★★★★☆ Mars nerd heaven

The Martian

Andy Weir

I listened to Andy Weir's The Martian in 2015. (What I can say for sure is that I bought the audible audiobook 31-May-2015.) I loved it. I was at the time a working scientist, a professor of Biophysics and a science fiction fan from way back. Most science fiction is really just fantasy with technobabble substituted for magic incantations. That's fine -- I love fantasy, too. But I can't help but appreciate those SF authors who work hard to stick to real science, or at least to draw a circle around their magical thinking:

We demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty!
--Vroomfondel, THHGTTG

The Martian is one of the best of these. It's obvious from the start that Weir is a hard-core Mars nerd who knows every Mars mission cold and is familiar with the literature on plausible manned missions. He doesn't get every detail right, but he comes darn close.

He also creates an appealing character in Mark Whatney. Whatney is funny, resourceful, and creative -- an easy hero to cheer for.

I was surprised at the commercial success of The Martian. I'd guessed it was the kind of book only a scientist or engineer could enjoy. It's very technical. For instance, an enormous stretch of narrative is devoted to an extremely technical account of Whatney's effort to supplement his rations by developing a potato farm within his Mars habitat.

Of course, the commercial success of the book has a lot to do with the existence of a movie based on it. The movie is still pretty nerdy, but much less so than the book. For instance, the potato farm is far less prominent in the movie than in the book. Someone in Hollywood was smart enough to read this and see that if they dialed the nerditude down to 8 or so, they'd be left with enough of a story to make a movie with some appeal.

I can't recommend the book for a general audience. If you won't be put off by some highly technical sections, though, it might be worth a try.

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