The Martian by Andy Weir

I stumbled upon this one as I was looking for a book, and this one had all the sci-fi vibes. The whole book takes place on Mars and is a quest for survival and rescue. While I am a pretty fast reader most of the time, I did occasionally struggle with some of the scientific lingo throughout the book.

However, that was quickly offset by Mark and his character and personality shining through. The way Andy wrote Mark’s character was the perfect balance of witty, realist and outright comical. I found myself chuckling when Mark would start one of his logs with “well, I fucked up.” I definitely found myself celebrating his wins and holding my breath when his next obstacle hit him straight in the face and knocked him head over teakettle.

The most intense part of the book for me was the ending. Andy did a really good job of building up the suspense and intensity. The trip across the planet toward what Mark hopes is his rescue was full of watching him problem-solve. There were a couple times I really did think he was done for, but then his tenacity and perseverance pushed him through.

I also loved the display of teamwork and not leaving one behind. Once his flight crew realized he was alive and they were presented with an alternative rescue mission, they didn’t hesitate and immediately turned their ship around to go back for an attempted rescue. Not one of Mark’s crewmates second-guessed the decision to turn around.

This one caught me by surprise and I really enjoyed it. I will certainly be dipping my bookworm nose into more sci-fi novels in the future thanks to this one.