Book Review #7: The Martian

Science fiction is definitely out of my comfort zone. Believe it or not, this is only the second science fiction novel I have ever read! Don’t worry; I’m just as disappointed in myself as you are.  

I am honestly SO incredibly glad I picked up this novel. The language choices were very different to anything I have really ever read before, but I absolutely love how it forced me to think and look at things in a new way.  

By this stage you’re probably dying to know what on earth this book is about. Well, rest assured that I am here to put all your concerns to rest. This novel is centered on the astronaut, Mark Watney, who is a botanist and mechanical engineer. During the Ares 3 Mission, the crew was forced to evacuate their landing site on Mars due to a dust storm and dangerously high winds. As a result of this Watney was left stranded and assumed dead with no way to signal earth that he is in fact alive. Though, even if he could find a way to communicate with earth, by the time of the next mission to 
Mars all of his supplies would be long gone.

Watney heroically grapples with damaged machinery and the ruthless environment; determined to not give up just yet.  He draws upon his botanical knowledge and engineering skills in an attempt to overcome what seems like an infinite amount of obstacles.

I’m not going to lie, some of the scientific jargon did go over my head, but I was still able to have a thorough understanding of everything that was happening. This is definitely one aspect I really appreciate about how Weir wrote this novel.  He wrote it in a way that both science lovers and just average book worms like myself could follow.  Though I really do believe that the “sciency” aspect of this novel needed to be there. It made the story line seem so much more authentic and intense. I really appreciated how meticulous Weir was with how he chose to write this novel, it gave me a new appreciation for space and science alike. Seriously though, Astronauts have to be some of the most smart and bad-ass people on the planet...or should I say in the galaxy?

Something I also loved about this book were the characters. Each of them were so wonderfully crafted and finely tuned, that it was impossible for me dislike any of them. In fact, there aren’t many novels where I actually wish the characters were REAL! There was so much banter and dark humour present in each of the characters interactions in this novel. Thankfully, it wasn’t the kind of cringe worthy humour that you find it most fiction novels which is usually not even remotely amusing. There were so many lines in this book where I literally laughed out loud. I couldn’t help it! It was so ingenious, sharp and witty.  Thank you Weir for redeeming my belief that written humour CAN be funny!

I love a novel about a deserving hero. It is virtually impossible to not find yourself supporting Watney and hoping that he will overcome every obstacle.  This spectacular and intriguing novel will undoubtedly keep you hooked from beginning to end. The amount of research that Weir has put into writing this novel has made it a complete and utter masterpiece. I’m seriously hoping that the movie will live up to this insanely brilliant survival story.

Check out some of my other book reviews:
My May Book Reads: Part 1
My May Book Reads: Part 2
My New Favourite Book: The Goldfinch
Book Review: Me Before You
Book Vs Movie: Gone Girl