Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American ReadSix days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there.After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that … alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue 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 kill 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. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?
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Could not put this book down! (Read it before it was made into a movie.) Loved it!
I absolutely loved this book! It’s difficult to put down. Mark’s humor & the author’s ability to describe chemistry & science makes this book available to readers of all ages. Here’s hoping Hollywood doesn’t ruin it.
After you read this, you’ll want to science the sh!t out of anything that comes your way. Great book which lead to an excellent movie.
I read this before I knew it was even going to be a movie. Good book, but the movie does make it a bit more exciting. But read the book. It’s good.
Definitely not a challenging read, but hilarious, and hooking!
Excellent read
Fantastic! Totally fed the sci-fi geek in me!
Normally I am not a sci-fi girl. However, this one was recommended by a friend I trust so I downloaded it to the Kindle and away I went. Four hundred pages of science I didn’t understand intimidated me in the beginning but before I got to double digits I was hooked. I followed it all the way through, even through the techie parts only giving it a …
Couldn’t put it down. I highly recommend this book
Wow! What a great concept with a page-turning story, real characters, and compelling writing. Wow!
This book is on the top 10 of all the books I have ever read. Andy explains the technical issues in this book in a way a fifth grader could understand. It is written in a witty and humorous manner. I stayed up all night reading and laughing since I could not put this book down. The book contains additional content which was not included in the …
A great read, much better than the movie because of the level of detail and development.
Such an amazingly well-thought out premise; the Robinson Crusoe of the space age. But the writing dragged a bit in places; I wanted more inner dialogue, more of the planning and cleverness that went into the survival techniques, rather than “oh, [insert expletive here]” whenever something went wrong. I know he’s upset – anyone would be. I want to …
Thought this was very well done. Kept my interest, tense moments, and interjected appropriate humor. I would recommend this to anyone.
Very well done! Need to read it again.
This book gives one a lot to think about as we move forward in the space program. Also, it is a intriguing fun read. The reader is caught up with the trials and thoughts of a man who is living on Mars, what he does to survive, and his thoughts about his survival, or not.
The science in this book is accurate yet presented in an entertaining way. It is a real edge of your seat book. Much better than the movie.
I figured the premise was unrealistic. I mean, someone living on Mars??? Alone??? I don’t have a science background, but things were explained clearly enough that I began to understand that it actually could be a possibility. When things got too technical, well… a little skimming here and there doesn’t hurt. I’m very glad I read this, long …
One of the best books in my library.
Hard science plus compelling characters–what’s not to like? I’m not generally a fan of hard sf, but I love a good story. If hard science is part of that and isn’t just dumped on me because the writer thinks technical detail is cool, I’m in. I’m also a sucker for anything set on Mars. So this book might have been written with this reader in mind. …