Author: Andy Weir
Reading Level: Adult
Genres: Science Fiction | Adventure | Survival
Released: August 18th 2015 (Movie Tie-In)
Review Source: Broadway Books
Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars.
Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there.
After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive.
Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to kill him first.
But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills—and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit—he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?
I pretty excited that I received the movie-tie in copy of The Martian because I had not realized from watching the movie trailer that it was based of a bestselling novel. So I made sure to make room to read The Martian next in line. I really like how the movie-tie in looks, it does call your attention, probably because it is Matt Damon's face taking up most of the cover. The original cover doesn't jump at me like the movie-tie edition does. I probably would have never read it if it wasn't an adaptation. But here we are and that sure didn't happen.
The Martian starts of pretty intense right from the first couple of sentences. It's told in a type of journal entry as astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) enters daily accounts of what he is doing. Watney is stranded on the planet Mars (yup, you read that right, freaking Mars), his crew left because they believed him dead. Well dead he is not. Watney has survived the injury he sustained and now is alive but being left behind on Mars, doesn't necessarily mean he will survive and go home anytime soon.
In the short future he can probably last a year with what he has at his disposal but he needs to figure how to survive 4 years minimum. Why 4 years, well that's the time it will take the next Ares launch going to Mars to happen. There is no physical possible way to rescue him anytime soon, it's not like they can just take the next plane or in this case space shuttle to Mars. Space travel takes years and years for one mission to take place and the planning is intense. Not a very promising distant future for Watney.
The wonderful thing is that it is NASA and brilliant minds work for NASA, so Watney might just have a chance to survive, he is pretty amazing himself. It's not an easy task Watney has going for himself, but he isn't your typical astronaut. I recommend The Martian, just make sure your strapped in for the ride!!!
The Martian movie opens nationwide on October 2nd 2015.
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I love this book so freaking much! Can't wait to see the movie.
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