the story line, I'm going to talk about why it's such a great book to read and leave all the cool, funny, suspenseful and dramatic details untouched so you can really enjoy them as you read it yourself. I knew absolutely nothing about the story before reading it, beyond what I've just said in my second sentence above, and I do believe it would make a huge difference. My husband and boys all read this when I did and we were constantly laughing out loud or asking each other, "Where are you at....what's he doing right now?" My oldest is still reading it and I'm finding my self enjoying the revisiting of the story as he passes each chapter. Andy Weir has a very cool writing style. It is different than a lot of other styles I have gotten used to, and I found myself enjoying the change a lot, which means he does it very well. He's really funny and it comes out in his main character in so many ways. After the first few chapters, you find yourself with a page turner that you hate to put down and can't wait to fall back into. I actually paused at the last page of the last chapter thinking there was going to be more, and when I returned to the story the next day with my feet curled under me on the couch I was heartbroken to find the next page was not the start of another chapter but the "Thank you for reading" screen. It was like losing a best friend or a family member to find I had nothing else to read in the book, (well, the interview with Weir at the end of the book was a nice bonus as I was desperate for more...) While others might think it's a negative strike against a book for it to end while the reader thinks there's going to be more, and it is in most other cases, it wasn't in this book. It could have ended at a lot of various different points without leaving the reader to feel like too many loose ends had been left. He chose a good place to end it, but the story was soooo good I would have eaten up 10 more chapters easily, and then some! There's another whole book of real challenges and suspense he could write about after the point he ended this one at. It didn't seem like he did that intentionally, but I would love to read the "next adventure" picking up where he left off. I kept telling my husband after I had finished it, "I miss my martian!!!" I was literally sad for a day or two wanting to hear the details of his next day and not being able to. LOL Now, the science part. Don't click away with a yawn looking for something else. Andy Weir's writing will completely take you by surprise as you find out how much you enjoy understanding the finer scientific reasoning, physics and chemistry behind things this astronaut can or can't do on Mars, and following his logic as he tries to figure out ways to survive. Almost everything the astronaut does is absolutely believable, and his attitude, reactions, and emotions all ring true to the reader as something they themselves probably would think, feel or do. It's so "down to earth" (but on Mars - ha ha) that it makes it engaging. Reading this story doesn't leave you in that fun "what if" wonderment state like some science fiction does with unbelievable circumstances or worlds that are not based in our reality. Weir basis his entire story on our present reality, and writes about the actual probable circumstances if this actually happened. It leaves you thinking, "that's probably just what it's like, or would be like," and you feel incredibly educated about the planet Mars, a fresh wonderment all it's own. You find yourself more motivated to see the real-life discoveries mankind has about Mars in the future; as well as our potential for space travel in general from a realistic point of view. Has Weir found the magic formula to reignite the excitement and imagination of the American public once again for space travel? I think so. As for reading about the physics or chemistry behind his adventures, don't make the mistake of thinking it will be too boring or complex to enjoy. Weir knows how to word things so that you're eyes don't glaze over, and instead you find yourself understanding completely, or quickly Googling something you want to know more about, (and never thought you would!) That's something I found myself doing a LOT!! That's pure inspiration and what makes Weir such a good writer. He also let's the reader off the hook in so many places throughout the story with graceful and/or funny transitions into laymen's terms or explanations, or by having the character admit he really doesn't understand the science behind something, (that's the other astronaut's specialty,) and then he goes about talking plainly while you laugh at how simple to understand it really was. Rather than struggling to understand the science he explains, you find yourself enjoying it with his relaxed writing. This character is a highly intelligent NASA astronaut, and yet the writing, without cutting too many corners, makes you feel like you're on equal footing intellectually. What's really funny is the realization that mankind has created a lot of complicated lingo to communicate within each of the different specialties of knowledge. An efficiency necessity among equally trained individuals for sure, but those who choose to speak their specialized lingo at all times unnecessarily alienate those outside their field. When that same communication is put more simply, it's actually not that hard to understand at all. Kudos to Weir for knowing this and humorously getting around it. Don't pass on this read. Trust me, you will love it and be glad to have read it.

Fantastic book. I have watched the movie first, then started reading Project Hail Mary and ordered this book. The quality of the paper and binding is also good. Also arrived in good condition. However it was supposed to be delivered home. For some reason I had to collect it from a service point. I think it was a mistake by the courier. So I would still go with a five star ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐.

