# The Martian, by Andy Weir
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-martian-by-andy-weir/691808
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [June 27, 2014, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-martian-by-andy-weir/691808 "2014-06-27T19:36:49Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2014, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-martian-by-andy-weir/691808/1 "2014-06-27T19:36:49Z")
I searched and don’t see this book mentioned so I’ll do it here: if you like Science Fiction, you will want to read this book.
[The Martian](http://www.amazon.com/Martian-Andy-Weir-ebook/dp/B00EMXBDMA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1403897639&sr=8-1&keywords=the+martian)
go read it and come back so we can talk about it. I’ll wait.
and a Thank You to Tuckerfan for suggesting it.
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### Author:  [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2014, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-martian-by-andy-weir/691808/2 "2014-06-27T19:43:39Z")
I don’t have a kindle and don’t care for reading books on my iPad anyway, but I did order the hardcover. I’ll check back in after I’ve read it; hopefully middle or end of next week.
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### Author:  [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2014, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-martian-by-andy-weir/691808/3 "2014-06-27T19:51:06Z")
I read it and liked it but had to skim some of the complicated stuff in the interest of just finding out what happened next! Had it been me I’d have spent a lot more time thinking about the amazing/fucked up aspects of the whole situation, than you know, actually doing anything about it.
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### Author:  [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2014, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-martian-by-andy-weir/691808/4 "2014-06-27T20:58:20Z")
This would be the same Andy Weir that gave us the fabulous \*Casey and Andy \*and _Cheshire Crossing_.
It goes next on my to read list.
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### Author:  [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2014, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-martian-by-andy-weir/691808/5 "2014-06-27T21:17:50Z")
Looks good. I did JUST start another book, but I ordered The Martian. Love having plenty to read, thanks.
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### Author:  [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2014, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-martian-by-andy-weir/691808/6 "2014-06-27T21:18:27Z")
This is a very good book; the Mars technology and planetology is impeccable. Makes me want to go there and grow potatoes.
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### Author:  [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2014, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-martian-by-andy-weir/691808/7 "2014-06-27T21:30:17Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#):
>
> I read it and liked it but had to skim some of the complicated stuff in the interest of just finding out what happened next! Had it been me I’d have spent a lot more time thinking about the amazing/fucked up aspects of the whole situation, than you know, actually doing anything about it.
I mostly didn’t do this, although I am usually all about What Happens Next and not so much for the details. while this book was all about the details.
mostly, the author made it interesting, IMO, and mostly explained “the complicated stuff” in a way that was readable.
> [@](#):
>
> Makes me want to go there and grow potatoes.
does this board have spoilers? well, I don’t see where. made me want to grow some potatoes, too.
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### Author:  [@jharvey963](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jharvey963)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2014, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-martian-by-andy-weir/691808/8 "2014-06-27T22:10:02Z")
I finished it a couple of months ago, after hearing an interview with the author on the radio or a podcast or something. It’s a great hard-science, near-future tale. Reminded me a little of Heinlein or Steven Gould (wrote “Jumper”). It takes you into the mind of the main character and describes his thought process for how he figured out the problems he was facing.
I had a hard time putting it down, since I like stories about smart characters overcoming their problems.
I recommend it highly.
J.
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### Author:  [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2014, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-martian-by-andy-weir/691808/9 "2014-06-27T22:12:48Z")
> [@JackieLikesVariety](#):
>
> does this board have spoilers? well, I don’t see where. made me want to grow some potatoes, too.
Put {SPOILER} / {/SPOILER} tags (replace the curly bracket with square ones, i.e. [and] ) around the content you wish to conceal, so if someone clicks and finds out
MARS IS MADE OUT OF PEOPLE!!!
…it’s their own damn fault. Make sure to preview before posting to confirm the formatting is correct.
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### Author:  [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2014, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-martian-by-andy-weir/691808/10 "2014-06-27T23:13:59Z")
OK, I’ll give it a whirl
it made me sad when the potato plants died!
