Review: The Martian by Andy Weir

The Martian by Andy Weir
Publisher: Crown
Publication Date: 02-11-2014 (First Published 2011)
Genre: Science Fiction
Source: Personal Library
Goodreads ~ Barnes and Noble ~ Amazon
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 the planet while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded on Mars' surface, completely alone, with no way to signal Earth that he's alive. And even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone years before a rescue could arrive. Chances are, though, Mark 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's not ready to quit. Armed with nothing but his ingenuity and his engineering skills - and a gallows sense of humor that proves to be his greatest source of strength - he embarks on a dogged quest to stay alive, using his botany enterprise to grow food and even hatching a mad plan to contact NASA back on Earth. As he overcomes one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next, Mark begins to let himself believe he might make it off the planet alive.
But Mars has plenty of surprises in store for him yet. {Goodreads}

You know what is the most amazing thing about this book? That it came about because Andy Weir was trying to think through what it would take to carry out a Mars mission FOR FUN. You know what I do for fun?  I crochet and watch Netflix. Actually, lately I've been watching The Martian over and over and over. But that's for another blog post. Today we're talking about the book.

Mark Watney is one of the best characters I've read in a long time. He has intelligence and confidence in his intelligence, which allows to to survive alone on a desolate planet. He's cynical and sarcastic and has a fantastic sense of humor. Watney uses ingenuity to push through in the face of unbelievable odds. This is true science fiction. Watney uses science to work through each obstacle systematically. He work one problem and then moves on to the next. It's both how he works and thinks on a any given day and how he manages to stay sane.

Andy Weir has a great writing style and has created fantastic characters. What I love about The Martian is that it's a smart book. The science and space travel is explained in a way that is not dumbed down, but the reader doesn't need an engineering degree to understand it, either. Weir doesn't bog you down with the details. In addition to the science and survival, the book has incredible depth of emotion. Weir is able to portray the emotional impact the situation has on people on Earth, on Watney, and on the crew that left him behind. This is a huge credit to Weir's writing talent.

Jupiter seen from NASA's Juno spacecraft on 08-27-16

I enjoyed reading it and felt like I learned something while I was having fun. I'm fascinate by Andy Weir's brain and can't wait to read more of his writing.

Oh, I'm also fangirling NASA now. Seriously, how amazing is this picture of Jupiter?