The Martian by Andy Weir Reviewed by Peter Wang

The Martian is a multi-perspective scientific novel. At the beginning of the story, botanist and astronaut Mark Watney, who had been picked by NASA to participate in a mission taking place on Mars, gets trapped there after a sandstorm separates him from his crewmates and makes him pass out on the Mars surface. His crewmates leave him in despair, thinking that he had already died. Waking up from his injury, Watney considers his options and realizes that he may not live to get in touch with Earth again. He is stuck with almost no supplies and nutrition at a space hab, which he uses as a temporary shelter. He uses his limited sources of water and seeds to plant vegetables, running into frequent problems with the tough work and the weather. Slowly starting to get through his problems, Watney forms a regular life for himself on Mars, knowing that he would probably be alone there for years until someone would notice him on the next Mars mission. He operates a rover to get to further places on the Mars surface and eventually gets in touch with NASA via Morse code and written messages the NASA can examine through cameras. The perspective then switches to third-person on Earth. Upon realizing that Watney had survived, the mission control and NASA employees panic on how they could possibly save him. They come up with multiple plans, but none work out. The story ends after a final attempt is made to save Watney and calm the entire world. 

The biggest growth and development I saw in Mark Watney as the main character of the novel was his courage. At the beginning of his 2-year stay on Mars, he freaks out over the smallest problems (for a person who’s stranded on Mars) and doesn’t give a bit of hope into survival. After a few days, he started getting himself together and making plans, eventually achieving most of them with his great knowledge and work ethic. He starts to try his best to contact Earth. Throughout the story, Watney not only makes the best of a bad situation, but also gets creative with his boring life on Mars. He would have never been brave enough to drive through a desert for months if he had stayed negative, especially through the dust storm that he experienced that could have killed him. I would definitely give this book a 5 out of 5 storyline-wise. It’s interesting and fun, and it gets scientific sometimes without being totally boring to younger readers. I also like how the author uses some humorous and random language to show the main character’s feelings, as I feel it’s a great way to engage his readers.