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val_theburrowofstories's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Confinement, and Abandonment
Moderate: Excrement
omiii's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I absolutely adore this book. I re-read it a lot, because I'm kind of a science nerd, and I like all of the detailed maths coupled with stupid commentary from the main narrator/character.
I've smiled at this book and laughed at it a few more times than I should have. This book is heavy on sarcasm, situational absurdity, and problem-solving. From conflicts that are actually extremely interesting (how would you go about growing crops on Mars?) to ones that are a bit more mundane and underwhelming (Mark's encounter with the sandstorm leaves... a lot to be desired?), it certainly does have its ups and downs. However, the downs are certainly made more bearable by the humor and expositionary narration that the story provides.
I'd say to give it a read if you like constant exposition and sarcasm-laced commentary. It's certainly an interesting take on what a sarcastic dumbass would do, trapped on a planet alone.
I've smiled at this book and laughed at it a few more times than I should have. This book is heavy on sarcasm, situational absurdity, and problem-solving. From conflicts that are actually extremely interesting (how would you go about growing crops on Mars?) to ones that are a bit more mundane and underwhelming (Mark's encounter with the sandstorm leaves... a lot to be desired?), it certainly does have its ups and downs. However, the downs are certainly made more bearable by the humor and expositionary narration that the story provides.
I'd say to give it a read if you like constant exposition and sarcasm-laced commentary. It's certainly an interesting take on what a sarcastic dumbass would do, trapped on a planet alone.
Content Warnings
Minor: Abandonment and Suicidal thoughts
megmahoney1's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, and Confinement
singalana's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
I have seen the movie first, and I wonder whether I would have liked the book better if I hadn't. Since the movie is a pretty faithful adaptation, all the key plot points are essentially the same. And I kept imagining the main character as Matt Damon.
The book is about an astronaut named Mark Watney, who gets left behind on Mars, because everyone thinks that he's dead. Surprise, he's not, and now he has to survive.
I'm not an expert, but the science behind this book sounds plausible. It's a bit technical, but not so much that it would greatly impact my enjoyment of the book. This book is told mostly as log entries, but other types of narration are also used, and I think the narrative choice makes this a faster and easier to read.
The main character is mostly likeable, and since he narrates the story using logs, we aren't actually inside his head. On the other hand, we don't get to see his loneliness, fear and desperation that much, but it makes the tone of the book lighter.
However, I do have a few criticisms: almost all of the characters in this book banter with each other, so it would have been nice to have the characters have different voices. One character is German, and he uses stereotypical exclamations like: Ja! and Mein Gott! And there's one throwaway mention of rape I could have done without.
I've heard some reviews about Andy Weir's other book Artemis that say it's misogynistic. There are some hints of it in this book too, but not so much that it would affect the overall experience. I'm planning on reading Artemis as well, so we'll see.
Content Warnings
Minor: Medical content, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
alisonfaith426's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Confinement, Cursing, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, and Abandonment
kate_has_book_thoughts's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Minor: Excrement, Blood, Cursing, Grief, Car accident, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, and Cannibalism
heather_harrison's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
After reading Project Hail Mary, I just had to give this a go. I opted for the audio book, as I had with the last read. The writing is non-pretentious and fun, and the narration was fantastic. Mark Watney's character is blindly positive in the face of literal disaster, after being accidentally left behind by his Mars mission team. Despite the odds, the story follows his willful survival.
“I can't wait till I have grandchildren. “When I was younger, I had to walk to the rim of a crater. Uphill! In an EVA suit! On Mars, ya little shit! Ya hear me? Mars!”
Does it cram in science and maths more than any fiction should enjoyably? Yes, sometimes. Particularly towards the last 10% of the book. But it was still an enjoyable read, with personality and flare and cringeworthy humour.
“Also, I have duct tape. Ordinary duct tape, like you buy at a hardware store. Turns out even NASA can’t improve on duct tape.”
