“The Martian” by Andy Weir, demonstrates one of the worst possible outcomes of sending a mission to Mars. The book is set in the future when, after two successful missions to Mars, another mission is going to Mars. The book is told like a journal with entries on different sols, martian days. Mark Watney does not write an entry every sol so he sometimes talks in past tense describing what previously happened. The book is not only composed of journal entries, there are parts that mainly talk about how things are going on Earth, those parts are written like a normal book.
The Ares 3 crew, the group that is going to Mars, includes Commander Lewis, Johanssen, Vogel, Martinez, Beck, and Watney. After a freak sandstorm accident on Mars, the crew leaves Mark Watney almost dead alone on Mars. Mark wakes up later, barely alive and performs some emergency first aid to save his life. He is set on a desperate fight for survival.
The next day, Watney discovers some things, he learns that he has 400 days of food, 6 space suits, 2 rovers, an oxygenator which takes carbon dioxide and makes oxygen, a water reclaimer and obviously the Hab, a man-made shelter on Mars that the astronauts have been living in. He has all the necessities for a short amount of time. Mark’s only hope seems to be to wait for the next mission to Mars in 4 years. After many adventures like burning hydrogen and oxygen to make water, almost blowing up the Hab and many more things, Mark sets off on a journey in a rover to find Pathfinder, a lost rover stuck on Mars, and establish communication with Earth. After many more rough adventures, NASA devises a plan. The Ares 3 crew would come back by Mars and do a fly by. Watney would have to travel across the planet get into a Mars Ascent Vehicle, which was supposed to be for the next mission. Then he would go up and meet up with the passing shuttle and then head for home. Shortly after learning this, Mark accidentally fried the Pathfinder, his sole communication with Earth, with too much electricity. He would now have to make the journey across the planet by himself. Mark faced many problems all throughout his journey but, his resourcefulness saved him. After a harrowing adventure, he makes it home safely.
The Martian is a very good sci-fi book with an extremely good plot. I would not recommend it for children, however, because Mark Watney does love to swear. It is very suspenseful and is a mix of 2 different problems. Mark Watney is completely isolated and stuck in space after an accident, there are not too many ways to make his life more miserable.
The book and Mark Watney both are extremely funny. There are many jokes, sarcasm and funny perspectives on the story that really lighten the mood. Watney’s humor, resourcefulness, and determination have the reader rooting for Mark Watney all the way. The book is very engaging but has one minor flaw. Every time Mark Watney takes a couple steps forward closer to survival, a new problem emerges and he takes a step back. Other than that, the book is extremely engaging. I would give the book 4.5 out of 5 stars.