The Martian by Andy Weir

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I love anything to do with space and especially with Mars because I cannot wait for us to finally take the step. I usually read the book before seeing any movie made from it but this time I did the opposite and saw the movie. I really liked the movie and actually considered not reading the book because it worked for me. I decided to read and listen to it and was pulled right into the story from the very beginning. The narrator of the audio book, R.C. Bray brought the character to life and made me love the book even more than the movie. I love the way that it was set up with multiple points of view but still allowed most of the focus to be on the stranded astronaut.

Just days after their arrival on Mars a storm is heading toward their Habitat which could cause damage to their lift-off vehicle and the mission is aborted. While making their way to the orbital vehicle Mark Watney is struck by a piece of debris and lost in the storm, he is presumed dead and ultimately left behind. When he realizes what happened and with no way to communicate to Earth that he is still alive Mark sets out to make sure he is still alive when the next mission shows up on Mars.

The thing that kept me so interested was that the character was so upbeat and funny throughout his ordeal. He had a few bad moments but for the most part, he made you root for him just based on the fact that you wanted this great guy to survive because he deserved it. I laughed out loud at some of the dialogue and felt like crying any time something went wrong. I also like the science in these stories because space exploration is something I am totally interested in and have been since I was a kid. If I had been better at math and science as a kid I would have tried for the astronaut program myself.

This is a really good book with a movie that actually does it justice. I would recommend that you watch, listen and read The Martian because you will enjoy it in any form.



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