The Martian

Fantastic book, I loved it.

This story follows Matt Watney an Astronaut stranded on mars after an unexpected event during a mars mission. He has to work his way through science ingeniously to survive on an inhabitable Planet.
Andy Wier is a great Science-Science-Fiction Autor, since he presents us with stories that could only work in science fiction, but explains to us how everything that was done could actually be done. But if science is not your interest, do not fear this is a story and science is in the background. Nonetheless a great touch for us who enjoy science. And this is not just some clever storytelling to convince us that it would work. Actual Nasa scientists have praised this novel for its accuracy.

The story itself was also great, Matt Watney is such a great character with a great sense of humor. I was rooting for him from the beginning. And since a great part of the book is written as “Diary” entries (actually log entries, but are comparable) where at the end of the day Matt sums us up what he did and how Mars fucked with him. He raised himself through adversities and conquered every challenge that is associated with living on an inhabitable planet.

After the film adaptation, one can not compare the book to the motion picture, but I actually enjoyed the book even more. Starting with a different ending which was more satisfying (at least to me). And Watneys humor is in the book more rough and uncensored, which leads to much more laughter.

All in all an Excellent book, a must-read. I will be gifting it this Christmas season.