The Martian by Andy Weir

  For this week, I read The Martian by Andy Weir. I had first saw the movie when it came out and I didn't know that it was based off a book. Now that I have read the book, I gained a better appreciation for the movie's quality. The book has to be one of my favorite books that I have read. 

The Martian is about a astronaut and botanist, Mark Watney, who is left behind on a mission on mars after he is hit by a projectile during a massive sandstorm that forces a evacuation. After the crest of the crew evacuates and the mission is called off, Mark wakes up and is now stranded on mars and has to survive for 4 years until he can be rescued. 

  The book is a great combination of science fiction and comedy and we really feel what Mark is feeling and thinking. We get our story from Mark though video tapes that he records and throughout these tapes, we get to see what his plans are and what he thinking at the moment. Any Weir does a great job of explaining the thought process and science behind the actions of Mark, from creating water inside the shelter to how he plans on taking a radioactive object and traveling with it around mars. The comedy comes in though how Mark talks and behaves. We see the small thoughts of Mark like how Aquaman can control whales that are mammals and not fish and how he really hates disco. The comedy elements help Mark seem more human and someone who actually existed rather than just a shell that has some human elements but is mainly a plot pusher.

  Overall, I loved this book and the characters inside. We get to see why they do the actions they do and how other around them respond. We get characters that may make shitty decisions but rather than just saying "I'm right", we see them explain why. An example would be how the director of NASA refused to tell Ares 3, the crew that Watney was apart of, that Mark was still alive. While is seems like a shitty thing to do, he explains that they would need to remains focused on the mission and they would be told once NASA has a plan to get Mark back. The characters feel human and have reasoning behind the decisions and this is what I loved about the book! I would strongly recommend this book if you are a big fan of science fiction and stories about space!