Mark Watney was one of the first six people to set foot on the surface of Mars, and now six days later he may be the first person to ever die on the surface of Mars.
When a powerful dust storm cuts their mission short, the crew of the Ares 3 mission is forced to abort, and abort quickly, before the craft meant to launch them out of the grip of Mars and back to their ship is itself a casualty of the storm.
On the way to that craft, Mark Watney is hit by a piece of flying debris and is lost to the rest of his shipmates.
Mark Watney’s suit registers him as dead, circumstances dictate he must be left behind.
But Mark Watney is not dead…at least not yet…
The Martian has been a much-talked-about novel, at least in the science fiction community, since its release in February of this year. It is a novel praised for both its scientific focus and its widespread accessibility, and in both areas it succeeds marvelously.
The story is told in large part from journals that Watney types as he chronicles his efforts to survive until the next scheduled Mars mission, some four years later. Mark’s specialty in botany, along with the other areas of scientific/engineering knowledge he possesses, are called to bear as he encounters situations of varying degrees of danger in his efforts to both survive, and thrive.
In addition to Watney’s journal entries, readers are shown the situation from the point of view of the people on Earth as it is discovered that Mark Watney did not die, as supposed.
It is difficult to say anything more about the plot without spoiling the story. I commend Weir for penning a novel that reads as if it were entirely plausible, if not entirely possible, and doing so in a way that keeps readers riveted to the page. I had delayed starting this for a long time after purchasing it, but given the overwhelming praise for the story, I found recently that I could no longer resist. And when I started, I found it awfully difficult to put down. Thankfully I was reading it on the Kindle, so it was easy to take it with me wherever I went…and I did!
The Martian has been called a futuristic Robinson Crusoe, and I can certainly see the comparison. The Martian could have been a very heavy, difficult novel, but is instead a novel that remains entertaining throughout, while giving readers plenty of suspense. The science is interesting and is written in a way that never once bogs the story down. Mark Watney is an interesting character who is able to express his concerns and fears without the story being overly dark or depressing. It is tense at times, to be sure, but that tension is what gives The Martian its page-turning quality.
The Martian is slated to be released late next year on the big screen starring Matt Damon, directed by Ridley Scott. If it can be done as well as Interstellar, this is going to be a good movie. But don’t wait, read the book. It is good and you shouldn’t wait another year to experience Mark Watney’s story.
My rating: 9/10
If you’ve read the book, I would love to have some spoiler-laden conversation in the comments. Please be sure to label your comments as such.
I really enjoyed this one, listened to it on Audible. Very Castaway and Macgyver together right to the end.
I suggested the audio version of this to a friend the other day as I thought he would like it. Glad to hear that you enjoyed it that way.
And the Castaway/Macgyver comparison is an apt one!
I loved this too. I didn’t always understand the science, but it was easy enough to get the gist of what he was trying to achieve, even when the specifics went over my head. Because of that, it seemed like the kind of book that could appeal to fans of hard sf, fans who like sf for its ideas, and fans who just want a good, entertaining adventure. Everyone wins 🙂 Can’t wait to see the movie.
I didn’t always either, Lauren, but it was written well enough that it was easy to go with it and make the assumptions that the author was trying hard to get the science right.
I do agree that hard SF fans should enjoy this one very much. It is nice to see this kind of novel have such a positive buzz.
This book surprised me. I expected it to be interesting, but not utterly fascinating and “un-put-downable”. I couldn’t stop reading. Some of the math and science made my brain go numb, but I appreciated the inclusion as it helps convey Mark’s thought processes as well as his sense of humour. I really enjoyed his personality. Having so much of the book from one point of view, you need to like the guy and I did.
I heard about the movie last week and was very excited for Andy Weir. What an accomplishment to achieve with a debut novel! I’m also eager to see the film!
His personality is great, isn’t it? I really liked his comments about the 70’s tv shows and the books he had on hand to read.
I think because this was largely about a character in a solitary situation, it was easy to find myself daydreaming about what it would be like to be alone that long, how you would entertain yourself, stay sane, etc.
Absolutely. I think he did a better job entertaining himself than I might. 😉
I read THE MARTIAN when it was first published last year. I enjoyed the struggle to survive (we’re used to that living in Western NY where you can get 80 inches of snow in three days!). But the struggle became a little tedious towards the end. A little editing would have made this a better book.
SPOILERS
Hmmm…I didn’t have that experience, George. I actually thought the end could have been stretched out a bit longer…it seemed to me that the end events were pushed through a little more quickly than the rest of the book had done. My editing advice would have been the opposite, lol, which would have been to bulk up the last 20 pages a bit more.
