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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
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

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
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May 20, 2014
Jen (NerdifiedJen)
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
sci-fi,
favorites,
audio-book,
suspense,
faux-memoir,
mars,
interplanetary-travel,
thriller
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
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

Feb 21, 2015
Lisa
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
science-fiction,
read-on-kindle
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
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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.
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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.
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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! ...more
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! ...more

May 19, 2014
Stephanie Griffin
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
favorites
Please read my full review here: http://realbooks4ever.tumblr.com/post...
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This story was a great ride. Favorite book I've read so far this year.
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Dec 13, 2014
Angie
marked it as to-read
