The Martian by Andy Weir
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I received a copy of The Martian from the publisher in return for an honest review.
“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.”
Mark Watney is the best male character I have come across during all my years of reading. I love his smarts, sarcasm, wit and pure determination. Watneys dialogue is what made the book for me, he was just so much fun to be in the company of, despite his situation. I believe this has to the be the first time I have said this, not only in a review but ever... I developed a huge book crush on Watney, my first one ever! Seriously, who needs romance for book boyfriends, I'll take Watney over them all any day.
The plot was very well done and the tension and pace held my attention from start to finish. There was a lot of science in the story, some I understood, some I didn't but it honestly didn't matter either way. The writing style is impressive, Watney is in a very serious situation, high stakes, big risks and trying to survive the impossible but it's unique, interesting, hilariously funny, riveting and full of tension. Yet despite all the seriousness of his situation, all the science talk and the danger, it's fun, it's lots of fun and that is all down to the author's writing style. The author has taken a life or death situation, all the highs and lows, injected lots of sarcasm and humour and he's turned it into something unlike anything I have read before.
The Martian is at it's heart a science fiction book but it's more than that. It's got adventure, humour, tension, thrills and chills. It's both character driven and plot driven. Really it has it all. Should you choose to give this one a go, don't be put off by the science. It seems complicated and hard to follow at first but trust me when I say, it doesn't matter. The story will grab you and before you know it you'll have learned and understand a lot of the science. The bits you don't? Well, by that point you are so hooked it doesn't matter!
The Martian has easily shot right up to the top of my favourite reads of 2014, it's well deserving of all the hype that surrounds it and I highly recommend picking this one up.
Reviews also posted to my blog: Scarlet's Web
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I went into it not expecting much, and it completely blew me away. I think an all-Mark story would have worn thin, so I was glad he opened it up and showed us how the the team on Earth was frantically trying to get him home. What impressed me most, though, was the fact that I worried right to the last scene about whether he would make it home.
ReplyDeleteIt's one hell of a read, I wasn't too sure if I wanted to read it because of all the hype. I was worried I would be disappointed but it's well deserving of all the praise. I did like how he opened it up to show the team on earth and in the space station, it gave more interaction rather than it all being just Watney. I have been recommending this one to everyone lol.
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