
Reviews

The scientific aspect was very interesting and well done. I appreciate all the attention to detail and to my untrained eye, it all was very believable. I did find the main character, and really a lot of the dialogue, to be quite juvenile, but this book isn’t exactly aimed at me, so I understand.

fun read with some interesting science about living on mars. really like the main character and how unflappable and optimistic he was. was really rooting for him

** spoiler alert ** The story was superb. The author made it very easy to read. All that I felt it was lacking was a little more at the end. Would have been nice to get information on what happens to Mark once he is back on Earth and how his life has changed since his experience.

Fantastic and fabulous. Hung on every word. Great story. Hugely entertaining. Makes me now aware of ingenuity and hope beyond all hope.

First time reading a book after I saw the movie. It was still a great read. Geeky and thrilling to the last page.

I could say this was an insprng tale of hope and humanity etc etc. But what's sticking with me is that I just really enjoyed reading this. I had fun.

Props to Andy Weir for keeping this non-science person kind of fall in love with Science and space. There were some time leaps in the story and strange craft moves that left me kind of wanting for more but I get it...a really cool botanist engineer is stuck in Mars with such an intense will to live AND the entire world kind of stops to save him... in the end, that was enough. I serioulsy can't wait to see the movie. Anyway, many of you will like this book, I think. Between all the science geekiness, the pace, the problem solving and Watney's quirky personality, you're in for an interesting ride. :)

Really enjoyed the depth at which Weir went into describing Watney's problem solving. You felt like you were there ideating with him. The ebbs and flows of the book were not bogged down toooo much by it and it got me thinking about the quote from the movie: "You just begin. You do the math. You solve one problem... and you solve the next one... and then the next. And If you solve enough problems, you get to come home." (my favorite one). Ending was a rushed and thought the moral was too boiled down. Wanted more from it.

This is a really great to read book. Go and read it before they make a movie out of it.

A plethora of exercises in operational problem-solving as told through the voice of a fun, quirky and brilliant protagonist. Lots to love and learn from this story.

I feel like Andy Weir did a much better job at turning nerdy scientific explanations into fun dumbed down stories in Project Hail Mary. This book was still really entertaining. Looking forward to watching it.

Great out of this world adventure.

http://pussreboots.pair.com/blog/2015...

It was fine. Kinda really struggled with the science term dumping at parts but once we actually got another location that wasn’t Mars and saw what people on earth were doing to try and help it hooked me much more.

I had so much fun reading this book. Mark Watney is on a mission in Mars everything is okay when suddenly a vicious storm starts and tries to kill Mark. The book starts with him waking up alone because the rest of the crew thought him dead. Spoiler alert, Mark has terrible luck and this is not the first nor last thing that will go wrong. You will cross your fingers and hope for the best a lot. One of the first things you notice is the amount of research and work Andy Weir put into this book. It is very detailed and faithful to what astronauts go through in reality. It was descriptive but Watney's voice is entertaining enough never to be boring. I loved the struggle Mark went through to get even the most basic things, like water. It kept me constantly on edge wondering if he was going to find a solution to his problems. That been said, I loved his thought process. How he realized there was a problem and walked the reader through his solution. A clever and entertaining story this book keeps you on edge from the start. And leavess you kind of wanting to go to space, but also kind of not.

Once in a while I found myself rolling my eyes at some annoyingly written passage. It is noticeable that this is the author's debut book. However, you quickly forget that and find that you're reading one the most exciting and funny and scientifically accurate space books out there. This is like a thriller version of Chapter V ("Blues for a Red Planet") in Carl Sagan's Cosmos.

--◈ 4.00 STARS I didn't really expect this, but I enjoyed this book. A LOT!!!! A very hilarious perspective of a lone astronaut stranded in Mars. I'm not really into science and that was the reason I was not really sure if I'm going to enjoy this. True enough, it has a lot of science jargon words I can't fully comprehend, but despite unfamiliar terminologies, I was very much engrossed reading this until the very end. I didn't expect to loved this until I do. And I really praised all the detailed science-related stuffs. It was well written and the fact that it was written the way it was, it made me liked this book even more. And I just loved Mark Watney so much!!! He has such a way to make the readers laugh in a very random reason. And I thanked his wits and his potatoes for keeping him alive.

** spoiler alert ** This book was out of this world. HAHA. No, but really, starting the 2015 book challenge with this book was the right way to go. Weir does an incredible job doing his research on the subject matter, and the story and main character keeps the reader hooked the entire time. I know a lot of people talked about how Mark Watney's sarcasm and humor didn't really match to his situation, but I think because he was narrated through the logs he was documenting, it presented an opportunity to give a voice of confidence, so that if he did feel hopeless, the narration wasn't really reliable in that regard. But I think that was fine because I could see where he was coming from. He was a great character to keep up with, and probably in large part why I enjoyed the story so much. I can't wait until the film comes out, and see whether they are successful in creating as vivid of an adaptation as the book.

very easy to read!

OH. MY. GOSH. Dude. Duuuuude. Dude.

yes

I think I have too short of an attention span and too large of a dislike of numbers/math in general to really appreciate the technicalities in this book. Weir is also far better at writing first-person POV than dialogue between two or more characters in my opinion

i have always been alright with the fact that i am not (and will never be) a science/math person until i read this book fml hot headed scientists trying to overcome a major crisis has got be my favorite trope lol

4.75 stars*
Highlights

If a hiker gets lost in the mountains, people will coordinate a search. If a train crashes, people will line up to give blood. If an earthquake levels a city, people all over the world will send emergency supplies. This is so fundamentally human that it's found in every culture without exception. Yes, there are assholes who just dont care, but they' re massively outnumbered by the people who do. And because of that, I had billions of people on my side.

I don't want to come off as arrogant here, but I'm the best botanist on the planet.

I'm turning water into rocket fuel. It's easier than you'd think. Separating hydrogen and oxygen only requires a couple of electrodes and some current.
Exemplifies the mindset of this book. There is always a solution.