On a mission to Mars, six astronauts were assigned to Ares 3 for 30 days. On the 6th day or sol, a storm interrupted their mission and they had to abort. Running for the transport Mark Watney is hit by debris and left behind because his crew believed he was dead. He should be dead but he is not. He is very much alive and all alone on the planet Mars.
The Martian is Mark Watney's survival log and NASA's attempt to get Mark home to earth.
Mark Watney is pretty much screwed. There is not enough food to last so it is a very real possibility that Mark will starve. Rescue opportunities are limited since his crew and the entire world think he is dead. Water is scarce, oxygen is well, non-existent on Mars so he is hoping his equipment doesn't fail. Luckily Mark is a botanist and an engineer so he has some skills to fall back on for survival.
Mark Watney is a cool character. He taught me survival skills, ingenuity, botany, chemistry, engineering, technology, space speak and so much more. This is a character to admire and he is like the Energizer Bunny, so full of energy and ingenuity that the reader is constantly kept on the edge waiting to see if Mark will survive the latest turn of events. Quite simply, The Martian is a page turning thrill ride in outer space. I have never read anything like it. It was like Gravity meets Apollo 13.
Have you ever read a book you couldn't wait to share with your friends? The Martian is this type of book. I could not put The Martian down. It was all I thought about for a week straight and I verbally praised it up and down. My 16 year old son, (who hates to read by the way) read the first page and was hooked, so he plans to read it for FUN! He never reads for fun. Many of the teachers I work with want to read it and I know my retired mother will also love it because it has something for everyone in it.
Did I mention they are making a movie?
This book is seriously super awesome! It easily made my top ten favorite reads of 2014.
I give it 5 starts and all ten fingers pointed straight to Mars. I can't wait to see what Andy Weir is writing next.
Disclosure: I received The Martian from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.