It has been such a long time since I've gotten to say this about a book review: OMG! THIS WAS SO AWESOME! At no time in reading this book did I get bored! Nothing seemed out of place, the book never slowed down, there was always something.
After reading a few other survival stories, I was worried that Mark, main character of The Martian, would fall into the same depression so many other survival story characters do. But Weir definitely knows how engineers think and made Mark more of a "here's a problem, let's fix it" kind of guy, with a great sense of humor! Even when he knows all of NASA and Earth believe him to be dead, he knows he has a chance at survival if he can do this, this and that. He's a great improviser with a strong will to live and keep laughing while doing it. Also the massive amounts of duct tape help.
Weir keeps the pace of this book going pretty quickly by having Mark go through several problems, some preventable, some not. With other authors or books I may have thought the constant trials and tribulations were too much, but the fact that Mark keeps coming back from them with a full set of wits, practicality and drive to survive, keeps the reader from feeling overwhelmed. How can I be overwhelmed by all that's going wrong when the guy going through everything isn't allowing himself to get overwhelmed?
When Mark does get into contact with NASA, his joking personality comes through even stronger. The dialog between Mark and NASA caused many outbursts of laughter on my part. It made the reader really empathize with Mark and want to see him survive. Especially given how much he goes through! And, because of this, The Martian is a real nail-biter, even to the end!
I loved this book, and I cannot recommend it enough! I'm actually going to start looking for more of Weir's books to read! Though a part of me does want someone like Neil DeGrasse Tyson or Michio Kaku to read it and verify some/all of the science ^^ Overall, I have to give this book 5 Hoots!
Hoot!
Hoot!
Hoot!
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