The Martian by Andy Weir

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The Martian by Andy Weir


                Do you like action packed, suspenseful, science fiction novels? If so then The Martian will be your dream come true. This novel follows Mark Watney, the only man currently on Mars. He was part of the United States Ares 3 mission. When the crew of six was forced to evacuate Mars, Watney was hit by an antennae and pushed off course. The rest of the crew was forced to leave him on Mars assumed dead, which makes sense because he had an antennae poking out of his side, so they could survive. What follows is his fight to survive. And he does put up a fight against insane odds to make it back home to Earth.
                Mark Watney is such an easy character to root for. He was very well developed and had a great sense of humor throughout the novel. He was imaginative and yet a realist. Watney always kept in mind how slim his chance of survival was and yet he fought against it. The question throughout the novel was whether or not he would survive and he wasn’t the only one asking that question. The people at NASA and his surviving crew members were as concerned about his life. Once it became obvious that Watney was alive it was a round the clock battle to come up with ways to keep him alive. This is where storytelling in this novel should be commended. Watney’s point of view was given through written log entries which I though was extremely successful. Weir though also included what was going on with the surviving crew and people back at NASA which provides the reader with a well-rounded view of what is really happening. I didn’t want to read a Mars version of the film “Castaway” and that’s not what this is.

                I only had one real issue with The Martian: it got repetitive. Really repetitive. I guess this is where the different point of views became a hassle. Moments of discovery were relived in the different points of view and that could be tiring, especially near the end of the book when there was literally one life or death situation after another. This is also a very math heavy novel. If you aren’t into math and dubious equations/calculation then this might not fit for you.  Beyond that though I enjoyed this novel. There was a high level of suspense until the very end of the novel and it was extremely unpredictable. These situations have to be. It’s space! I give this novel 4 out of 5 stars. Great science fiction that assures I will never leave the planet because catastrophe is waiting. 

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