The Martian by Andy Weir

The Martian

by Andy Weir

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Brilliant . . . a celebration of human ingenuity [and] the purest example of real-science sci-fi for many years . . . utterly compelling.”—The Wall Street Journal

The inspiration for the major motion picture

Six 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 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?

NAMED ONE OF PASTE’S BEST NOVELS OF THE DECADE

“A hugely entertaining novel [that] reads like a rocket ship afire . . . Weir has fashioned in Mark Watney one of the most appealing, funny, and resourceful characters in recent fiction.”—Chicago Tribune

“As gripping as they come . . . You’ll be rooting for Watney the whole way, groaning at every setback and laughing at his pitchblack humor. Utterly nail-biting and memorable.”—Financial Times

Reviewed by kimbacaffeinate on

5 of 5 stars

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Five reasons that you seriously MUST add The Martian to your audio collection

  • Andy Weir takes a seriously scary situation and allows the reader to become completely enamored by the protagonist and utterly fascinated by his experience and those of his teammates and those of personnel at NASA. The story, characters, and narration were simply brilliant creating that book high I chase.

  • Told from the perspective of Mark Watney the Martian grabs the reader. Watney is an astronaut for NASA. He and a crew where collecting samples on MARS when a dust storm causes them to do an emergency evacuation. During the process, Watney is injured and presumed dead. His captain in an effort to save the rest of the crew leaves his body on MARS. Only Watney is not dead and the tale that unfolds is incredible. As the story progresses we get narratives from key NASA members, media and Watney’s crew further drawing us into the suspense. Will Watney be saved or will he die alone on MARS?

  • Weir is a masterful writer from his descriptions of MARS, the equipment involved and character depth I was in awe. Watney is a biologist, but the man is a freakin’ MacGyver in his ability to be quick thinking and work with the limited equipment and food available to him. Weir brought him to life, elevated him to hero and yet kept him humorous and humble.

  • R.C. Bray narrates and he reminds me a little of MacLeod Andrews, he added such depth to the characters through tone and pitch. I loved his interpretation of Watney and the humor was spot on. I laughed so hard I had tears rolling down my face. We meet a large cast, despite the fact that most of the novel is with Watney Bray gave them all unique voices as he expressed their fears and excitement.

  • Martian was riveting and while I do not intend to board a ship to MARS anytime soon, Bray’s story has increased my interest. Despite all of the technical jargon he allowed the story to flow and in my opinion even none science fiction readers will enjoy this. The Martian is the type of book I would feel comfortable buying for everyone on Christmas list. I have no doubt it will be among my top ten audio listens for 2015.


Buy it. I don’t care If you read or listen as I did..but don’t miss out on The Martian.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 8 April, 2015: Finished reading
  • 8 April, 2015: Reviewed