From the Bookshelf of The Sword and Laser

The Martian
by
Start date
May 1, 2014
Finish date
May 31, 2014
Why we're reading this
Veronica and Tom were so excited hearing about this book at the reading last month, they decided to make …more

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What Members Thought

Silvana
I’ll honour Andy Weir by replacing the ubiqutous review star with his very creative equivalent term for kilowatt-hours per sol: pirate-ninja. One star = one pirate-ninja.

1 pirate-ninja for a simple storyline: survival.

1 pirate-ninja for a very likeable main character who could have won any Mr. Congeniality contest in the Milky Way. Dude’s sunny personality is his fuel, more than his resourcefulness.

1 pirate-ninja for a very detailed technical description of growing potatoes and building makeshi
...more
Amie
Jan 06, 2015 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: science-fiction
The Martian alternates between the mission logs of astronaut Mark Watney — left for dead after being separated from his fellow crew members during a severe dust storm that lead to their mission being aborted 25 days early — and the unfolding events back home on Earth. The book seems to follow a pattern of everything going to absolute hell and then turning right around to going better than expected, several times: a literal roller coaster of a plot. Due to the nature of the narrative, certain par ...more
Jen (NerdifiedJen)
I haven't been this engrossed in an audiobook since Ready Player One (my favorite audiobook ever). That was a really good read.

Also re: my status update, at one point he does mention typing the log entries, but it's much more fun if you think of them as audio entries.

Oh, what the hell. Might as well give a more complete review without my usual cooling-off period.

First, there are problems with this book, as there are with all books. I rate things mostly on the way they make me feel, rather than
...more
Lisa
Feb 21, 2015 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Well that was an edge of your seat read if I've ever read one and I don't usually enjoy sci-fi. The character of Mark Watney was the difference between a boring novel about all the science and engineering Mumbo jumbo needed to believably survive getting stranded on Mars, and the enjoyable, suspenseful, often funny novel that it was. As a reader you will hold your breath as another "boring" day on Mars turns into an action packed fight for survival. Does he make it back to Earth or will we watch ...more
Stephanie Denison
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The reader was great. I think I'm a little in love with Mark Watney. I don't usually read hard science fiction because I don't care about the science. I did tune out during some of those parts, but I loved all the snark. Who knows, maybe I'll finish Stanley's Mars trilogy some day. ...more
Bruce
Jun 03, 2014 rated it it was amazing
Shelves: grpl
Couldn't put the book down. It kept me engaged. I won't ruin the book for you. This a great hard sci fi experience. ...more
Jeffrey Hoover
Jan 02, 2015 rated it really liked it
An interesting idea. Most of the book is written in the form of logs. The main character is witty, smarter than you and tenacious.

Will he survive?
Derek
Dec 06, 2014 rated it it was amazing
Shelves: science-fiction
Wow! Much suspense. So science. Many lost sleep. :)

I loved this story. Some of the best hard science fiction I've read in a long time. Andy, please write another book just like this one!
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Stephanie Griffin
May 19, 2014 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: favorites
Please read my full review here: http://realbooks4ever.tumblr.com/post... ...more
Troy
Apr 19, 2014 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: audiobooks
This story was a great ride. Favorite book I've read so far this year. ...more
Hendel
Jun 29, 2014 rated it really liked it
Shelves: ebook
Mark
Jul 04, 2014 rated it it was amazing
Carole McDonnell
Jul 20, 2014 rated it really liked it
Eric
Sep 09, 2014 rated it it was amazing
Steph
Oct 22, 2014 rated it it was amazing
Andy
Nov 11, 2014 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Bryan Spellman
Dec 12, 2014 rated it it was amazing
Angie
Dec 13, 2014 marked it as to-read
Julia
Jan 03, 2015 rated it really liked it
Shelves: sci-fi-fantasy
Rod
Jan 05, 2015 rated it liked it
Matthew
Jan 05, 2015 rated it really liked it
Keri
Jan 11, 2015 rated it it was amazing
 Crystal
Jan 19, 2015 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: fiction, sigh-fie
Sarah
Feb 20, 2015 rated it really liked it
Andrea
May 31, 2015 rated it it was amazing
Tamara
Jul 16, 2015 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: book-club
 Crystal
Jul 27, 2015 rated it really liked it
Shelves: fiction, sigh-fie
Heather
Aug 26, 2015 rated it really liked it
Shelves: stellar-sci-fi