There was some nuance lacking compared to Project Hail Mary, and you can definitely see that Weir has been honing his craft.
“He’s stuck out there. He thinks he’s totally alone and that we all gave up on him. What kind of effect does that have on a man’s psychology?”
He turned back to Venkat. “I wonder what he’s thinking right now.”
LOG ENTRY: SOL 61
How come Aquaman can control whales? They’re mammals! Makes no sense.
I will say, there were parts were the narration was a little hard to follow as we jumped between perspectives with the one narrator.
[12:04]JPL: We’ll get botanists in to ask detailed questions and double-check your work. Your life is at stake, so we want to be sure. Also, please watch your language. Everything you type is being broadcast live all over the world.
[12:15]WATNEY: Look! A pair of boobs! -> (.Y.)
P.S.: It made my happier than it should to hear Watney mention wanting to move to Western Australia (due to it being on the opposite side of the world to Idaho and the state's obvious connection to potato farming). I don't care that this is a fictional character, it brings me joy
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
saskiahill's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Colonisation
serotiny11's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Fun at first but after a while I wished I had just watched the movie. First the good points—super imaginative format, really creative on the problem solving front, and well-researched.
But. There’s no character development to speak of - many of the characters are flattened to a single character trait that becomes their entire personality. The author does not seem to be interested in psychology at all and more into the science problems and survival…which would sure make for a fun space movie, but dragged as a story, for me anyway.
The whole book was a series of life-or-death scenarios that Mark would invariably get out of the very next day through a combination of wild ingenuity and unbelievable good luck. Every single time. Which made the pacing and outcome of each scenario increasingly repetitive and predictable. As this was originally published as blog posts, makes sense, but really reads like an exercise the author was entertaining himself with—what crazy problem can Mark deal with today, and how will he solve it? Each one was interesting individually and would be great as a blog post but as a book, ehh.
Last issue I had was with Mark's entries themselves. There were weird tense issues at the beginning that threw me off, and he would go back and forth between using very technical language, but then explain something really obvious like what CO2 stands for…I was wondering who his log entries were actually intended for? Surely not just NASA, surely not just laypeople…I keep coming back to this book feeling like a fun science-writing experiment for the author that doesn’t entirely work as a novel.
Ok one more…Mark became increasingly unlikeable for me….juvenile jokes became his whole personality (funny at first, but got old), and there was a casual use of some language related to s*xual assault that kicked me right out of the book.
Sigh…definitely fun at times, but not nearly as good as I had expected.
But. There’s no character development to speak of - many of the characters are flattened to a single character trait that becomes their entire personality. The author does not seem to be interested in psychology at all and more into the science problems and survival…which would sure make for a fun space movie, but dragged as a story, for me anyway.
The whole book was a series of life-or-death scenarios that Mark would invariably get out of the very next day through a combination of wild ingenuity and unbelievable good luck. Every single time. Which made the pacing and outcome of each scenario increasingly repetitive and predictable. As this was originally published as blog posts, makes sense, but really reads like an exercise the author was entertaining himself with—what crazy problem can Mark deal with today, and how will he solve it? Each one was interesting individually and would be great as a blog post but as a book, ehh.
Last issue I had was with Mark's entries themselves. There were weird tense issues at the beginning that threw me off, and he would go back and forth between using very technical language, but then explain something really obvious like what CO2 stands for…I was wondering who his log entries were actually intended for? Surely not just NASA, surely not just laypeople…I keep coming back to this book feeling like a fun science-writing experiment for the author that doesn’t entirely work as a novel.
Ok one more…Mark became increasingly unlikeable for me….juvenile jokes became his whole personality (funny at first, but got old), and there was a casual use of some language related to s*xual assault that kicked me right out of the book.
Sigh…definitely fun at times, but not nearly as good as I had expected.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Minor: Rape
elijah__'s review against another edition
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, and Cannibalism