I love this man alone against the elements kind of story. I wonder if we’ll see writers telling other stories about Mars in such a compelling way. It would be nice to read a story about a mission succeeding, but still be thrilling. How often do we read stories, or watch movies, about first trips to Mars where everything goes wrong. How could a good storyteller involve us in the first Mars mission where everything goes well?
Not being a writer, I’m not sure how they would do so, Jim, but I have no doubt it could be done and I would love to see them do it. It would be nice to see a writer come from somewhere like Heinlein did with his stories set on the moon, with that assumption that it will one day happen, so let’s write about what that will be like in a realistic style, like this, that is also about a successful colonization.
I read this back in July (http://www.susanhatedliterature.net/2014/07/the-martian/ ) and enjoyed it. Though I didn’t love it and I don’t think I’ll reread it anytime soon.
I think it’ll make a great film, if done right 🙂 It was surprisingly gripping.
I’m not sure it is a novel I would re-read, but there are several novels that I rate very highly that are most likely one-time-reads to me.
If done right is the key, but I mostly like Ridley Scott’s films, so I’m crossing my fingers.
I actually loved this and thought Mark Watney was a great character – potential spoiler alert —
I also thought it worked really well that the story took on board the earth element of the story as it could have become a little bit much just reading about Mark – I enjoyed reading about the feelings of the general public back on earth and the whole storyline about the rescue. I had no idea these things take such a long time to plan – I know I’m really naive but there it is!
Lynn 😀
SPOILERS
I felt the same way. While I was enjoying Mark’s story, I felt a huge sense of relief when suddenly the viewpoint shifted back to Earth. I thought it was too long of a book for it to be just his viewpoint.
Thanks for the review, Carl. I’ll be reading this soon. It’s the January selection for my SF/F book club.
Hope you and your club enjoy it, Steve. It was our club’s pick several months ago…glad I finally got to it! 🙂
I’m still slogging through it. I tend to really dislike procedurals. As he explains the minutae of his survival, my eyes glaze over.
Ironic, isn’t it? Procedural crap is pretty much the only kind of stuff i write these days.
What is odd is that I would have picked this as a home-run for you, given your Mr. Fix-It skills. I’m very surprised.
Totally. I’m a weird fiction reader though. Very, very little grabs my attention.
My first thought when I saw this cover last Spring, or whenever, was Arthur C. Clarke’s 1951 The Sands of Mars, but the plot is quite different, even with a stranded member of a team as part of it. I have this one on hold (long wait) at the library, but probably won’t see it until near or after Christmas.
Hopefully it won’t take too long. If you were a Kindle reader I would tell you to take advantage of the $3 sale price that is on right now.
I just popped over to mention the fact that it was on sale today 🙂
Thanks Fence, that is a great price.
Watney was not one of the first six. He was the seventeenth.
One of my favorite books, btw. I first read the self-published version. The commercially published version had some interesting but minor changes, although they left off the ending. I suspect that will make it easier to follow with a sequel.
Can’t wait for the movie!
It is a best sf book on GR as voted by users. If I have a possibility, I’ll check it out. It’s been published in Poland in November.
I can see why its so popular, it is fairly accessible for a novel with some hard SF leanings.
It is a best sf book on GR as voted by users. If I have a possibility, I’ll check it out. It’s been published in Poland in November. Thanks for review.
I enjoyed the book but I found the whole potato farming subplot a bit lame. After all the detail on how he got the soil fertile and including his own body wastes, there was little said about the photon flux required for photosynthesis. I am assuing that the roof of the Hab is more or less opaque ( carbon fibres are mentioned at various points ) and Mars has less sunlight than Earth anyway at east in the visible and near UV which is needed for plant growth – so that would require sunlamps – in the style of the pirate marijuana growers of Holland – and he doesn’t really explain how he would come to have the requisite number or the available power to bring the farm into production. Nevertheless I suspended my disbelief and had a good old page-turner of a read.
Carl,
I thought it was a wonderful book. I am interested in your take on “point of view.” I suppose it is primarily first person and goes back and forth with third person authorial back on Earth.
However, near the end when traversing down the long geological ramp, all of a sudden he shifts to, what seems to me, third person omniscient – “a traveler was traversing the Mars landscape. He was cautious and slow trying to avoid …………” I found myself thinking ‘OMG – he died! I can’t believe it.” Of course Weir quickly returns to first person but it so shocked me. I thought it was genius. Thoughts?
Clay