Amazing novel that I fell in love with long before the movie was even the thought of a producer's eyes. I highly recommend reading this novel, put the science back into 'Science Fiction' genre! This author is on my author's to watch list as well- I purchase them immediately when they are for sale. Enjoying Hail Mary at the moment!.

One of the first men to walk on the surface of Mars is left behind by his crew... and will quickly become the first man to die on the surface of Mars. An interesting twist on our concept of "Martians," yes?

This is such a fabulous book - I bought it after reading the NetGalley and return to it every few years. An instant classic!

Forget everything you’ve ever heard a creationist try to tell you about how the universe is “fine-tuned” for human life. Go pretty much anywhere other than Mother Earth, and you’ll learn very quickly that the universe is quite eager to kill you, and has an endless variety of ways to do it. Astronaut Mark Watney must learn this lesson the hard way, when a freak accident leaves him stranded alone on the surface of the red planet in The Martian, a tense and meticulously researched debut from software engineer Andy Weir. Originally self-published in 2011, the book enjoyed a major hardcover release in 2014, ultimately going on to become an Oscar-nominated Ridley Scott film. It’s an example of bootstrap success unrivaled in modern publishing history.

(Continued... See link for full review.)

I galloped through this book in two days, ignoring my own pressing work and letting the family sort itself out because I couldn't put it down. I'm sure everyone has heard the plot by now: astronaut, Mark Watney, left behind on Mars when a mission has to be aborted suddenly, and then finds himself having to 'science the shit' out of everything in order to stay alive until the next Mars mission arrives. First he has to make running repairs to his EVA suit in order to get back to the habitat, and then he has to stitch the puncture wound in his side. After that he has to work out how to feed himself after the mission supplies have run out and has to repair and repurpose everything he can find. Nothing is wasted, from human waste to the tiniest little bolt or clip. Every page (written mostly as log entries) presents a new problem to be solved and one by one Watney solves then while the whole population of earth waits with bated breath to see whether the various ideas for a rescue mission are going to fly. (Sometimes literally!) It's an absorbing read, an extreme 'man against the environment' story. I read the book after seeing the movie and even though I had a fair idea of what was going to happen, I was still thoroughly gripped. Probably the best book I've read in a long time.
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