The Martian: 08/13/15

The Martian by Andy Weir is Robinson Crusoe in SPACE! As it involves a lot of science and technical details, it's also a bit like the moon rescue plot of Space Brothers, except drawn out over a longer period of time due to Mars's remoteness.

Mark Watney has been left on Mars when a dust storm forced his crew to abort their months long mission. They believe him dead and believe their only option is to completely scrub the mission and return to Earth, thus leaving them in space for the many months it takes to traverse between the two planets, and him on Mars with limited supplies and no working radio.

If Mark hadn't survived those first couple of sols on Mars, The Martian would be a very short book. Ditto with Robinson Crusoe. Neither book is especially short. Mark finds a way to survive and to make his presence known to those back on Earth at NASA and JPL.

As this is a castaway story, it does has a happy ending. But how that rescue happens is one that's full of humor, science, drama, and potatoes.

Five stars

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