Megan Quinn
Such a great read! Science fiction at its finest, exploring both the mechanical and social aspects of a major scientific catastrophe. The main character is a sarcastic delight, both an optimist and a realist, and listening to him solve problems as they arise was a great choice for perspective. I laughed so much in this book. I've read the other 2 novels from Andy Weir (I know, right? Out of order.) and this was really great. Hard to say whether this or Project Hail Mary is my favorite.
Matt Logan
I absolutely loved this book. It has an intelligent, wise-cracking, and incredibly resourceful protagonist; it's set in a realistic near-future where we are making manned trips to Mars; and its plot conflicts and resolutions all derive from actual physics and scientific concepts and calculations. If you're into math at all, you'll probably get the most enjoyment from the book, but truthfully you don't need to be. Everything is explained concisely and with humour. Credit to Andy Weir for pulling off that feat. I found the story to be paced well. Without giving anything away, Mark Watney's ordeal is certainly never a walk in the park, but never gets into soul-crushingly desperate territory, either. I laughed, I cringed, and I wanted to cheer multiple times at various points. I also enjoyed the novel approach with different perspectives presented, where chapters could be a combination of Mark's first-person mission log or from various third-person perspectives such as his crewmates or personnel in NASA. For comparison, Apollo 13 is one of my favourite movies, and it's an amazing true story. The Martian has many similarities, but ups the ante several notches. The fact that it seems like it could be happening in our lifetimes makes it all the more exciting. Bottom line: I'll definitely be checking out the movie when it's released.
30 people found this review helpful