From the Bookshelf of Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy…

The Martian

Andy Weir

Start date: November 21, 2014

Finish date: December 20, 2014

Discussion: Book Discussions

Discussion leader: Natacha

Why we're reading this: Group discussion November 21, 2014
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What Members Thought

Dec 02, 2014 Richard Guion rated it it was amazing

This was the surprise book of 2014, I finally read it and can see why it was buzz worthy. It's a really great story of being stranded on Mars, the author being a software engineer and science nerd definitely lent this tale an aura of reality. I might have hesitated reading this novel because I was afraid being centered around 1 character alone might be boring, as I found the case with the Tom Hanks movie, Cast Away. But that's not the case here! The main character Mark Watney is telling you the ...more

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Sep 19, 2017 Jeannette rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, wishlist, book-bingo-2017

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I feel like everyone has read this book except me (or seen the movie), and now I know why.

Typically a book of this length would last me less than a week, maybe four days or so. I pick it up, I enjoy it, I write my Goodreads and Litsy reviews, and I'm finished. Due to some life stresses I've been experiencing recently, this one took me what felt like forever (in reality less than two weeks, but those who know me understand). During those days, whenever I wasn't reading, I was still wondering abou I feel like everyone has read this book except me (or seen the movie), and now I know why.

Typically a book of this length would last me less than a week, maybe four days or so. I pick it up, I enjoy it, I write my Goodreads and Litsy reviews, and I'm finished. Due to some life stresses I've been experiencing recently, this one took me what felt like forever (in reality less than two weeks, but those who know me understand). During those days, whenever I wasn't reading, I was still wondering about the science of this book, wondering about Mark Watney and his survival, and thinking about all the interesting and amusing concepts brought up by this book.

Watney as a character is weirdly underdeveloped in many ways. For example, as the book's discussion questions point out, we never actually get any information about his background. We get a few references to his parents, but no real substance. In addition, while he discusses a great deal about the digital media brought by his fellow astronauts, he never discusses what he brought. Really, all we get about Watney is that he's amazing a critical problem solving and he's got a charming smart-ass sense of humor. This makes it really easy (in some ways) to put yourself in his shoes, of course, but it surprised me how emotionally invested I was in the character. I really wanted to know how he and his crewmates would handle the return voyage to Earth, and what his life would be like when he reached it, especially after such an experience. Weir does a really solid job of giving you so little to work with and yet a lot to invest in.

He also paints a really interesting picture of several teams all working together for the good of one person. Most of these people don't really get much in the way of description even in their work environments; few get even a hint of their lives outside of work. Despite this, there are traces of personality traits, strengths and flaws. And their ability and desire to come together for one person's benefit was moving in a way I didn't expect from this book when I started it.

The other day when I realized I hadn't read many books this month, I was a bit disappointed in myself. I have reading goals and there are so many things which I'm looking forward to picking up in the near future. More importantly, reading is my escape and my gift to myself, and it is concerning when I don't give myself that consideration. But what I realized was that I really got to savor this book and how interesting and fun it was. I'm really glad to have been able to have this experience, and I hope to revisit it and get to do that again. ...more

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Feb 01, 2015 Arindam rated it really liked it

Shelves: science, hard-science-fiction, space

Considering this was self-published and released a chapter at a time, I was expecting some good fun from an indie author. However, this book went far beyond that and made for some of the most intensely gripping space action.
I am hoping it becomes the "Gravity" of 2015, with Sir Ridley Scott at the helm and Matt Damon fillin in the infallible shoes of Mark Whatney.
Love the humor that Mark shows and maintains even when death for a normal human is inevitable. But, of course, he is the modern day s ...more

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Feb 13, 2014 Mary rated it really liked it

Shelves: have-ebook, read-since-joining-goodreads

Enjoyed reading this. Fun, sometimes humorous and very page-turning stuff and, no little green men! Tells the slightly future story of astronaut Mark Watney who gets left behind on a mission to Mars who has to use all of his scientific know-how to "MacGyver" his way through one deathly critical situation after another...from refitting his rovers, to powering up the abandoned Pathfinder to communicate with Earth, to growing potatoes, to using his urine to launch into the Martian atmosphere...all ...more

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