Andy Weir

Stranded on Mars by a dust storm that compromised his space suit and forced his crew to leave him behind, astronaut Watney struggles to survive in spite of minimal supplies and harsh environmental challenges that test his ingenuity in unique ways. A first novel.

A Novel

The Martian

Ruthie C

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. 

Danny White

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

"Originally self-published as an ebook in 2011 and subsequently published in hardcover in slightly different form in the United States by Crown Publishers ... and as a trade paperback by Broadway Books ... in 2014"--Title page verso.

Simon Sylvest

Talk about a nerd. This book struck me as peak 2015 millennial with all the sarcastic humor and how the lead was written to be the most epic person imaginable with his nonchalance. Pretty corny but an easy summer read

Finn James

Andy Weir writes humour perfectly. It’s actually funny, and there’s not a lot of books that can make me actually laugh. It’s sarcastic and quick-witted, and it makes his main characters so likeable, which is honestly half the battle (Mark and Ryland would indeed have been friends). 

However!! Unlike PHM, even though there was a similar plot, a lost in space type vibe - I found this getting slightly repetitive. Something breaks, fix it, something breaks, nearly die (but doesn’t) and fix it. Of course, there is more to it than that, but I think Weir’s choice to add a secondary character like Rocky  was exactly what was needed in the context of the plot of PHM but was missing here. But I did love the second perspective from NASA as they try to come up with solutions, I thought that was cool. 

Overall, I got through and I enjoyed it, but I didn’t have the same excitement as I did while reading Project Hail Mary. I hate to compare them too, but they are very similar in ways so it’s hard not to. ANDY WEIR YOU ARE STILL A GENIUS.

Eimear O'Connor 

Andy Weir writes humour perfectly. It’s actually funny, and there’s not a lot of books that can make me actually laugh. It’s sarcastic and quick-witted, and it makes his main characters so likeable, which is honestly half the battle (Mark and Ryland would indeed have been friends). 

However!! Unlike PHM, even though there was a similar plot, a lost in space type vibe - I found this getting slightly repetitive. Something breaks, fix it, something breaks, nearly die (but doesn’t) and fix it. Of course, there is more to it than that, but I think Weir’s choice to add a secondary character like Rocky  was exactly what was needed in the context of the plot of PHM but was missing here. But I did love the second perspective from NASA as they try to come up with solutions, I thought that was cool. 

Overall, I got through and I enjoyed it, but I didn’t have the same excitement as I did while reading Project Hail Mary. I hate to compare them too, but they are very similar in ways so it’s hard not to. ANDY WEIR YOU ARE STILL A GENIUS.

This book was excellent. The writing was engaging and easy to read, despite the noxious amount of science and math stuff, the character was loveable - he was charismatic, determined, and hopeful no matter what obstacles in his way. 

It managed to draw me in, it's been a long time since I was able to complete a book but I sat down for 9 hours straight reading it through, and loved every minute of it. 

I should be considered a very respectable source for a review, as I hate sci-fi, it's for little boys, but I love the Martian. 

Miryam 

This book was excellent. The writing was engaging and easy to read, despite the noxious amount of science and math stuff, the character was loveable - he was charismatic, determined, and hopeful no matter what obstacles in his way. 

It managed to draw me in, it's been a long time since I was able to complete a book but I sat down for 9 hours straight reading it through, and loved every minute of it. 

I should be considered a very respectable source for a review, as I hate sci-fi, it's for little boys, but I love the Martian. 

He almost died about 20 times and I stopped caring after about the 6th, but I enjoyed the science 

Hannah Bateman

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. 

Daniel Khurgin

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

Daphne Li-Chen

In the Classroom Edition of The Martian: Classroom-appropriate language Discussion questions and activities Q&A with Andy Weir Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he's alive--and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to kill him first. But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills--and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit--he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?

Kamesh Vedula

** 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.

Moffatt Clarke

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

Pratik M

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

elizabeth

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.

Paula Plaza Ponte 

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 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.

Eric Drake

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.

Lovro Oreskovic

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

siegs

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.

Pierre

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.

Bella Baxter

Sarah Sammis

Rodrigo Figueiredo Severino

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.

Vicky  Nuñez 

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.

Tobias V. Langhoff

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.

maryam

** 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.

The Martian A Novel

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