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
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Carrie
Sep 11, 2017 rated it it was amazing
Most definitely one of the best books I've read this year!!!!! ...more
mina
Nov 29, 2014 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Full of math, physics, chemistry, IT stuff, yet it's a very enjoyable book to read. Witty, hilarious in some parts, fast-paced (although Mark Watney didn't feel that way), smartly plotted, with a very likeable protagonist. You will end up liking the other characters, too. It looks like every one in this book has some sarcastic streak.

By the way, I really like the last log by Mark Watney at the end of the book.

I finished the last fourth of the book in one sitting in one early Saturday morning (
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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
Novel Currents
Oct 02, 2015 rated it it was ok
So here's the thing. The protagonist sounds like an over-achieving, chipper Eagle scout dropped in an episode of Naked and Afraid who knows that after a period of a few days the ordeal will be over and he'll be flown back to the real world. But... that's not the right tone for the book. This guy's stuck on Mars, faced with years-long solitude -- and only if he's able to survive long enough to endure it.

Does. Not. Compute. I couldn't get past page 38, because I just couldn't get past the lack of
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Bryce Fischer
Jun 10, 2015 rated it it was amazing
Excellent book. Kind of like Robinson Crusoe in space. Be interested to see how they adapt it for the big screen.
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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Hendel
Jun 29, 2014 rated it really liked it
Shelves: ebook
Tao
Jul 17, 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
Julia
Jan 03, 2015 rated it really liked it
Shelves: sci-fi-fantasy
Karyn The Pirate
Jan 15, 2015 marked it as to-read
Shelves: sci-fi
Gordon
Feb 06, 2015 is currently reading it  ·  review of another edition
Eric
Mar 02, 2015 rated it it was amazing
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
Heather
Aug 26, 2015 rated it really liked it
Shelves: stellar-sci-fi
David
Aug 28, 2015 rated it it was amazing
Shelves: e-book
Leesa
Oct 07, 2015 rated it really liked it
Shelves: audiobook, e-book, 2015
Kate
Dec 29, 2015 marked it as to-read
Tara
Dec 31, 2015 rated it really liked it
Paul
Jan 01, 2016 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Kathy
Mar 06, 2016 rated it really liked it
David Gerritsen
Jun 01, 2016 marked it as to-read
Nikki
Jun 05, 2016 rated it liked it