The Martian in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Nov 26, 2014 Abby Johnson rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, grownup_books, favorites

Holy cats, you guys, this book.

I didn't want to put it down. I wanted to do more housework so I had an excuse to keep listening to it. I keep blathering on about it to everyone I know. Lots of people are talking about this book and I think it's worth the hype.

Things to know:

Yes, it's science fiction, BUT it's more adventure/thriller with lots of science details thrown in than what you might think about when you think about "science fiction". The main character is an astronaut, an engineer and Holy cats, you guys, this book.

I didn't want to put it down. I wanted to do more housework so I had an excuse to keep listening to it. I keep blathering on about it to everyone I know. Lots of people are talking about this book and I think it's worth the hype.

Things to know:

Yes, it's science fiction, BUT it's more adventure/thriller with lots of science details thrown in than what you might think about when you think about "science fiction". The main character is an astronaut, an engineer and botanist, and much of the book is told from his point of view, so there are definitely lots of science details included as Mark figures out how he's going to survive on Mars.

It's just absolutely compelling - I did not want to put it down - but it's also really funny. Mark's log entries are exactly what you might expect - part professional log of what's happening to him and part humorous observations and comments. It really reads like a guy on Mars was actually writing it.

And, while I couldn't stop listening to it, if I had it to do over again, I would probably choose the print version of the book for a couple of reasons. #1 I probably would have skimmed over some of the science details. I'm as interested as the next person, but when you get half a page of calculations about how many calories Mark needs to survive and how many he can scrape together... it was just a little much. In the audio version, there's no skimming down the page. #2 parts of the book are told from Mark's point of view and parts are written in third-person about what's going on back on Earth or in the Hermes ship. Since the same narrator reads the whole book, I sometimes got a little confused about whether Mark was still telling the story or if it had switched. I wish that they had had a separate narrator for Mark's first-person parts or that the narrator had done a slightly different voice for those parts. R.C. Bray reads well and he does do accents for the foreign characters and slight voice changes for, say, female characters, but I wish the first-person parts had been differentiated more.

Highly recommended, especially for readers who enjoy survival thriller stories, fiction with lots of science (hello, engineer dad! You will be getting this one for Father's Day!), or just a super compelling read to distract you from what ails you. ...more

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Nov 17, 2014 Ally rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2015-challenge

I read this book in three days, so I think that says something. The Martian was pretty darn awesome - I *loved* the main character (seriously, I kind of wanted to date/marry him) and the story would not have been nearly as good without his charisma and attitude. That being said, the science sort of got overwhelming for me towards the end (I just wanted him to be rescued!) but overall I can't believe this is Mr. Weir's first novel. I'm also super excited for the movie and think Matt Damon will ma ...more

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Jun 12, 2015 Jessica rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I loved this book!

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Mar 29, 2014 Julie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: adult-fiction

Snarky, interesting and ends on a positive note!

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Aug 17, 2015 Hilary rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Awesome! This book made me want to be an astronaut and I don't like space. The true and current science is cool and the suspense makes you unable to but this book down. A must read! ...more

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Jan 15, 2016 Sandhya rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: readforcembookclub

Was more interested in the story on Earth and the other group in Space than The Martian, still overall interesting.

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Dec 07, 2014 Alvin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A castaway adventure story with a space-age skin. What's not to love about a book like that? For a person that is not up to date on the technological advances in space exploration, the story was very convincing. I read another review where there was a complaint about Watney's nonchalance and informality when it came to logging his progress. I feel that this made the story more authentic. He's a human stuck on Mars, wanting to get off. At some point, some humor needs to get in there, and less for ...more

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Jul 18, 2015 Dan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, audio

Restored my faith in hard sci-fi.

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Feb 23, 2015 Linda Parker rated it really liked it · review of another edition

It is pretty clear that this book is pretty "movie ready" and I have read that is is being made into a movie. The book is pretty entertaining and the plot zigs when you expect it to zag. It can feel a bit like McGyver in space, with lots of engineering and science fixes, but even without a huge science background I really enjoyed this book. ...more

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