The Martian
Ratings2,440
Average rating4.4
Very fast-paced, exciting, fun book, full of suspense and inventiveness, and nice dash of humor. Ultimately, falls short of excellence because of a lack of character depth or development over the course of the story.
I liked this book! It is like reading a MacGyver in space story. The main character finds himself stranded on Mars, and encounters challenge after challenge after hurdle after disaster. He sometimes gives in to being upset, and his humor and sarcasm carries him far, but his will to survive and his basic knowledge about how things work help him address what he faces.
Love his sarcastic wit dealing with NASA and his situation; situation demands risk; Could we do what he did? Are we too risk averse? How much is one life worth?
What an excellent story! This was a difficult book to put down as I was reading it, but I had no choice due to work commitments and illness. On the other hand, I enjoyed drawing out the enjoyment of this story. I found myself, at the end, feeling what we all feel when we have finished a good book; happy to have reached the end and sad that the ride was over.
Read this book!
It's more like reading a lot of solutions to word problems than like reading a novel. I think you can probably watch the movie instead of reading the book.
Was a very fun and enjoyable read. I think it makes me really want to see the upcoming movie. I hope they keep all the great humor in an otherwise scary situation.
Mostly fun to read, and mostly non-cringe-inducing from a technical perspective, but the writing style is just not my thing. By the end, the dialog was just grating.
Formal review to come... but suffice it to say that this is the first book where I've ever thought “I wish I could give it more than 5 stars.”
AWESOME.
I started reading The Martian today, I finished reading The Martian today. It was that good.
10/10 new favourite book and apparently my new favourite genre (snarky astronaut thrillers - give me more!). hashtag mark watney for president.
This book was really stellar. I'm in love with science, science-fiction, and critical-thinking/problem-solving. The Martian has all of it. The planning, characterization, and general plot is so windy and terrifying. Even though you know how the book is going to end, the journey there is amazing.
More “science/fiction” than “science fiction”. Loved every page, and highly recommend for anyone who solves problems. Looking forward to the movie.
This book was absolutely spectacular. Despite a truckload of technical jargon, the book flows effortlessly through the perspective of Astronaut Mark Watney documenting his struggle for survival (and being an absolute snark machine). A pure delight for any sci-fi fan, and a thrilling read for anyone else.
This was an amazing page-turner! It passes the Neil Gaiman test (“... and then what happened?”) with flying colors.
If there's a weakness to the story, I guess that it's rather preposterous when you reflect on the whole ordeal - and people more versed in science might be face-palming throughout. I don't know how plausible the science is - I just let Mark carry me along. He's such a great character, it more than compensates for any plot drawbacks, in my opinion.
I've heard several people say that Andy Weir has brought science back to science fiction, and they are not wrong. The author's thorough research creates credible approach on what modern scientists and engineers would do in Mark Watney's situation. And everything is translated in a very fun and entertaining way making it suitable to all the public. It is clear that in order to go into space one must have a multidisciplinary knowledge and abilities to solve problems that can occur at anytime.
As an engineer, I am totally delighted with the quality of this work and how I visualized precisely everything Watney and his partners did.
This was a pick for Sword & Laser last year and I didn't read it, because I don't like SF all that much. And then it got picked up as a movie. And then someone else loved it. And then here we are.
I really enjoyed this book, and I don't know if I would have liked it more if I understood and/or cared about the science involved. Watney was fun and funny, and it was great to be on his journey to try and not only survive, but escape Mars. RC Bray's narration on the Audible version was fantastic for Watney, but the secondary men (and they were mostly men) felt all a bit generic - the Indian and the Mexican stood out as difficult to distinguish when they were talking in the same scene.
The only part I found entirely unbelievable (yes, I don't care about the science so we're ignoring any flaws there), is that the news media would run a feature on Watney every day for eighteen months. I can believe they would initially be excited, and then if something happened they would get on board again, but certainly not every damn day. I also think maybe the PR manager should maybe know a little more about the science of their organisation, but again, it served the purpose of dumbing-down the explanations for readers.
Overall I heartily recommend this book, and look forward to seeing the movie.
Oh my god, this was such a good read! I was extremely annoyed at having to put it down in order to get some sleep...
Fantastic edge of seat stuff. Loved every word
Brilliant book, Andy Weir is a genius!
Every single chapter keeps you on the edge of your sit and even though I couldn't understand all the chemistry throughout the book, I found it very interesting.
GO READ THIS BOOK NOW
Humanity at its REAL best, inside and outside
Ingeniously written, free of cheap fantasy, it ties your feet to the ground, stretches up your mind to the unlimited possibilities of our kind, subtly pushes your heart with the wonderfully achieved natural nerdy suspense.
Please, PLEASE, don't ruin the movie Mr. Riddled Scott and Mr. Matt Damon. You better respect this one, Hollywood.
This is the first science fiction novel I've ever read, as much as I can remember. I think it was easy for me because it focuses not on the science - while there is plenty of that - but mostly on the human condition and Watney's survival in the face of seemingly impossible odds. This is like any survival novel, only it happens to take place on the surface of Mars in the maybe-not-so-far-off future.
This book is written in Watney's logs, emails between him and various crews, and then normal exposition with the ground control teams. I think that made it a lot more interesting than simply reading Mark did this then said that, as you're getting several points of view including the most important: Watney's and what he thinks about his whole situation.
I think this book is very readable for anyone - this is from, like I said, someone with very little interest in science and science fiction - and is filled with a lot more humour than you'd expect. Watney is an instantly likeable character and you really care whether he lives or not. There were a few events in the latter half of the book that had me on the figurative edge of my seat.