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This has been the most surprising book of the year for me. Nothing about this book even hinted at me liking it. Not the concept, not the synopsis, not the movie trailer... nothing. And the possibility of me reading it was made even less likely when I realized my library did not have the audiobook so I would have to actually use one of my coveted audible credits for it. Trust me, I don't just use those willy nilly. So I said thanks but no thanks and moved on with my life. But then this book kept
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Mark Watney, technical specialist in botany and engineering for the Ares 3 mission on Mars. Separated by a large dust storm and presumed dead, the remainder of the crew scrubs the mission and escapes Mars before they suffer the same fate. However, Mark does live and now must use his technical knowledge to survive until rescued, which is a lengthy proposition.
When this book was first published and I read the blurb, I was not interested in reading it. I thought it would be a morbid literary work ...more
When this book was first published and I read the blurb, I was not interested in reading it. I thought it would be a morbid literary work ...more
I really enjoyed this book. It was entertaining and suspenseful and I liked Mark's snarky humour as it is much like my own. I don't know how accurate the science was but I don't really care - there was nothing too glaringly obvious and it seemed true enough.
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Fantastic book about an astronaut stranded on Mars after his fellow astronauts thought he was dead and left the planet and how he works to survive. Clever, funny and full of great characters from the astronaut Mark to the people at NASA trying to help him. The audiobook reader was excellent.
This was an amazing page-turner! It passes the Neil Gaiman test ("... and then what happened?") with flying colors.
If there's a weakness to the story, I guess that it's rather preposterous when you reflect on the whole ordeal - and people more versed in science might be face-palming throughout. I don't know how plausible the science is - I just let Mark carry me along. He's such a great character, it more than compensates for any plot drawbacks, in my opinion. ...more
If there's a weakness to the story, I guess that it's rather preposterous when you reflect on the whole ordeal - and people more versed in science might be face-palming throughout. I don't know how plausible the science is - I just let Mark carry me along. He's such a great character, it more than compensates for any plot drawbacks, in my opinion. ...more
So much fun! A botanist/engineer gets accidentally stranded on Mars. He lurches between successes and life threatening accidents. His gallows humor keeps things lively and the science and problem solving that saves him is well explained without getting tedious. This is a time that I broke my usual practice and saw the movie before I read the book. It is one of those rare cases where they compliment and inform each other.
I really loved this book a great mix of science & space nerdism, an entertaining and sarcastic protagonist, and good secondary characters. I stayed up late because I couldn't stop without finding out what Watney would do next.
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This is a 4 star read for the general reader.
This is a 5 star read for anyone who has taken and passed college freshman courses in Chemistry and/or Botany and/or Physics and/or Introduction to Engineering.
This is a 5 star read for anyone who has taken and passed college freshman courses in Chemistry and/or Botany and/or Physics and/or Introduction to Engineering.
Dec 16, 2014
Cassandra Moore
marked it as to-read
Dec 16, 2014
AmyMK Kuhlman
marked it as to-read
Feb 01, 2015
Carrie
marked it as to-read
Feb 03, 2015
Melissa Seng
marked it as to-read
Aug 12, 2015
Julie
added it
Oct 19, 2015
Crystal
marked it as to-read
