This is the story of an astronaut left behind on Mars who has to figure out how to survive alone for several years. Great premise, that I need to rate by two different criteria. I give it a solid 5 stars for the extraordinary detail he brings to the story, and his ability to make such highly technical information understandable to the lay person. Unfortunately, I need to give him 1 star for the actual writing--it was like reading the scribblings of a 14 year old. I feel about this book exactly how I felt about the movie Gravity. It's a technical marvel without an iota of depth. I wouldn't normally enjoy a book about science and math and my normal form of science fiction is Star Trek BUT BUT BUT this book was riveting! Read till 3am two nights in a row to finish it. Just amazing. Was even fascinated by the science and the math. And loved the author's treatment of government bureaucracy, very true to life, including the occasional need for insubordination to get things done. (Less accurate on openness and international cooperation, but still...) I LOVED this book. Read it!
Do You like book The Martian (2011)?
Very exciting. Generally grounded but occasionally over the top. Hard science and well researched.
—haukb
