I picked this up after reading a brief interview published in the latest edition of Air & Space magazine. The book starts with the lead character finding himself stuck on Mars after his crew left him behind, thinking he was dead. It's a pretty good read..


The Martian by Andy Weir

I just read that Ridley Scott will be making a movie out of it.. hopefully it wont be dumbed down too much. Matt Damon penciled in for the lead role.

As long as he doesn't spend the whole movie talking to a coconut...

Thx for the tip!

H

I concur with PR. Read this one last year and almost couldnt put it down. Use a slide rule for your bookmark.

Picked this book up per the recommendations here, it's one of the most gripping reads in years!

Copy on the "slide rule"!

Yep, great book. Loved it.

Bought it, finished it in two days. The last 50 pages or so I can't remember breathing.

Thanks for this great tip, Paul!

Unfortunately those two sentences may be mutually exclusive...

Pulling this older thread back from the brink....just because i loved this book that much. One of the best Sci-Fi stories I have ever read. I had completely missed any mention of this till I saw a trailer for the movie and then checked out some reviews.
I like having to re-read a section to make sure I have some understanding of the science the author was describing.
Derek

Avoid the trailer for the film,it gives away far too much.Very annoying.

Borrowed the book from a co-worker recently. Loved it. I'll see the movie as well.

-Jeff

It sounds very much like an old sf novel by Richard Gordon, called "No Man Friday". An astronaut stranded on Mars and having to make his own survival gear from wreckage.

Except this novel is based more on science than pure science fiction. I'm sure some liberties were taken, but overall the science in 'The Martian' is pretty accurate. Of course, we know a lot more about about Mars and manned space exploration than we did back in 1956 when No Man Friday was first published.

Funny enough I just started to read this book this morning

Almost half way through the book now and it is very gripping, Roger on the slide rule.

Now wondering if I should get Take on Mars and see if I can recreate the story

Just (tonight) finished it. Very good read. Now late with some work due to unputdownability. Thought the ending a little abrupt - left me wanting more.

RedToo.

Read this back Jan. I think. But watched a interview with the Author where he mentioned the most unrealistic part of the book is what caused the mission to abort. Apparently sand storms on Mars are not that big a deal in so far as the wind is totally insufficient to blow over a rocket or do much of any damage. Something about the low gravity and vary fine sand. Apparently the rest is pretty legit.

Finished the book this morning, really enjoyed it, and yes it is unputdownable. lots of laughing out loud at the comments from the main character and wondering how Mark Walberg will be able to fill his shoes.

@RedToo, I also found the ending a bit abrupt, earlier I was trying to think how a sequel could be done as this is pretty much a stand alone story.

Actually, Matt Damon is playing the main character.

Adam Savage from Myth Busters has a 1 hour interview/talk with Andy Weir. Well worth listening. He describes how he came up with the idea and development of the story, how it was received by the space community, etc..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SemyzKgaUU

oops my bad.