The Martian by Andy Weir

Mark Watney is left stranded on Mars, presumed dead by his fellow astronauts after an accident during a dust storm. Mark is very much alive though and must now use all his knowledge to try and survive, his story is told from the log/diary entries he writes and also from NASA down on Earth.

I found the story slow to start with and almost gave up but thankfully the pace soon stepped up a gear. I loved the character of Mark and his sense of humour, unfortunately though it was a little too technical for my tastes, something that stops me reading a lot of science fiction. Obviously it's not to be taken too seriously and is a quick read that is good escapism. I wouldn't be surprised if this was made into a film.

I received a copy of this from Netgalley in return for an honest review.

 

Rating: 3 out of 5

 

Book Description:

 Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first men to walk on the surface of Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first man to die there.

It started with the dust storm that holed his suit and nearly killed him-and that forced his crew to leave him behind, sure he was already dead. Now he's stranded millions of miles from the nearest human being, with no way to even signal Earth that he's alive-and even if he could get word out, his food would be gone years before a rescue mission 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 get 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. But will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?