Book Review: The Martian

I finished The Martian by Andy Weir this weekend and I have to say, damn, that’s a good book! I thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end. The main character, Mark Watney was charming, intelligent, witty, and a bit vulgar. But, hey, he’s the only human on Mars and facing almost certain death, so, if he wants to cuss a bit, I’m good with it.

The story is hardcore science fiction. There was talk of titration, creating water from hydrogen and oxygen, and lots of mathematical calculations. As a person with a background in physics, chemistry, and mathematics, I loved the science in the book because it had a level of authenticity that you just don’t see in many mainstream stories. Heck, I am half wanting to check the news to see how Mark’s rescue progress is coming

However, it was not over the top on the science. Mark’s character had enough levity and humor in the face of such a daunting tasks that you really wanted to see him succeed. And the technical details were often explained so that you would understand what was happening even if you did not have a chemistry degree.

The story is set in the near future and a 6 person team is sent to explore Mars for a short duration of just over 30 days. However, once on the surface, a dust storm on the 6th day threatens to damage their return craft and they are ordered to evacuate. Unfortunately for Mark, he is hit with flying debris and the rest of the crew believes he is dead. With time running out and visibility too poor to find his body, they launch, leaving him behind.

As you might have guessed, Mark was not killed. When he awakens, the launch vehicle is gone and the main communication dish is missing, leaving him unable to communicate with the orbiter or Earth. He knows there will be another manned mission to Mars in about 4 years, but that site is several thousand kilometers away and so he has to find a way to survive with the meager resources he has as well as traverse the Martian surface to the other landing site.

The story covers his various attempts at survival and the catastrophes that befall him as he tries to stretch the equipment designed to last for a limited amount of time out to a point where rescue might be possible. All the while, he is giving us his commentary on everything happening to him. I give it a solid 5 out of 5 stars. It is a must read if you love hardcore sci-fi.

Now I have to wait a couple weeks for the movie and hope that it is done with as much attention to detail.