The Martian, by Andy Weir

[Parson]

Haven't read it but it sounds a bit like Robinson Crusoe On Mars.

I would consider this perhaps the finest "hard science" S.F. book I've ever read. I listened to the audio version while I walked and found myself throughly entertained and engrossed by it.

There's a bit of that, but I would move it closer to McGyver because of the obvious and well thought out science. (Parson says although he's never actually seen a McGyver episode, only read about them. Perhaps the science there was junk?)

 

[Brian G Turner]

The Martian - A brilliant novel. And to echo @Extollager, easily the most entertaining hard SF novel I've read to date.

Unbelievably, it started out as a self-published book. Astonishing.

 

[J Riff]

The movie was feh. The tech seemed very 70s, and the plot was mostly Mr. Stranded on a desert island. Made zero impression here, but the book may be better.

 

[Parson]

The movie was feh. The tech seemed very 70s, and the plot was mostly Mr. Stranded on a desert island. Made zero impression here, but the book may be better.

I know of no exceptions to the rule of the book being better than the movie.

 

[J Riff]

Heh. ***** Well. The bit where the NASA types decide to sit in their ship for 900 more days, to rescue their pal... is reeedinculous. Do they get an extra 900 days pay? Where do I sign up for this kind of work?

 

[Brian G Turner]

The bit where the NASA types decide to sit in their ship for 900 more days, to rescue their pal... is reeedinculous.

Spoiler

In the book the crew and especially the commander suffered huge guilt for leaving Mark on Mars to die. When offered a potential solution to address this themselves, they took it. Perhaps the film wasn't so clear on that.

Anyway, this is the thread about the book.

 

[Parson]

Heh. ***** Well. The bit where the NASA types decide to sit in their ship for 900 more days, to rescue their pal... is reeedinculous. Do they get an extra 900 days pay? Where do I sign up for this kind of work?

I find that completely believable. Humans have often proven capable of great personal sacrifice for their friends. --- As for signing up for that kind of work. You'd best start working out.

Addition: just caught Brian's post. I hadn't thought that the movie might not bring that point out.

 

[J Riff]

Uh. I did do....* But there is no way it works in the movie. I guess I have to read the bloody thing.

 

[Brian G Turner]

What's really, really clever about the narrative structure of this book is how anything that can go wrong does go wrong. Mark Watney gets no easy breaks - nothing exists to make his life easier. Every situation presents adversity and the opportunity for conflict. Which, of course, makes for a stronger story. I think it was Pixar who had it in their guidelines that any coincidence must work against the characters, rather than to their benefit. And Andy Weir does that all wonderfully in The Martian.

 

[soulsinging]

There's a bit of that, but I would move it closer to McGyver because of the obvious and well thought out science. (Parson says although he's never actually seen a McGyver episode, only read about them. Perhaps the science there was junk?)

You poor, poor soul. You have not yet truly lived! Macguyver is the KING of 80s cheese, so much fun. The science was half junk. It was all theoretically possible/sound, but Mythbusters have done whole episodes showing that the science of Macguyver wouldn't really work in any sort of real world practical sense. It WAS sound enough to encourage kids to explore science more.

Fun fact, if you watch the first/pilot episode of Macguyver, you can see him run around an enemy base with an AK-47 shooting people. It's the last time you'll see him weild a gun in the entire show. There were notions initially of making him an action hero, before someone wise realized making him anti-gun and instead a man who relies on science and his brains to escape seemingly impossible situations was a much more interesting hook.

As to the Martian, I read it this fall and loved it. Great hard science fiction, and really made me regret bailing on engineering to study lit. Let's face it, if I'm ever stranded on Mars, (or anywhere more than a few hours walk from a grocery store really), I'm a dead man.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Another pointer about The Martian - I can really imagine NASA taking notes from the story to try and learn from it.

 

[Parson]

You poor, poor soul. You have not yet truly lived! Macguyver is the KING of 80s cheese, so much fun. The science was half junk. It was all theoretically possible/sound, but Mythbusters have done whole episodes showing that the science of Macguyver wouldn't really work in any sort of real world practical sense. It WAS sound enough to encourage kids to explore science more.

Fun fact, if you watch the first/pilot episode of Macguyver, you can see him run around an enemy base with an AK-47 shooting people. It's the last time you'll see him weild a gun in the entire show. There were notions initially of making him an action hero, before someone wise realized making him anti-gun and instead a man who relies on science and his brains to escape seemingly impossible situations was a much more interesting hook.

As to the Martian, I read it this fall and loved it. Great hard science fiction, and really made me regret bailing on engineering to study lit. Let's face it, if I'm ever stranded on Mars, (or anywhere more than a few hours walk from a grocery store really), I'm a dead man.

Maybe I'll have to do a McGyver or two.

 

[J Riff]

Plus, growing potatoes is legal on Mars. ANd - I was IN a MacGyver episode, so I oughta know! No, really...

 

[Parson]

Plus, growing potatoes is legal on Mars. ANd - I was IN a MacGyver episode, so I oughta know! No, really...

really? Evidence?

 

[Kylara]

I liked it, and my OH loved it - read it in three days which is a record for him.

He loved the diary feel (made it easier for him to read) and just adored the hard science of it. He even went to the cinema with me to see it and was finally in my position of book into film and moped a little that a couple of scenes were missing! But Damon was cast exceptionally and the screenwriter was great so very enjoyable. Great little book.

I can't really think of anything similar (in a fantasy phase although got more Banks for xmas so will probably go SF again!) so I got him The Stars My Destination in the hope he might like that too. I'd love any suggestions for similar hard SF for him. So far he only likes Ready Player One, Redshirts, and The Martian when it comes to all books not about electronic engineering! haha.

Fabulous how to grow potatoes book just not sure I'm a fan of the substrate!

ETA: I also read somewhere that most if not all of it is completely doable, the only not real bit is the duststorm as the atmosphere can't support such a dense dustcloud, but other than that everything is completely "legit" as people like to say

Plus who doesn't love a story about growing potatoes

 

[cyprus7]

ETA: I also read somewhere that most if not all of it is completely doable, the only not real bit is the duststorm as the atmosphere can't support such a dense dustcloud, but other than that everything is completely "legit" as people like to say

Plus who doesn't love a story about growing potatoes

The video linked to contains SPOILERS:
Andy Weir gives a 'stand up' performance to a lot of smart folks from a famous US science lab (Lawrence Livermore).
I found him to be a very witty, modest, and 'over the moon' at his success with The Martian.

I read the book and enjoyed how the author let one unfortunate incident after another embolden the MC to 'science the sh$t' out of it. (btw, that line, featured in the movie trailer, is not in the book. The mark of a great scriptwriter.)

From the video it's also very clear to me who the Mark Watney character is based on!

 

[NannyOgg]

I know of no exceptions to the rule of the book being better than the movie.

There are always exceptions. In this case, the exception I know of is 'Shawshank Redemption'. (And I loved the book. But the movie actually managed to be even better.)

 

[Vertigo]

There are always exceptions. In this case, the exception I know of is 'Shawshank Redemption'. (And I loved the book. But the movie actually managed to be even better.)

I believe another example is Chocolat. I loved the film - just brilliant - but have been warned off the book by more people than I can remember.

 

[Brian G Turner]

@cyprus7 - many thanks for posting that YouTube link - that's an entertaining session with Andy Weir.