Geek Lit: A Short, Spoiler-Free Review Of “The Martian”

The Gabbing Geek podcast is having a book club discussion of Andy Weir’s The Martian in a few weeks or so.  I finished the book over the weekend, and while I probably have more to say about the book itself, I will refrain from doing so for the time being in favor a short, spoiler-free review after the cut.

OK, so…this book is really freakin’ good.

Considering how Weir writes the book, the technical, science-y level of things, it’s rather amazing how good this book is.  I don’t want to say anything more, so let me just make a comparison.

In many ways, the book reminded me of Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe.  And no, that does not mean it is Robinson Crusoe on Mars, which really exists and is something else entirely with Adam West in a supporting role.  No, what I mean is, if you read Defoe’s book and Weir’s book, they follow a pattern that goes something like this:

1. Robinson Crusoe realizes he had a problem.
2. Robinson Crusoe thinks about the problem.
3. Robinson Crusoe solves the problem.
4. Robinson Crusoe realizes he has another problem.

I actually wasn’t overly fond of Defoe’s book when I read it for a grad class, but Weir’s novel had me hooked pretty fast.  Sometimes the sudden disasters that hit Mark Watney were a bit much, but that is all I will say about that here.

Let’s say 9 out of 10 Fridays.