The first couple of chapters were a little difficult for me to get interested in because of the detailed explanations and math equations by the main character Mark Watney. Once past that, the story fell into place as it brought in the rest of the characters.
Astronaut Mark Watney was left for dead on the surface of Mars – only he wasn’t dead, and a frantic attempt at a rescue effort was quickly put together. Most of the book is written diary style with Mark entering his actions, duties, and thoughts as log entries. The story is a very detailed description of the successes and failures of each step as they attempt to communicate with Mark and launch a rescue attempt.
I really enjoyed The Martian and thought it was an interesting story. However, I thought that the character of Mark was a bit too flippant of his situation and too much of a jokester. I never really felt any desperation or real fear as he faced an almost certain death. The other characters in the book were not developed as much as I like, but this is a first novel. The story was good enough that I could overlook the drawbacks and just enjoy the read.
I will also give it a light language warning to those who don’t appreciate the F-bombs and other various indelicacies.
I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.
A Conversation with SpaceGeek and Science Fanatic
Andy Weir
author of THE MARTIAN
(Crown Publishers, On
Sale: February 11, 2014)
Q) So it seems you’re
a bit of a science geek. You list space travel, orbital dynamics,
relativistic physics,
astronomy, and the history of manned spaceflight among your interests.
How did you
incorporate these passions into your debut novel THE MARTIAN?
A) Those interests allowed me to come up with the story in
the first place. I love reading up on
current space research. At some point I came up with the
idea of an astronaut stranded on Mars.
The more I worked on it, the more I realized I had
accidentally spent my life researching for this
story. Early on, I decided that I would be as scientifically
accurate as possible. To a nerd like me,
working out all the math and physics for Mark’s problems and
solutions was fun.
Q) In one sentence,
tell us what your novel is all about.
A) It’s the story of an astronaut trying to survive after
being accidentally left behind on Mars.
Q) Explain how the
science in THE MARTIAN is true to life.
A) The basic structure of the Mars program in the book is
very similar to a plan called “Mars
Direct” (though I made changes here and there). It’s the
most likely way that we will have our
first Mars mission in real life. All the facts about Mars
are accurate, as well as the physics of
space travel the story presents. I even calculated the
various orbital paths involved in the story,
which required me to write my own software to track
constant-thrust trajectories.
Q) What inspired you
to write THE MARTIAN?
A) I was thinking about how best to do a manned Mars mission
(because that’s the sort of dork I
am). As the plan got more detailed, I started imagining what
it would be like for the astronauts.
Naturally, when designing a mission, you think up disaster
scenarios and how likely the crew
would be to survive. That’s when I started to realize this
had real story potential.
Q) Are you an
advocate for a manned mission to Mars? Are you hopeful we’ll actually
make it out there
sometime soon?
A) Of course I’m a huge fan of space travel, manned and
unmanned. I would love to see people
land on Mars in my lifetime. However, do I think it will
actually happen? I’m not sure. Unlike
the 1960s, we’re not in a race with anyone to get there, so
it’s not a priority. Also, computer and
robotics technologies are leaps and bounds better than they
were during the days of Apollo. So
logically, you have to ask why we would risk human lives
rather than just make better robots.
Still, it would be awesome, and maybe that’s reason enough.
Q) Do you have
anything in common with your wise-cracking hero Mark Watney?
A) I’m the same level of smart-ass as he is. It was a really
easy book to write; I just had him say
what I would say. However, he’s smarter than I am and
considerably more brave. I guess he’s
who I wish I were.
Q) In THE MARTIAN,
Watney has access to his crewmates digital entertainment on Mars,
including TV episodes
of Three’s Company, a variety of Beatles songs, and digital books
including The
Mysterious Affair at Styles. Any reason you chose to work those specific
examples into the
novel?
A) It’s a selection of things I loved when I was growing up.
Q) You’re stranded on
Mars and you can only take one book with you. What is it?
A) It’s always hard to pick one “favorite book.” Growing up,
I loved early Heinlein books most
of all. So if I had to pick one, I’d go with Tunnel in the
Sky. I do love a good survival story.
Q) How long do you
think you’d last if you were left in Mark Watney’s position?
A) Not long at all. I don’t know how to grow crops, nor how
to jury-rig the solutions he came up
with. It’s a lot easier to write about an ordeal than it is
to experience it.
Q) You have the
chance to meet any astronaut living or dead: Who is it and why?
A) John Young. He is the quintessential astronaut.
Competent, fearless, highly intelligent, and seemingly immune to stress. When
Apollo 16 launched, his heart rate never got higher than 70.
Most astronauts spike to at least 120 during launches.
Q) Watney seems to be
able to maneuver his way around some pretty major problems with
a little duct tape
and ingenuity! So he’s a bit like MacGyver in that way. Did you watch the
show as a kid? Any
favorite episodes?
A) Indeed I did! I loved that show. My favorite episode was
the one where engineering students
had a barricade contest.
Q) Star Wars or Star
Trek?
A) Doctor Who.
Q) Your idea of the
perfect day . . .
A) Sleep in. Meet Buzz Aldrin for brunch. Head over to Jet
Propulsion Lab and watch them
control the Curiosity Mars rover. Dinner with the writing
staff of Doctor Who.
Q) How did you feel
when your original, self-published version of THE MARTIAN became
a phenomenon online?
Were you expecting the overwhelmingly positive reception the book
received?
A) I had no idea it was going to do so well. The story had
been available for free on my website
for months and I assumed anyone who wanted to read it had
already read it. A few readers had
requested I post a Kindle version because it’s easier to
download that way. So I went ahead and
did it, setting the price to the minimum Amazon would allow.
As it sold more and more copies I
just watched in awe.
Q) Film rights to THE
MARTIAN were sold to writer-producer Simon Kinberg (Mr. &
Mrs. Smith, Sherlock
Holmes, X-Men: First Class). What was your first reaction? Who
should play the part
of Mark Watney?
A) Of course I’m thrilled to have a movie in the works. The
movie deal and print publishing deal
came within a week of each other, so I was a little
shell-shocked. In fact, it was such a sudden
launch into the big leagues that I literally had a difficult
time believing it. I actually worried it
could all be an elaborate scam. So I guess that was my first
reaction: “Is this really happening!?”
As for who could play Watney, I think some good candidates
would be Aaron Paul and Chris
Evans.
Q) What’s next for
you?
A) I have a few irons in the fire. There’s a long-running sc
i-fi story I’ve been poking at here and
there for a while. Though based on the response from The
Martian, I might go with a different
story idea I have in mind: a “science-crime” novel. Lots of
problem-solving as technically savvy
criminals match wits with an equally savvy FBI agent trying
to track them down.
Next stop 
