The Martian in The Sword and Laser

Jan 30, 2015 Michelle rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2015, favorite, science-fiction, thriller-suspense, award-winner-gr-choice

The Martian is one of those reads that progressively gets harder and harder to put down. Everytime you think you’ll get to a moment good enough to pause you are either too enraptured to notice it or something happens and stopping is no longer an option.

Our focus is on astronaut Mark Watney, a man who has been stranded on Mars by himself and must figure out a way to survive if he ever wants to have hope of being rescued. I loved Mark. He’s funny, sarcastic, and brilliant in a “I’m impressed his i The Martian is one of those reads that progressively gets harder and harder to put down. Everytime you think you’ll get to a moment good enough to pause you are either too enraptured to notice it or something happens and stopping is no longer an option.

Our focus is on astronaut Mark Watney, a man who has been stranded on Mars by himself and must figure out a way to survive if he ever wants to have hope of being rescued. I loved Mark. He’s funny, sarcastic, and brilliant in a “I’m impressed his ideas are actually working” kind of way. Since most of this book is told in log entries we get to see the unfiltered Mark as he struggles, succeeds and fails. The secondary characters are all fantastic as well and I enjoyed the moments where the book took a break from the log entries and showed us what was happening back on Earth or in the space shuttle Hermes with his crew. There are even moments where the book takes on a sort of omnipotent view of the situation and we get a piece by piece glimpse of what is coming up, adding to the tension.

I was surprised when I read that this was Andy Weir’s first novel, and now I know I need to see more from him. It’s rare to find a science-fiction thriller like this! It’s rooted in reality and everything within it’s pages are within the realm of possibility, and every bit of the panic that it induced came from a very real place. In fact I had moments where the tension was so thick that I was starting to feel incredibly anxious and had to stop reading for a few minutes. I’m all for books with science in them and while I can’t say for sure everything in this book is scientifically accurate I do know that a good majority of it is and I really appreciate the time and detail that the author put into making sure it was as believable as possible. I also loved the fact that this book didn’t add in a ton of extra elements to the plot, it’s simply about survival. Mark is up against a lot in this book (the environment, the odds, himself, and the loneliness) and I was worried here would be some sort of odd twist thrown into the mix, but Weir kept on the path he laid out and it was utterly perfect.

If you are a science fiction fan then I have no idea what you’re waiting for! Go get a copy! If you’re just on the lookout for incredibly thrilling and tension filled books, then put it on your list! And if you’re curious about it because of the upcoming movie, then I urge you to go read it before it comes out! You never know if a movie will do the book justice but this one is definitely worth reading ahead of time. ...more

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Dec 14, 2014 L. Lawson rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audiobook, scifi

Simply incredible. I could not stop listening to this novel. It's smart, funny, and spirited. The story of an astronaut left behind on Mars and his struggle to survive. It's full of science, but accessible and clever. Bravo, Andy Weir. I will definitely keep an eye out for his next novel. ...more

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Dec 16, 2014 Walt O'Hara rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction

The Martian, by Andy Weir, is the author's first published novel. Weir took an interesting route to publication-- he started the Martian in 2009 and once offered it for free, than as a .99 Kindle book. Ha! If I had only known-- not that I begrudged paying full price for it.

If you haven't figured out the plot from the movie trailers that are just now showing up online, this is indeed a story of a Mars mission that encounters calamity and is forced through an odd series of mischances to leave a c The Martian, by Andy Weir, is the author's first published novel. Weir took an interesting route to publication-- he started the Martian in 2009 and once offered it for free, than as a .99 Kindle book. Ha! If I had only known-- not that I begrudged paying full price for it.

If you haven't figured out the plot from the movie trailers that are just now showing up online, this is indeed a story of a Mars mission that encounters calamity and is forced through an odd series of mischances to leave a crewman behind them on Mars. The crewman, Mark Watney, had been left for dead. Now he has to figure out a way to survive for the long haul on Mars-- until the next Mars mission shows up. Very fortunately for us readers, fate has picked the perfect person to survive on Mars. Watney is a botanist and a mechanical engineer, and very well suited to take what he has left (a Habitat - HAB.. which was designed to hold people for 35 days, now he has to live in it for years, some rovers and a lot of junk left over from the aborted mission) and survive for a truly long haul stay.

The novel is really a series of vignettes about solving problems associated with this particular situation, and how Watney bends his engineer/problem solving mind to solving problem after problem with an endless supply of cheerful optimism. Herein lies the success of this novel-- Watney tells us his story as a series of log entries, usually right after something goes spectacularly wrong or right. He preps us for the next problem by running through the math and science of the problem and then provides an AAR for each disaster as it arises.. usually in a humorous fashion ("Well, that didn't kill me, or I wouldn't be typing this, would I?"). The strength of the novel-- Watney's personality and Tony Stark like attitude to fixing problems, is also its weakness. There are other characters in this novel, and they are largely shortchanged in Watney's favor, reduced to being the means of explaining the current peril and powerless to do anything about it. We barely get the same read on them as we do on Watney.

With all that said. I loved the Martian.. I mean that.. I really, freaking, LOVED the Martian. I bought the ebook and read it at night under the covers. I started it and was halfway done in less than a day. I reread portions. Yes, there will be a movie this Fall and from what I can see they are more or less faithful to the novel. I look forward to seeing it.
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Dec 19, 2014 Shaunesay rated it it was amazing

I received this through Blogging for Books in exchange for a review.

I kept hearing friends trying this one out and raving that it was wonderful, and I admit I was intrigued by the premise, so when I saw it available, I decided to give it a try. I was a little apprehensive that I would be bored by a one-man show, I haven't seen either of the movies that it were offered as a combo/comparison, Castaway and Apollo13, though I am aware of them. I had nothing to worry about!

I was drawn in right away, ...more

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Jul 13, 2014 Anthony rated it really liked it · review of another edition

It was an excellent read. I heard about it through various sources but was never compelled to go read it until Jeff Cannata raved about it on YouTube. The character was great! Very funny and clever. The story would make a great movie. The only issues I had were I felt it went a little long and the techno/science explanations were too long. I was skipping pages through CO2 this and O2 that. But I was still trying to scan through quickly what I was skipping to make sure I didn't miss any Mark Watn ...more

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Jun 10, 2014 Scot Ryder rated it did not like it

Shelves: didn-t-finish

Lacks any sense of real tension - usually a prerequisite for a good thriller. Also the protagonist never comes alive as an actual character. He's more a walking, talking set of three character traits. ...more

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Aug 19, 2014 meaghs rated it really liked it

Good, suspenseful and easy reading. Quite enjoyable!

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Dec 03, 2014 Lani rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: movies-from-books, podcast-reviewers-recommendations, science-fiction

I'm not really a science fiction reader. I am still a bit of a nerd, but I lean toward the sword or wand and not the light saber. I usually check-out whenever a novel heads into space. That being said, I loved this book! I'll admit a lot of the science & math went wayyyyyyy over my head, but it was still intriguing and absolutely riveting. I highly recommend to anyone who enjoys a good survival story. I've heard this novel described as Castaway on Mars; Very apropos, but I think Mark Whatney is ...more

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Jun 05, 2014 Ed rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sf-fantasy, quendi

A compelling page-turner. A light, fast read. It's "MacGyver on Mars," basically. I would have liked the narrative to be a little deeper, more contemplative, perhaps, but not every book needs to be something besides pure entertainment. ...more

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