The Martian

• For someone like me who knows nothing about science and space travel, grasping the dynamics of spacecraft and chemical reactions was a challenge—one overcome thanks to the writer's skill in clearly explaining every step. The beauty of it all is how easily you identify with Mark through his log entries across his Sols, while having your heart in your throat as the story cuts to mission control and the whole world rooting for him.

• I had an absolute blast reading this, and the last few pages even made me cry. Rooted in existing modern science and technology, written almost like a documentary, this is ultra-hard sci-fi with a dash of NASA/JPL tribute. Even knowing it's largely a one-man show, knowing plot armor will see him through, and knowing he'll ultimately be rescued, the rollercoaster of unexpected disasters still leaves you with your heart in your throat. Fortunately, the author's and protagonist's chatty, hilarious style constantly relieves the tension. What moved me most is the deep longing for exploration and the infectious space-age optimism straight out of science fiction's Golden Age—for that alone, I'd give it ten stars.

• From the very first sentence, you are drawn right into the world. The protagonist's inventiveness, boldness, and sheer optimism shine through. Even knowing it's fiction, I developed such deep admiration for Mark Watney that I'd gladly name him among the people I respect most.

• Andy Weir places us in a very contemporary adventure, exploring our dream of colonizing Mars. Keeping things in perspective, we can compare astronaut Mark Watney to Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. An important note: this book is classified as hard sci-fi. That means it has plenty of scientific descriptions, names of chemical elements, explanations of how equipment works, and much more.

• For me, The Martian is a well-crafted science fiction novel that I really enjoyed. I found the author's approach particularly interesting, having put a great deal of thought into the possibilities available to his protagonist. Whether all of this is actually technically feasible on Mars as described, I cannot always judge as a non-scientist, but much of it seemed plausible and understandable to me.

1 / 5