Book Review: The Martian

Hello Enthusiasts,

There are few things that I love as much as when you expect a book to be okay and get completely blown away with how good it is. This has happened to me a handful of times, and some of those instances have been reviews that I have posted on this very blog. Today, I get to add another one to that list as I review the Andy Weir novel The Martian. Now if you haven't read the book or seen the movie, I give you full warning that there will be some Spoilers Below.

The book follows astronaut Mark Watney, who is stranded by his crew on Mars as they are evacuating the planet. The crew leaves him there due to some very compelling evidence that he is killed during a sandstorm. However, Mark lived through the ordeal and made it back to the crew's base on Mars. Now he has to figure out how to survive until the next mission in four years, or communicate with Earth. It will take every skill he has to live in a world that constantly seems to be fighting against him.

So a lot of this story is told from the perspective of Mark's journal on Mars. He writes what's happening here in part as a way to keep his sanity, though he says that it's because he wants there to be something to find if he dies. There are a few areas that break from this format, mostly when the audience is brought back to NASA to read about the people on Earth working on a solution to bring Mark hime. The journal style of telling the story is great in terms of the exposition, because it makes sense that Mark has to explain all of the science around what he's doing. Trust me when I say you'll likely need the explanations for some of this, as there is a lot of science in this book. Mark was both the repairman and the botanist for the mission, so he has to use this knowledge and resources at his disposal in order to survive.

There is a lot to love about this book. While the story takes place a bit in the future, none of the science is unbelievable. The author takes the time to go into detail about why this technology works, why it's included on the missions, what the backup systems are, everything that could really cause a plothole. Because so much is explained so thoroughly, I was able to give a pass to the jumps in technology and the idea that NASA would have a large enough budget to allow so much innovation in space travel. Mark is also a very likable character; he's very smart about a few subjects, but he's not flawless. He makes mistakes despite his best intentions and plans. Mark is also incredibly relatable; he likes to make jokes, he loses his temper, he panics, he gets cocky, etc. Really, all of the characters are well-developed and none of them are written as an antagonist or anything. Even the characters at NASA that don't agree with the plan that is chosen to save Mark have good, legitimate reasons for what they do. Nobody is a villain, it's very much a "man vs. nature" story.

There isn't too much to complain about with this book. One of my only issues with this book was that so much of the story was told in from the perspective of journal entries. Even though it was still an awesome read and I like this form of story telling, it did make the story a little less suspenseful, as I knew he Mark was obviously okay since he was writing another entry. The book does try to work around that a little, since the journal is being recorded with the idea that it's there in case Mark doesn't survive. The only other thing I wanted from this book would have been an epilogue, as the story just ends once the problems are all resolved. I think this is the only thing that the movie did better than the book.

This is overall a great book for anyone looking a for hard-science fiction. Everything seems believable and, despite all of the science, it's an easy book to knock out over the course of a couple of days. It may not be for everyone, especially those who are looking for a story with a villain or those who just aren't fans of science fiction. With that being said, if you're not opposed to the very idea of this book, it's a solid recommend for me.

I give The Martian a 9 out of 10.

Sincerely,

The Bored Enthusiast