Book Log 2015 #32: The Martian by Andy Weir

A quick synopsis for the three of you who haven't seen an ad for the movie version of the book - a manned mission to Mars has to abort due to a violent storm, and accidentally leaves one member behind, thinking he was dead. That man, an engineer and botanist named Mark Watney, has to figure out a way to survive in the hope of a rescue by the next mission - four years away. Along the way he encounters a number of challenges, while NASA tries to figure out the best way to get him back without alerting Watney's crewmates that he's actually alive.

Most of the story is told through Watney's journal, and telling the story in this near past tense sort of way maintains the suspense of what happened while allowing Watney to retell the story with a good blend of humor and sarcasm. That also juxtaposes nicely with his eventual interactions with NASA, whose straightlaced culture contrasts deeply with both Watney and how his former crewmates are considered.

Weir put a lot of research into making sure the science of the book is right (with the one notable, admitted exception of the storm that sets the story in motion), giving it an added level of realism that most authors wouldn't have bothered to develop.

It's not perfect - I did find some of the NASA sections a little stilted (which may also be the result of painstaking research, for all I know). But it's more engrossing than a book based on a series of engineering challenges would normally be, and I'd certainly recommend it.