From the Bookshelf of The Sword and Laser…
Find A Copy At
Group Discussions About This Book
No group discussions for this book yet.
What Members Thought
To steal a phrase from a friend who abandoned the book - "MacGyver in space." At least, it starts that way. Astronaut Mark Watney is abandoned on Mars by a captain who thinks he's dead, and much of the story has to do with piecing together survival skills to function, even if he thinks he will die before he can be rescued.
Slowly MacGyver morphs into Apollo 13 and the author starts splitting the story between what is happening on Mars and what is happening at NASA. Most of the astronaut's story i ...more
Slowly MacGyver morphs into Apollo 13 and the author starts splitting the story between what is happening on Mars and what is happening at NASA. Most of the astronaut's story i ...more
Mark Watney is a steely-eyed missile man. A man's man. A badass mechanical engineer botanist astronaut who is stranded on Mars during a Nasa mission gone wrong, and left to fend for himself. I listened to this on audio on a roadtrip, and it flew by - what a fun story. Not surprised at all it's being made into a movie directed by Ridley Scott starring Matt Damon. Also pretty amazing is that it was self-published.
There were two great things about this book: the humor and the science. The science a ...more
There were two great things about this book: the humor and the science. The science a ...more
I am pretty late to this party, only reading this book after seeing the movie trailer for the upcoming Matt Damon/Ridley Scott adaptation. So while I could add to the considerable praise this novel has gotten, it would be a bit unnecessary.
I'll just say that this is now one of my five favorite books of all time. I have seen some valid criticisms, so note that I am not saying this is objectively the perfect novel. What I am saying is that the narrative voice spoke to me, the science was endlessl ...more
I'll just say that this is now one of my five favorite books of all time. I have seen some valid criticisms, so note that I am not saying this is objectively the perfect novel. What I am saying is that the narrative voice spoke to me, the science was endlessl ...more
I picked up a copy of Andy Weir's The Martian when it was released because, frankly, I absolutely adore survival stories. I blame my love of them totally on Swiss Family Robinson and The Myserious Island. I also have a major fascination with space (and the ocean) - basically anything that represents places that have been left completely unexplored and have the potential for so much.
Read the rest of this review at The Lost Entwife ...more
Read the rest of this review at The Lost Entwife ...more
3 and 1/2 stars.
Disaster strikes on a near-future Mars mission and one of the crew of six is left behind, presumed (for very good reasons) dead. But he's alive, and the book is the story of him Robinson Crusoe/MacGyver-ing his way to survival.
That main character Mark is likable and funny, making him an enjoyable narrator as we follow his mission logs of trials and troubleshooting.
But the constant repeat of new crisis/engineering solution started to wear a little thin, and some of the science, w ...more
Disaster strikes on a near-future Mars mission and one of the crew of six is left behind, presumed (for very good reasons) dead. But he's alive, and the book is the story of him Robinson Crusoe/MacGyver-ing his way to survival.
That main character Mark is likable and funny, making him an enjoyable narrator as we follow his mission logs of trials and troubleshooting.
But the constant repeat of new crisis/engineering solution started to wear a little thin, and some of the science, w ...more
This is an entirely charming book. More charming in the chapters that are diary entries and less charming in the bits where Weir tries to write a normal third-person novel, but that's fine.
Watney, the astronaut left behind on the moon, is a lot of fun to hang out with. I understand the complaints that he's ridiculously upbeat and mentally buoyant and skilled in exactly the skills he needs for survival. That's all pretty true, but this would have been a terrible novel if it were just the abandone ...more
Watney, the astronaut left behind on the moon, is a lot of fun to hang out with. I understand the complaints that he's ridiculously upbeat and mentally buoyant and skilled in exactly the skills he needs for survival. That's all pretty true, but this would have been a terrible novel if it were just the abandone ...more
I found it hard to critique this book without a few minor spoilers, so read at your own risk.
I've never been a big fan of fiction written as a series of log or diary entries. I think it really limits the prose and story telling potential. I also don't think it usually adds to the realism effect much because it is written trying to ultimately tell a story, not necessarily how diary entries would really be written. What it could do is indirectly show the main character's shifting state of mind, pe ...more
I've never been a big fan of fiction written as a series of log or diary entries. I think it really limits the prose and story telling potential. I also don't think it usually adds to the realism effect much because it is written trying to ultimately tell a story, not necessarily how diary entries would really be written. What it could do is indirectly show the main character's shifting state of mind, pe ...more
I'm in one of those moments in which concentration is a gift I don't have and the reading might have suffered because of that. I really liked Mark and his humour but I was a bit worried the book would be only his logs, so to have the perspective of his colleagues and the people back on earth was nice. However, and this is were I think the reading suffered from my lack of focus, the science was a bit too much. Yes, it lend credibility to the account but it usually lost me, with my mind drifting w
...more
The Martian is a classic castaway story, a man alone in a inhospitable location with limited resources, battling the elements to survive long enough until rescue can arrive. The twist in this case is that he is a astronaut accidentally marooned on Mars when a sandstorm forced the abandonment of the mission.
Was in many respects not thrilled by the writing style, but found myself forgiving the style due to the combination of tension and scientific rigor.
Was in many respects not thrilled by the writing style, but found myself forgiving the style due to the combination of tension and scientific rigor.
I listened to this on audio book, and it was great. Fun to listen to, just as engaging as the movie, if not more so. If you're not an engineer, I don't know if you'll find all of the detail as exciting, but it was fun, and I totally connected to the main character.
...more
Wholly Crap Tim you were right this book is great. I dropped everything else to read this and I'm very glad I did. I was amazing. Fantastic book!
...more
Dec 18, 2013
Jennifer
is currently reading it
May 29, 2014
Mark
added it