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### Author:  [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2014, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-martian-by-andy-weir/691808/11 "2014-06-27T23:59:14Z")
I bought the e-book some weeks ago and devoured the novel pretty quickly. Definitely hard science fiction, which isn’t as common as I’d like it to be. I definitely recommend it.
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### Author:  [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2014, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-martian-by-andy-weir/691808/12 "2014-06-28T03:57:04Z")
I enjoyed it, and hope the movie stays relatively true to the book.
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### Author:  [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2014, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-martian-by-andy-weir/691808/13 "2014-06-28T05:02:44Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#):
>
> This would be the same Andy Weir that gave us the fabulous \*Casey and Andy \*and _Cheshire Crossing_.
>
> It goes next on my to read list.
I’ve been meaning to read this for months. I’ll start this weekend so I can play.
And I had boo idea that this was the same guy. I’ve read Casey and Andy multiple times.
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### Author:  [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2014, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-martian-by-andy-weir/691808/14 "2014-06-28T05:30:48Z")
I read it, it was OK.
Couldn’t tell if the author was being mannered and trying a bit too hard to write in the character’s style, or if that was the author’s voice. I’m not often a fan of the epistolary novel for this reason.
Some of the science was flat-out wrong, I can’t recall what - probably the biology/potato growing, since that’s more my field. Oh, I think it was something to do with pathogens in faeces. Yeah. Urgh. And wrong.
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### Author:  [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)
#### Post date: [June 29, 2014, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-martian-by-andy-weir/691808/15 "2014-06-29T13:25:02Z")
here is a review I feel like sharing
\*“A book I just couldn’t put down! It has the very rare combination of a good, original story, interestingly real characters and fascinating technical accuracy…reads like “MacGyver” meets “Mysterious Island.”
— Astronaut Chris Hadfield, Commander of the International Space Station and author of An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth
\*
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### Author:  [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)
#### Post date: [June 29, 2014, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-martian-by-andy-weir/691808/16 "2014-06-29T15:03:06Z")
> [@araminty](#):
>
> Some of the science was flat-out wrong, I can’t recall what - probably the biology/potato growing, since that’s more my field.
I looked up the wind speed and found it higher than my admittedly cursory internet search suggested for Mars.
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### Author:  [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)
#### Post date: [June 29, 2014, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-martian-by-andy-weir/691808/17 "2014-06-29T15:54:08Z")
> [@JackieLikesVariety](#):
>
> here is a review I feel like sharing
>
> \*“A book I just couldn’t put down! It has the very rare combination of a good, original story, interestingly real characters and fascinating technical accuracy…reads like “MacGyver” meets “Mysterious Island.”
> — Astronaut Chris Hadfield, Commander of the International Space Station and author of An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth
> \*
Well, when Chris Hadfield says he can’t put a book down, you have to make sure he’s in a gravity well at the time.
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### Author:  [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2014, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-martian-by-andy-weir/691808/18 "2014-06-30T16:46:31Z")
I am fairly sure that missions to Mars will include some safe way to recycle human faeces into fertiliser - maybe not on the first mission, but probably on subsequent missions. Any viable CELSS would rely on this sort of recycling.
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### Author:  [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2014, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-martian-by-andy-weir/691808/19 "2014-06-30T19:31:37Z")
I read this a few month back, truly great, I devoured it in a day or two. I also agree with the crowd, it’s got a hard sci-fi element to it, and the ending is hilarious. There is also a story I read last year that reminds me a lot of this story. In it, a contest winner gets a ride to orbit and ends up stuck there…that sound familiar to anyone?
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### Author:  [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2014, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-martian-by-andy-weir/691808/20 "2014-06-30T19:37:40Z")
I really enjoyed it. Very realistic sci-fi, or at least it was written in a way that made it seem very realistic.
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