“Yes, of course duct tape works in a near-vacuum. Duct tape works anywhere. Duct tape is magic and should be worshiped.”
― Andy Weir, The Martian
The Martian is a science fiction novel written by Andy Weir. It was self-published in 2011 and then re-released in 2014. In the novel, six person crew evacuates from Mars due to severe sandstorms. During evacuation, one of the crew members, Mark Watney, is impaled by an antenna. Mark is presumed dead so the crew sets their course back to earth.
Except that Mark Watney is not dead.
He is now stranded alone on Mars.
I was hooked from the very first page of The Martian. “… and my Wikipedia page will say “Mark Watney is the only human being to have died on Mars”. And it’ll be right, probably”. I loved the originality of this novel. There are plenty of ‘robinsonades’ and there are books set on Mars but so far I haven’t read one that would combine these two.
“I started the day with some nothin’ tea. Nothin’ tea is easy to make. First, get some hot water, then add nothin’ I experimented with potato skin tea a few weeks ago. The less said about that the better.” ― Andy Weir, The Martian
Way this novel was written was entertaining. Mostly the story was told by Mark through journal entries, however there were also parts that were set on earth once they realised Mark was not dead. Sense of humour in this book… is astonishing. Several lines made me laugh though then I remembered that poor guy is kind of stuck there, however Mark is just hilarious character. And MacGyver- moments. I love MacGyver- moments.
5/5 stars. Crazy good.
Tips
1. This is a must-read for all scifi fans.
2. If you’re interested about NASA, Mars, space, mathematical details, growing potatoes on Mars and if you like MacGyver solutions in books…definitely worth reading.
3. Book itself is quite short, however you should reserve time to read it. I couldn’t put it down without knowing how would it all end.
4.There’s huge hype around this book now. If possible, don’t build upexpectations. If you don’t expect anything, you don’t get disappointed. And I want everyone to like this book.
5. Unrelated… however I found this funny: 9GAG
“I guess you could call it a “failure”, but I prefer the term “learning experience”.”
― Andy Weir, The Martian
Have you read The Martian? What did you think of it?
If you haven’t, would you like to?
I couldn’t put the Matin down when I started reading it! I powered through the whole thing in just a few hours.
I think The Marian is the best book I have read this year. It’s funny and tells a great story. I completely agree with your review!
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I think it just might be the best book I’ve read this year as well! Just stunning book! Thank you for commenting! :)
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I’m reading it as we speak and I’m enjoying it too much probably (I saw the movie the other day and loved it so much so I thought book is probably even better) and the struggle between reading it at once and dragging it for few days because I don’t want it to end is real haha :D Loved this post!
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Ever since I read the book, I’ve had a burning desire to go see the movie! :D I guess it’s a must-do activity for the weekend. I’m so bad at that XD I want to read good books for many days but I’m too weak haha.
Thank you! :)
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I want to read it this month. I’m debating between reading it or listening the audiobook. I haven’t read a bad review, so I’m looking forward to it.
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Great! :) Really hope you will love it haha and review it :)
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Can’t wait to read this! And can’t wait to see the movie adaptation!
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Must read this! [Seems like there might be water and canals after all.]
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Love this book. My husband and I did the audio during a long car drive and I wanted to keep driving when we got there so I could finish it!
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Haha awww, I still haven’t listened to audio books, something to do. Car drives would be so much more fun! Glad you enjoyed the book :)
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Saw the movie adaptation of The Martian during the weekend! It was amazing movie, can’t wait to read the book!
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This book is on my TBR list, but now I think I’ll have to move it up a few notches. It sounds like a great book!
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Haha those endless TBRs are horrible/wonderful. Hope you’ll get a chance to read it
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Great review! Loved the book so much! Mark became my new hero… though I went off potatoes a bit! ;) Can’t wait to see the movie…
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Thank you! :) Haha there was a lot of details in this book I didn’t entirely understand but I was so happy when Mark constantly had math errors.
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I have a copy of the book, but haven’t read it yet! Going to rectify that soon. It sounds like exactly thrbkind of book I like to read ~~
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