The Martian

“If a hiker gets lost in the mountains, people will coordinate a search. If a train crashes, people will line up to give blood. If an earthquake levels a city, people all over the world will send emergency supplies. This is so fundamentally human that it's found in every culture without exception. Yes, there are assholes who just don't care, but they're massively outnumbered by the people who do.”

5 STARS

WOW. Just...wow! If you've been following me for any length of time, you know that I hate space, robots, aliens; it all just flies right over my head and unsettles me (cue introspective wrath and confusion). But, after reading Cinder which had such a gradual introduction into space and artificial intelligence and the like, I became relatively okay with it all. And boy am I glad. This novel is fast-paced, thrilling, and funnily informative. There is so much shit that happens to Mark Watney, but there is always a scientific loophole to get out of it, and it's one of the things that makes this book so fascinating. I love science, and to see it explained in such an approachable way and with a thousand and one smart ass remarks drew me in immediately. Watney is a genius, there is no denying it, but he is also one of the most fun, hilarious, and entertaining characters I've had the pleasure of journeying through a book with. I think if Weir hadn't designed his character to be sarcastic and cynical, this would have been a very different book, and not for the better. His levity allowed a lightness to bloom in the situation that allowed the reader to be sucked in, not realizing the gravity of this situation until it was too late. Though there were some points I worried there was too much scientific analysis (which is still amazingly impressive and it's not lost on me just how much Weir researched for this book, and I know the scientific community will much appreciate it) and others that were a bit slow (which was done so that the reader feels the length of the trip and the 5mph treks across the surface of Mars), overall it was a highly suspenseful ride. But, again, it was fun and entertaining in a way I haven't read for a long while. I do wish that some of the secondary characters were better flushed out, I understand that they were more of a backboard to bounce Watney and his situation off of. The impressive, tangible quality that Watney himself possessed far exceeds my expectations and completely fulfills my wish for characterization that allows for an immediate connection to the audience. The writing was both colloquial and elevated, depending on the exact sentence of the book, and that juxtaposition drove most of my enjoyment. If you didn't get some of the literal rocket science, it would be explained with a joke in the next line, but it all flowed perfectly and just made for an incredibly enjoyable experience. And holy shit the ending. Everything culminated into that one point of stress, that one point of impact as Watney flew into space, and every reader will hold his or her breath as everything collapses, everything goes wrong, held in this limbo where you can't quite tell if things will work out, or if Weir is a devious author and will kill off his main character just as freedom seems within reach. It was marvelously written and performed and just all around wonderful. I'm not sure what my favorite part was-there are too many to even begin-but I cannot stress enough how amazing this novel was. Definitely one of my favorites for the year. As a debut, I'm looking forward to anything else this amazing author cranks out, now or in a decade. How long till the movie again?

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