The Martian in Geek Questioner Reading Room

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The Martian

Andy Weir

Why we're reading this: If you like hard sci-fi filled with humor, science, adventure, and Aquaman jokes, then this book is right…more
[close] If you like hard sci-fi filled with humor, science, adventure, and Aquaman jokes, then this book is right for you.
The audiobook version is particularly excellent. I highly recommend it. Let us hope the upcomming movie makes it justice!

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What Members Thought

Nov 13, 2014 Traci Loudin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: indie, own-ebook, 2016-read, male-author

A good book is one where even knowing the ending in advance doesn't spoil the story. I haven't watched the movie yet, because I wanted to read the book first, but obviously, you can't help but hear a few spoilers along the way anytime a big movie like this comes out.

At first, I really got into the story. Even though it's told through journal entries, it starts off mid-action, which was awesome. But after that... the first 20% of the book was a little tough for me to get into. That's because you A good book is one where even knowing the ending in advance doesn't spoil the story. I haven't watched the movie yet, because I wanted to read the book first, but obviously, you can't help but hear a few spoilers along the way anytime a big movie like this comes out.

At first, I really got into the story. Even though it's told through journal entries, it starts off mid-action, which was awesome. But after that... the first 20% of the book was a little tough for me to get into. That's because you never really find out much about the main character or his life up til now. It's almost like he didn't have a life before the story started. Of course he does mention what he was trained in and specialized in, but that's about it. No idea if he has a family back home on Earth or who will miss him if he dies. Except Mom. And eventually you find out there's Dad, too.

So at first this is a heavily plot-driven book. It's only after watching him try, try again for a while that I started to build up sympathy and really start to get into the character's head. From around 20% onward, then, I couldn't wait to read what would happen next.

There are a few times where the catastrophic events he's dealing with seem a little anticlimactic, but that's due to two things: 1) We only find out about it afterward, in the journal entries and 2) He's a slightly unreliable narrator in the fact that he's talking to himself, and in order to stay sane and deal with the problems at hand, he has to talk himself up. So instead of despairing, he'll say, "I'll think about this more later." Like, no big deal, a solution will come to me.

I loved his sense of humor and his snarky thought processes. Like how he's first at everything (almost) on Mars. Until the end, when (view spoiler)

Sometimes the sheer number of numbers gets tiring, but overall the hard science fiction nature of this doesn't detract from the story unfolding in the way that hard scifi often does. I enjoyed it from start to finish and would recommend it mainly to experienced science fiction readers. ...more

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Jan 04, 2015 meikoyim rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction, favourites

It was in the start of reading this that my kindle gave.

I read a post on goodreads saying that the UK kindles had goodreads enabled and are just one software update away from the functionality. I rebooted my kindle only to be greeted by continuous flash screen on the startup page. Rebooting didn't work, nor did taking it off charge and then recharging it. It simply died on me, 2 days before setting off on a long haul flight.

On the commission of a friend I'd purchased the paperback to take with m ...more

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Dec 17, 2014 Kevin L rated it it was amazing

This book was fantastic! I'm not certain that all of the science is spot-on, but boy was it exciting. I highly recommend it. ...more

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Mar 09, 2014 Arturo rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 肠颈别苍肠颈补-蹿颈肠肠颈贸苍

Awesomeeeeeee!!!

1 like · Like · see review

Mar 13, 2017 Calla rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A great read, intense situations, Mark W is a fun character, and overall a well paced and plotted adventure. Some of the Earth characters seemed a little stapled and thin, but otherwise didn't detract from the tension of the finale ...more

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Oct 11, 2015 Brian Guthrie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Smart gripping read

Very enjoyable. A welcome entry into the science fiction realm of books. A bit of language, so not for the young reader, but otherwise great.

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Aug 13, 2017 Lisianna rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audio

Love. There is nothing more to say really. This book has just about everything a good book could have and then some: humor, adventure, struggle, triumph, and smarts.

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Jul 20, 2014 Robert rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This was an excellent read.

Great hard science fiction set in the world of next year.

The language is not dumbed down for anyone and you can easily believe all that happens.

Go read this book.

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Oct 05, 2015 Sophie Lagac茅 rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Holy cow!

Even having seen the movie, I found "The Martian" to be a page-turner. I just couldn't stop reading! I appreciated that the same wry humour permeated both the novel and the movie. ...more

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Jul 10, 2014 Eric Sagel rated it it was amazing

Just listened to the Audio book after reading last year. This is the best book I have read in a long time. Hard science and wicked humor work together well. I give it 5 out of 5 Pirate Ninjas.

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