Books & Java

The Martian 

by Andy Weir 

Synopsis:

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 the planet while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded on Mars' surface, completely alone, with no way to signal Earth that he’s alive — and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone years 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's not ready to quit. Armed with nothing but his ingenuity and his engineering skills — and a gallows sense of humor that proves to be his greatest source of strength – he embarks on a dogged quest to stay alive, using his botany expertise to grow food and even hatching a mad plan to contact NASA back on Earth.

As he overcomes one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next, Mark begins to let himself believe he might make it off the planet alive – but Mars has plenty of surprises in store for him yet.

Grounded in real, present-day science from the first page to the last, yet propelled by a brilliantly ingenious plot that surprises the reader again and again, The Martian is a truly remarkable thriller: an impossible-to-put-down suspense novel that manages to read like a real-life survival tale.

My Review:

One of the best books I've read my entire life. As a reader, this is the kind of book you hope to have the opportunity to come across once or twice in your life. So, so good. Did I say just how good this was? Well, it was even better than that. The story is suspenseful, action packed and the author adds just enough wit and sarcasm to make it humorous too. 

You definitely have to have an appreciation for science to get through this book as the book has a great deal of scientific information that is beyond the scope of most... Unfortunately, I do not have that appreciation but although I am an everything science dunce I clung to the plot and the fantastic dialogue and characters to carry me through. After a while of the scientific lingo, you do eventually catch on and you may experience what I experienced - although fleeting, a sudden and satisfying feeling that perhaps I am not as scientifically dense as I thought I was. All joking aside, this truly is a fantastic book deserving of all the great accolades it has received so far. Kudos to Andy Weir and if I ever get stranded in Mars for 18 months or so, I feel I now have a guide for survival. I hope to perhaps further enhance my newly gained scientific knowledge by reading his future works. Hopefully, there will be many more to come!!!