Review Tuesday: THE MARTIAN by Andy Weir

I read this a while ago and only recently noticed that I never posted teh review. With the movie dropping out of the #1 spot last weekend, it would be a good time to say a couple words before it's forgotten. 

THE MARTIAN

by Andy Weir

When an astronaut is accidentally stranded on Mars, he has to keep himself alive long enough to be rescued.

Earlier this year I heard about a sci-fi movie coming out called THE MARTIAN. Sounds great! Wait? It stars Matt Damon. PASS! It's based on a book? I'll read that instead!

The book is largely formatted as the personal journal of Mark Watney, an American astronaut / botanist / engineer. He was accidentally left behind because the others thought he was killed by falling debris during a massive dust storm on Mars. The same dust storm that forced rest of the crew to abandon base and head back home to Earth. 

The rest of the book is about Mark figuring out how to survive on Mars with his limited resources and no communication. 

The book is clever and moves fast. There is quite a bit of technical jargon, but it's not overwhelming, especially since you usually get to read about how he implements it within a page or so. 

Compelling and fun to read. Thrilling and suspenseful. I highly recommend this book! It's even better since it doesn't have Matt Damon in it!

Find it on AMAZON