Tuesday, September 15, 2015

The Martian, Book Review



The Martian by Andy Weir

A freak accident leaves Mark Watney, an astronaut/engineer/botanist, stranded on Mars. And it’s four years until the next group of astronauts come to Mars. Mark doesn’t have enough food or water to make it. The Martian is the story of his survival.

Though I don’t usually read sci-fi, I really enjoyed this book! Maybe it’s because I have sons who are chemists and engineers (Weir nailed what engineers thinks of chemistry!), or maybe it’s because Weir took an amazing survival saga, added a good dose of dry humor and excellent pacing, and turned it into a story that reaches beyond genre—it’s a novel I can recommend to anyone who wants a good story told well.

The one caveat I have is that this book has a lot of profanity. I understand it at the beginning—when you discover you’re most likely going to die alone on the red planet, swearing is a natural reaction. But eventually, the liberal use of f-bombs began to grate on me.

That aside, this was an excellent book. I hope this author writes more novels—I can’t wait to read them.

N.B. I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

1 comment:

  1. I'd seen the film trailer and was fascinated by it. Good to know the book on which it is based is a good read, if a little too verbally "salty" as they say in these parts.

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