Wednesday, October 29, 2014

The Martian - Andy Weir

Title: The Martian
Author: Andy Weir
Pages (File Size): 384 (5.9 MB)
Published: 2014
Challenges: E-book, I Love Libraries
Genre: Science Fiction
Edition: E-book
Source: Library

Description: Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. 

Now, he''s sure he''ll be the first person to die there.

After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. 

Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to kill him first. 

But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills—and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit—he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him? (via ChaptersIndigo)

Description: It was a well-constructed novel, going between that of the astronaut, Mark Watney, and those on Earth, who were trying to get him back.  While reading the book, I ended up being more engaged with Mark's story than what was going on at NASA for the simple reason that I found the NASA stuff to be a bit on the dry side and was curious as to how one could survive on Mars, if one was just left there.

On the other hand, I did not like how the story was left hanging and would have liked to see how Mark's life was like after he got back.  Did he become famous and cash in on that fame?  Or did he try to shun the fame and try to resume a more normal life?

Bottom line: It was an interesting read and also quite entertaining.  I would probably recommend the book to most readers, even though the book is within a very specific genre.  Recommended to Highly recommended.

Rating: 3.75/5

Pages for 2014: 20,613

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