Book Review – Andy Weir’s “The Martian”
Last week I finished reading The Martian, a thrilling science-fiction story involving human survival on planet Mars. Written by Andy Weir, The Martian is a hauntingly realistic look at just how a person can survive living on the Red Planet, should such an emergency occur.
Andy Weir — The Martian
Set in the year 2035, The Martian begins with a tremendous sandstorm on Mars. The crew of NASA’s Ares 3 mission had just landed on the planet a few days ago, but the strong storm forces them to abort their mission. The fierce winds are dangerously close to tipping over the rocket that ferries them back to their orbiting spacecraft, Hermes.
As the astronauts are walking to their rocket, a gust of wind breaks loose an antenna, and astronaut Mark Watney is hit and knocked away, His vital signs go offline and the crew believes that he’s dead. They make an attempt to find him, but the storm is simply too strong and they’re forced to blast off. They do so unable to recover Watney’s body. The crew reaches the Hermes, and they begin their long trek back home to Earth.
However, Mark Watney is still alive.
The broken antenna and his blood created a seal around the hole in his spacesuit, and Mark is able to make it back into the habitat and treat his injury. There’s no communication with NASA as the antenna was destroyed in the storm. Watney knows that his chances of rescue are incredibly bleak, but he’s forced to analyze his situation and figure out a way to survive as long as possible. Watney finishes each day by logging his thoughts, ideas and plans for the next day in a journal. He hopes that one day the journal will be recovered and people will learn what really happened to him. Read more…
Categories: book reviews Tags: book review, Mars, science-fiction