Review: The Martian by Andy Weir

I'm stranded on Mars.

I have no way to communicate with Earth.

I’m in a Habitat designed to last 31 days.

If the Oxygenator breaks down, I’ll suffocate. If the Water Reclaimer breaks down, I’ll die of thirst. If the Hab breaches, I’ll just kind of explode. If none of those things happen, I’ll eventually run out of food and starve to death.

So yeah. I’m screwed.

My Review

This book was an adventure! I was hooked to it as soon as I started reading. Oddly enough, I didn't read it because it's becoming a movie. I read it because it caught my attention. The movie is just a bonus. :)

The first thing you notice about this book is there is a lot of technical stuff going on. The main character is an engineer and a botanist. So he's logging journal entries to keep himself sane, and goes through the processes of things he does to stay alive. If you're not scientifically inclined, you might get a little bored, but it's all really easy to understand what he's doing. Towards the end it gets a bit monotonous, and they skip over the whole tearing-apart-a-spaceship thing near the end, but all in all it's very interesting and fun to read. 

The main Character is the main key factor holding all this together. If Mark Watney were just another NASA guy, there wouldn't be a book and a movie. He is a sarcastic asshole who jokes and kids along the way. Here's some quotes so you guys can understand why I giggled the whole way through this book. 

“Maybe I’ll post a consumer review. “Brought product to surface of Mars. It stopped working. 0/10.” 

“Problem is (follow me closely here, the science is pretty complicated), if I cut a hole in the Hab, the air won't stay inside anymore.” 

“Also, please watch your language. Everything you type is being broadcast live all over the world. [12:15] WATNEY: Look! A pair of boobs! -> (.Y.)” 

Five out of five stars. Loved it and I recommend it to everyone on planet earth.