David Schwinghammer's Blog - Posts Tagged "thriller"
The Martian
Andy Weir is an inspiration for beginning writers. THE MARTIAN was his third novel, the first two were pretty bad, according to Mark. The rest of us call them practice novels.
Anyway, Andy is a space nut, so he had lots of information to insert in his plot to make it believable. Then he posted the chapters on his web site, where his small fan base could read them for nothing. Spoiled brats that they were they began to complain that his novel wasn't on Kindle, so he went ahead and had that done, selling it for the lowest amount possible, 99 cents. It sold like proverbial hotcakes. Soon he had publishers fighting over him; one guy wanted to publish the book and buy the movie rights. Andy was suspicious. If you've ever tried to get a book published, you know why. But, as you know, they guy was for real.
Mark Watney, the astronaut stranded on Mars is as smart as a whip, but if you're looking for supporting characters you might want to look elsewhere. This is all about saving Mark, who was inadvertently left behind for dead by his crew mates. He disappeared in a wind storm and the lander was beginning to tip; they had to get out why they could. Mark has about a year's supply of food, but the next mission isn't supposed to arrive in four years. Mark is a botanist and he's got some potatoes that he decides to make more potatoes out of. One of his jobs was to see if he could get ferns to grow on Mars. He's got soil from Earth that he mixes with Mars sand; it works. This is only one way Mark shoes his inventiveness. There are times in the novel he thinks he's a dead man for sure, but he always works his way out of it. He even establishes communication with NASA.
Okay, smart is good, but there's a reason THE MARTIAN was put in the comedy category at the Golden Globe Awards. Mark is funny, even when Mars is trying to kill him. One example would be the music Commander Lewis's left behind. She loved seventies music, including disco. He hates it. She also likes the worst of seventies TV. But when that's all you've got, you watch it.
There are some parts of the book you won't believe. Would the crew disobey their superiors at NASA? They have to or you don't have a story. Would the mother ship be able to dock with Mark's tin can of a lander on a flyby? Actually it's worse than a tin can. Part of the tin can is missing.
Despite the above, I loved it. Mark's sense of humor and inventiveness make him a wonderful character. if I were still watching DVDs, I'd certainly rent the movie.
Anyway, Andy is a space nut, so he had lots of information to insert in his plot to make it believable. Then he posted the chapters on his web site, where his small fan base could read them for nothing. Spoiled brats that they were they began to complain that his novel wasn't on Kindle, so he went ahead and had that done, selling it for the lowest amount possible, 99 cents. It sold like proverbial hotcakes. Soon he had publishers fighting over him; one guy wanted to publish the book and buy the movie rights. Andy was suspicious. If you've ever tried to get a book published, you know why. But, as you know, they guy was for real.
Mark Watney, the astronaut stranded on Mars is as smart as a whip, but if you're looking for supporting characters you might want to look elsewhere. This is all about saving Mark, who was inadvertently left behind for dead by his crew mates. He disappeared in a wind storm and the lander was beginning to tip; they had to get out why they could. Mark has about a year's supply of food, but the next mission isn't supposed to arrive in four years. Mark is a botanist and he's got some potatoes that he decides to make more potatoes out of. One of his jobs was to see if he could get ferns to grow on Mars. He's got soil from Earth that he mixes with Mars sand; it works. This is only one way Mark shoes his inventiveness. There are times in the novel he thinks he's a dead man for sure, but he always works his way out of it. He even establishes communication with NASA.
Okay, smart is good, but there's a reason THE MARTIAN was put in the comedy category at the Golden Globe Awards. Mark is funny, even when Mars is trying to kill him. One example would be the music Commander Lewis's left behind. She loved seventies music, including disco. He hates it. She also likes the worst of seventies TV. But when that's all you've got, you watch it.
There are some parts of the book you won't believe. Would the crew disobey their superiors at NASA? They have to or you don't have a story. Would the mother ship be able to dock with Mark's tin can of a lander on a flyby? Actually it's worse than a tin can. Part of the tin can is missing.
Despite the above, I loved it. Mark's sense of humor and inventiveness make him a wonderful character. if I were still watching DVDs, I'd certainly rent the movie.
