Mark Watney is an American astronaut on a mission to Mars with his crewmates. He is the botanist leaving a log behind, y’know, in case anyone ever finds it. I mean, the first sentence for LOG SOL 6 is: “I’m pretty much f***ed.” And you learn why on that first page, and why his crew thought he was dead and left him there alone, and with ravenous compulsion you just have to read on.
It runs with the pacing of an almost-thriller, except in place of clichéd cliffhangers, you get considerably legit science while this guy, this botanist from NASA, is forced to jury-rig the means for his survival. This includes everything from ensuring he has enough water (which he makes himself by igniting hydrogen and trying not to blow himself up… again), figuring out how to make soil that can support life by mixing Martian soil with, well, poo (tasty, right?), and modifying rovers for long-distance re-con. Meanwhile, he doesn’t even know if Earth knows he’s alive, and it’s not until NASA finally allows satellite imagery of the site that they start to notice things were not as the emergency evacuation mission reports claimed….
It’s so well researched, it could almost be real for all we know, except that Mark Watney hasn’t made international headlines. But in this tale, maybe he should. This book will take you for a hell of a ride and I can guarantee you are not going to want it to end. Well, except happily. That geeky botanist is pretty hilarious and seems like a really nice guy, after all, and you really, really do hope he can make it back to Earth somehow.
And man, you won’t believe how people can come together to save a person’s life. It kind of restores your faith in humanity a little.
But seriously. Go grab yourself a copy. It’s just awesome.
