I just finished this book. It was entertaining, but I was not blown away. It has been translated into dozens of languages and has won awards. The plot is pretty incredible. I won't list any spoilers, but an astronaut is left behind on Mars and has to survive and hope for rescue.
I really like Michael Crichton fiction, but I don't think this book is up to the same level. It does back up a lot of Watney's feats with the science of how it is accomplished, similar to Crichton, but It lacks character development and the prose is not all that engaging. I realize that it's not THAT kind of book. I recently re-read Jurassic Park and it took just 4 days or so, but it took almost a month to read this. This is one of those instances where I liked the book better than the movie.
by jcoffin1981
6 Comments
As an engineer I really enjoyed the book. I found the movie glanced over it completely disregarded all the problem solving in the book. I think it’s the only novel I’ve ever read in a single day.
I loved “Project Hail Mary” and it is not the type of book I would normally be drawn to. Haven’t tried “The Martian” yet. I loved Matt Damon in the movie.
I very much enjoyed it. Same with Project Hail Mary. But comparing Andy Weir… or really any author, to Michael Crichton, is kind of unfair, especially when comparing him to one of Chrichton’s greatest pieces of work.
It’s a little too cranky for me. He solves the problems but he’s so bitter about doing it
I find that Andy Weir is really clever at crafting enjoyable plots that make you want to keep reading. For me though, the snarky voice that he writes with makes his main characters (in Martian and PHM anyway) borderline insufferable to me. I end up enjoying his books but hating the main characters lol
I love it! I think they’re very different authors, though, so comparing them doesn’t make sense.