There are a few rare books that you come across in your life that make you go – oh my gosh, this book is f*****g amazing!! The Martian by Andy Weir is exactly that kinda book. The premise is pretty simple actually. In the not-so-distant future, NASA has a crew of six astronauts on a manned mission to MARS (called Ares 3, so this is not the first). They land and everything’s dandy for 6 sols (Martians days) but right upon which a sandstorm hits. Our protagonist, Mark Watney, gets hits over by the wind and the other crew mates, presuming him dead perform an emergency exit off the planet. Only, he’s not really dead. He wakes up covered in sand to a dead planet. No humans around, no contact with NASA, and no way to get off the planet. Will he survive? And if yes, how?? But more importantly, what does this realization do to the humanity back on Earth? The book reads like a hard science-fiction and that’s not entirely a bad thing. If anything, it only lends more credibility to the narrative and all the wild science-y solutions that Mark Watney pulls out of his hat. But picture this, you’re the only living thing on an entire planet that is thousands of kilometers from Earth. No one knows you’re alive, and even if they do they’re pretty much helpless. What would one do? I thought hard about this, picturing myself in Mark’s situation. Of course he’s a trained astronaut and a botanist and I’m a…well, the point here is that where most people would have succumbed to the hopelessness of the entire thing, he fights and fights and fights some more!! And how! One moment you’re screaming your hearts out ‘NOOOOO! HE’S A DEAD MAN!’ and then Mark comes right up and says he’s gonna be alright. And you heave a big sigh of relief muttering to yourself cheerfully, ‘The bloody bastard’s gonna be fine!‘ That’s pretty much how most of the read went for me. And I have mention here that the author Andy Weir is brilliant! The kind of picture he paints of Mars, down till the smallest detail and the explanation to the various experiments conducted our protagonist – the science is all mostly accurate! And it amazes me for the kind of research and effort he had put into in crafting the entire book. I heard him say that he had to actually write a computer program himself to figure out how many days it would take for a spacecraft to travel from Earth to Mars. Yes, everything’s that calculated. So when Mark throws numbers and formulas at your face, it’s crazy to think that it’s all real. And that’s one more thing about this book, how utterly possible everything feels. This is not fantasy. The events and catastrophes featured in this book can actually happen in real life. That’s one more tangent my mind goes off to often, how would we react if something like this were to happen in reality? Wouldn’t the social media go absolutely crazy!? Wouldn’t there be numerous religious groups praying for his safety! And to say nothing of our protagonist himself. The large reason the book works despite the hard science is Mark’s sense of humor. I would put it somewhere close to Chandler Bing in that aspect. But he is not a brooder, he is a doer! And he cracks some amazing jokes throughout his journey. By the end of the book, you’ll really come to love this fellow. The other supporting cast are all well-etched out too. As an Indian, it was nice to see the character Venkat Kapoor as a high ranking NASA official (The name’s odd though. Kapoor is a North Indian surname while Venkat is definitely a Southie thing). I also loved the entire crew of Hermes. Especially Commander Lewis with her disco addiction. Andy Weir has struck gold with his first feature novel, and deservedly so. Books like this, they’re every bookworm’s kryptonite.

FEEL FREE TO ASK ME QUESTIONS ABOUT THE BOOK! I would like to start this review with a note that is both a positive and a negative. I do not read any book, this is because I am never captivated and cant really empathize with the character and I never feel like I am there. But on to the review. "About this version of the product* The book came to me in pristine condition it was truly breath-taking how beautiful the cover is. The book is well sized and honestly this is one of if not the most beautiful and durable books I've bought. There is also a map in the beginning which is awesome since I was cross referencing it so much which made me feel very immersed. *About the book SPOILER FREE PART* The Martian is the most well written, funny, serious, and emotional book I have ever read. This is in part because of the amazing writing. Mark Watney is a charismatic, smart, and resourceful man. In the face of adversity he always manages to crack a witty joke that always made me chuckle or just burst out laughing (No im not psychotic, i don't think). The writing makes you really feel like you know mark which is one reason why you empathize and really feel for him. The Atmosphere is great really selling the barren expanse and devastating loneliness of the Martian lands. *Note: I found that using some noise cancelling headphones and playing some white noise, like the wind, really helped to sell the effect of being on mars*. After only a few pages I had a very clear picture of how it looked at the HAB and I only wish I could take a picture of my thoughts. The story jumps between the perspectives of Mark Watney on mars, Nasa and JPL on earth, and the crew on Hermes the space station the went to and from mars on. *General Consensus* I should have added some photos, including my favourite quotes. This is the best book I've read. I'm so sad its over yet so happy I've experienced it. Andy Weir is my new favourite author and i will be purchasing more of his novels no doubt. Please do yourself a favour and read this book. I cannot recommend it enough. 1000000 / 10 *LIGHT SPOILERS, what happens at the beginning* The book is about the main character Mark Watney's journey surviving mars after being abandoned there by his crew. What happened Watney and his crew consisting of, Lewis the commander, Vogel, Beck, Martinez, and Johanssen were six days into a 52 day mission on mars where they would gather science and conduct experiments when suddenly a large storm hit. The storm was so bad they had to evacuate but on their way to the MAV (Mars Ascent Vehicle) mark is struck by debris and is lost. The crew cannot find him and assuming he is dead abort without him. Mark wakes up and makes it back to the HAB, where he will live for the next (wont spoil how long) number of sols. He has a lot of problems along the way but manages to fix them in amazingly creative ways, I mean I cannot stress enough how glued my eyes were to the pages intrigued and worried about what would happen next. I wont spoil any more of the end because it would ruin how heart-breaking and heart-making (if that's a saying) a lot of the moments were.

I have a strong preference for paper books. I value the physical contact, the smell of paper, the craftsmanship, and the sense of uniqueness that ebooks simply cannot offer. None of these qualities are present here. This criticism has nothing to do with the content. It is entirely about the object itself—how this book looks and feels. The production quality is so poor that it actively discourages engagement. I would not take this book even if it cost €1 from one of those large clearance bins of unwanted titles you find in a Carrefour.

Es muy larga y poco ancha esta edición de pasta blanda, además de que por lo mismo es pequeña así que tuve que regresarlo, pero el libro es buenísimo.