The Martian by Andy Weir

Rating: 4/5

Summary:

An astronaut becomes the first person to land on Mars, but things quickly go wrong. The astronaut must use his abilities and intellect to find a way back home after being presumed (thought to be) dead and cut off from the rest of the world.

Strengths:

There are a lot of space words and phrases in this novel! Since the main character is alone on Mars, there is so little dialogue, but you will hear a lot about Mars, astronauts, and other space topics.

Weakness:

Rather than a tragic survivor's diary, Watney's journals read like a nerdy blog. When the protagonist is always shouting "yay!" and making corny puns, it's difficult to find anything harrowing and painful.

My Opinion:

It's fantastic! A carefully written, fast-paced, and incredibly hilarious tale about an astronaut who has been left behind on Mars and is thought dead, and must now find out how to survive while still informing everyone on Earth that he is alive and in need of rescue.