My Book Review: The Martian by Andy Weir

My Review and Thoughts:

Thrilling, edgy, captivating. A unique exploration of Science, with the will and desire to live. The only main problem I had with it was the science talk. The constant mumbo jumbo of technical talk gave me a headache and turned me off in spots. The story, is fresh, brilliantly told through the idea of imaginative means. It has a solid premise, and an unorthodox prose about it, that is hard to explain unless you have read it. I think this will be an amazing movie, if it is done right.

This took me back to my childhood watching one of my all-time favorite films, Robinson Crusoe on Mars. Not that The Martian is like that movie, but it brought that image to my mind, a man alone on Mars struggling to survive.

The Martian is amazingly popular in the reading world and I feel soon to be in the movie world. The praise is most defiantly deserved. The story is so well thought out and written with a believable sense of the human will in a strange land; in this case a strange world. The strongest part of the book is also its weakest. The descriptive nature is both fantastic, and yet mind numbing. Loved the character. Mark is just a fantastic character that never wavers in really feeling for him, and his ordeal, and the reality. His will to build, survive and stay sane is very captivating. The mind numbing part is what I have already mentioned, much of the story is techno, science jargon.

It is one of the smartest Science Fiction books in a long time. It’s dramatic, very believable. It gave a truth to the Science Fiction world. I guess one could say it is a manual text for everything to try and do to survive on a planet.

Absolutely loved the personality of the character of Mark Watney. He gave a splendid, smirk inducing and often time, a light hearted reality to his ultimate position.

Some readers will love more than others. I was stuck in the middle. I loved it in spots and then I loathed it in spots. The start of the book was fantastic, but as it progressed for me, the text book reality of education lost me in many spots, not because I am stupid, but because I was just plain bored senseless with the text book, science talk.

Great character. Great premise. Great imaginative undertaking. I really was entertained and thought this was a fantastic character study in the will to live no matter what.

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5