It's good to be an engineer.
This book is nothing short of brilliant. Astronaut Mark Watney is stranded on Mars and has to survive 1,412 days until he can be rescued. He only has what was left behind by previous expeditions to live on; mainly a Habitat, 300 liters of water, rations for 50 days, a scrubber, two vehicles, and twelve potatoes.
This book is a hard sci-fi novel in the likes of Arthur C. Clarke. It's also about human ingenuity. And boy, you can't help but root for the underdog.
Though the book was billed a "survival thriller" by the endorsements found on the back cover, I found the driving force of the book isn't tension, but of humor. The Martian makes the tale of an engineer stranded on the red planet gripping.
I disagree with how others describe this story as a "Castaway" on mars, Die Hard, Gravity or Robinson Crusoe. Although I see why other may see it that way, I do feel this book a "stand-out" in the hard sci-fi genre. It's full of action with humor at unexpected moments. I was rooting for "Martian". I caught myself saying, "oh shit," "crap", and laughing out loud at moments.
I can only hope the movie adaption releasing in the second half of 2015 will do the book justice.
My rating: ★★★★★ (5 out of 5 stars)
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