However, I have a short list of totally awesome books that I have been planning to blog about and just haven't gotten to yet. But let today be the day I begin, starting with Andy Weir's The Martian.
Let me start this review with a disclaimer:
I am not really a science fiction reader. I dabble in dystopias in the world of Young Adult Literature, but I am not into space. It freaks me out, truthfully. I avoid watching movies like Apollo 13, Contact, Interstellar, and Armageddon because space freaks me out. The thought of being miles above solid ground in a metal tube makes me want to vomit provokes anxiety (and to answer your next question: I don't like to fly. I won't go so far as to say I am afraid, because I fly a lot, but I don't like it). So reading this book was a step out of the ordinary, and the novel is an anomaly among my typical reading material.
But good gracious, I LOVED this novel!
A colleague of mine at school asked me to read it and give him my opinion. He wanted to use it somehow in his middle school science class but had reservations because of the adult language in the book.
I borrowed his copy, placed it on my stack and vowed to get to reading it soon so I could report back to him in a timely manner.
From the opening line to the end, I was sucked into the world of Mars, the Hab, Mark Watney, and NASA. I laughed out loud regularly while reading, pleasantly surprised at how funny a book it was, given the dismal situation.
And I loved the book even more when I found out that Weir had written the novel for his own pleasure, publishing it on his website for fun. Fans of his asked him to publish the work in a download friendly format, so he made it an ebook and put it up for sale on Amazon for just $.99. Enter discovery and the book shooting to the top of the New York Times Best Seller list.
I love stories like that. They give aspiring writers like me hope for a future.
But back to The Martian.
I love stories like that. They give aspiring writers like me hope for a future.
But back to The Martian.
Synopsis
Mark Watney is having a bad day. He woke up from a debilitating crash to find that he has been left behind.
As in, literally the only person on the planet. And that planet is Mars.
Watney is one member of a manned mission to Mars that had to be aborted due to a storm. He's a botanist by training, a handy fix-it guy by nature, and quickly becomes McGyver by necessity.
The challenge: it will take 4 years for another manned mission to get back to Mars to rescue him. He is in a Hab designed to last less than a month. All his communication links to earth are gone. He doesn't have enough food to last him 4 years.
But Watney has skills, a sense of humor, and a determination to get back home to earth.
Turns out that can take a guy pretty far.
As in, literally the only person on the planet. And that planet is Mars.
Watney is one member of a manned mission to Mars that had to be aborted due to a storm. He's a botanist by training, a handy fix-it guy by nature, and quickly becomes McGyver by necessity.
The challenge: it will take 4 years for another manned mission to get back to Mars to rescue him. He is in a Hab designed to last less than a month. All his communication links to earth are gone. He doesn't have enough food to last him 4 years.
But Watney has skills, a sense of humor, and a determination to get back home to earth.
Turns out that can take a guy pretty far.
Review
Surprising to hear me say that the book is funny after that synopsis, right? But it really is. Watney has a glib and wise-cracking sense of humor, and he takes his successes and failures in stride. Watney's voice is clear and easy-going, and Weir handles a swap of perspectives (the book shifts into the point of view of NASA and others at later points in the novel) easily, developing voices that are unique to the characters.
The science of the book was way over my head neatly technical, but it doesn't drag on or get too far into detail. However, it's clear that Andy Weir knows his stuff, and I think that brings a pretty intense authenticity to the story.
The book does make use of adult language, and there are some f-bombs scattered throughout. In fact, the first line contains an f-bomb, but given the dire straights, the language feels true to the story, rather than gratuitous. There are a few references to sex in the story, but they are mild and no sex scenes take place on the page.
The Verdict
This book is totally worth reading!!!! Not only is it a great story of human trial and triumph, but it's unique and laugh-out-loud entertaining.
AND...
It's coming to theaters on October 2nd!!
The librarian in me says that now you need to hurry, hurry, hurry up and read this novel BEFORE you see the film, because it's inevitable that the book will be better than the film (even though the film looks awesome).
Check out the awesome movie trailer:
What about you? Have you read The Martian? What did you think? Let me know if the comments below!
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