Like with my
“Red Rising” review, let’s return to Mars, obscurists! Today I’m talking about Andy Weir’s fantastic hard science fiction novel, “
The Martian.”
***The Non-Spoiler part of this review***
What I love about this book:
“The Martian” might be the greatest hard sci-fi I’ve ever read—sorry, Arthur C. Clarke—because Weir is excellent in a dimension that most authors within the subgenre struggle with, and that’s character development. His protagonist, Mark Watney, isn’t just a guy you’re rooting for but is also really funny along the way—kinda impressive considering the whole being stranded on Mars thing.
Weir goes above and beyond on the technical details of how everything works on a Mars mission, which is what you would expect for this subgenre. Watney has a way of explaining material that could have been presented incredibly dry and makes it interesting in his own mixture of serious yet goofy style.
Clearly, I’m partial to space stuff, and this book is so—so much fun as an interplanetary adventure/survival story. Think “Hatchet” but with an adult and on Mars, which I guess is kinda like saying think, “Robinson Crusoe,” but on Mars—and fun fact “Robinson Crusoe on Mars” is actually a Sci-Fi movie from the 1960s. Anyways, Robinson Crusoe, the literary character, always came off to me as a bit of a dickhead, so I prefer the “Hatchet” but on Mars comparison. In any case, the high concept is: an uncommonly self-reliant person has to use their wits to survive in a hostile environment for a long, long time with limited tools. It’s a story archetype I’ve always liked.
What I don’t love about this book:
So I’m an audiobook fan—as I’ve mentioned ninety billion times—and I love this book so much I actually own two different audiobook editions of this book. The latest version, and the only one currently available in English on audible.com, is read by Wil Wheaton—who I love, yes even when he was Wesley Crusher—I’ve listened to many an audiobook narrated by him. He’s got talent, which makes this next part awkward for me, but R.C. Bray—who read the older edition—did a better job. I think that performance really adds an extra dimension to audiobooks, which is why I like them so much. The fact that unless you already own that version, you can’t buy it today, while it doesn’t impact me personally, still kinda irks me. But who am I to question almighty Amazon.
I have few complaints about the story’s narrative—the pirate-ninjas thing garners a chuckle the first few times you read it but quickly becomes tedious.
I noticed that while Weir’s character work with Mark Watney was excellent, and the NASA administrators/engineers back on Earth were compelling. Mark’s crewmates on the Hermes shined a little duller than the others. Martinez was great, but Dr. Beck and Commander Lewis were OK. Lewis’s big trait is she likes old music, and Dr. Beck is the guy who fell in love with his crewmate, and he’s also the professional other-guy on the team. I’m forgiving of this shortcoming, though, because it’s hard to hit home runs on every single character, especially when there are so many of them.
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***The Spoiler part of this review***
***Ye be warned to turn back now***
The quick and dirty synopsis:
The book starts with us reading Mark Watney’s Mars log right after he’s stranded on Mars when the crew had to abort the mission because of a storm. Mark was thought killed in the storm when he was hit by an antenna and lost in the sand. His crew tried their best to find him, but the sensors said his vitals had ceased, and their assent vehicle, and the only way off Mars, was about to tip over in the wind at any moment.
