My judgment is a little clouded reviewing this novel.
I've had a little cocktail, I dubbed El Diablo. Not because if its color. Nope, an El Diablo tastes like very tasty lemonade with a tangy twist, but the kick afterwards is devilish.
So, a little drunk I'm going to say my two cents about Andy Weir's debut novel, The Martian.
First off, I liked it.
I saw the movie first, and sometimes that throws me off the book because of too many spoilers, but not this time.
Not that the book turns out any different than the movie, but the way it's written makes you want to read on. Very scientific in its approach, but from a very loose angle.
Mark Watney, our protagonist and sole Mars inhabitant, is cheeky, funny and witty. I like that in my men and it is very well portrayed in the movie as well as in the novel.
Andy Weir also did the research well enough. Must of been a bitch from time to time, but he pulled it off well.
The premise of this book is fairly well known.
An group of astronauts have a 30 day mission on the surface of Mars, during which a storm hits. They need to evacuate and during their run, they lose one of their members.
The five remaining crew members get back on ship, as they believe their crew mate to have died. With no means of returning to fetch his body, they head home from a failed Mars Mission.
Of course, their crew mate didn't die. He only got knocked around a little and ultimately finds his way back to their base, The Hab.
Knowing he is without transport, he starts taking stock of what he has to survive on.
The next thing we know he takes us on an adventure of wild scientific experiments and truly astonishing accomplishments.
He's truly the king of the botanists when he even grows potato plants on Mars surface.
It takes a while, but eventually Earth learns that he is still alive and sets in motion a rescue mission that runs on very low odds.
Like I said before, it reads like a dream and you really start rooting for Mark. He's the kind of supernerd everyone would want in an emergency. Matt Damon played it really well, although he might be a little too good looking to be the super botanist from Mars. But I'm glad he's being a good guy in this movie. I guess he wanted a rematch after his shitty character in Interstellar.
Off I go and my clouded mind.
Fare ye well.
