Published: 28/08/2014
After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive.
Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to kill him first.
But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills—and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit—he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?
Publisher: Cornerstone
ISBN: 9780091956141
Number of pages: 384
Weight: 260 g
Dimensions: 198 x 126 x 24 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
Watney's gallows humour and his brushes with death as he uses every ounce of his intelligence and astronaut's training to claw his way out of the pit will have you laughing and gasping by turns. I read this book in a weekend. I didn't think I'd have the time to - but Andy Weir's edge-of-the-seat storytelling didn't leave me any choice. -- Richard Madeley, Richard and Judy Book Club
Andy Weir's terrific 'lost in space' novel is an absolute page turner from first to last ... Tautly-written, full of extraordinary and fascinating detail about life in a frozen red desert so far from home, The Martian is one of the best thrillers either of us has read in years. Highly recommended. -- Judy Finnigan, Richard and Judy Book Club
The best book I've read in ages. Clear your schedule before you crack the seal. This story will take your breath away faster than a hull breech. Smart, funny, and white-knuckle intense, The Martian is everything you want from a novel. -- Hugh Howey * New York Times bestselling author of Wool *
Accomplished...believable but suspenseful as [Watney] battles against the odds for survival * The Guardian *
like Gravity meets Robinson Crusoe - utterly nail-biting and memorable. -- James Lovegrove * FT *
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 *
The amount of research here is astounding. We're suckers for well-grounded fiction, and on the technical side, The Martian is exemplary ... witty ... funny * SFX *
The Martian kicked my ass! Weir has crafted a relentlessly entertaining and inventive survival thriller, a MacGyver-trapped-on-Mars tale that feels just as real and harrowing as the true story of Apollo 13. -- Ernest Cline * New York Times bestselling author of Ready Player One *
Weir's debut is easily the best SF novel of the year so far * Financial Times *
An impressively geeky debut novel ... the technical details keep the story relentlessly precise and the suspense ramped up * Entertainment Weekly *
Strong, resilient, and gutsy. It's Robinson Crusoe on Mars, 21st century style. Set aside a chunk of free time when you start this one. You're going to need it because you won't want to put it down. -- Steve Berry
Think Apollo 13 ... on Mars! ... A saga of courage, ingenuity and humour - and utterly convincing thanks to superb research. The best space disaster story since Clarke's A Fall of Moondust. -- Stephen Baxter
jaw-clenchingly gripping ... a modern-day Apollo13 * Stuff Magazine *
Brilliant...a celebration of human ingenuity [and] the purest example of real-science sci-fi for many years...Utterly compelling. * Wall Street Journal *
Don't be put off thinking this is a sci-fi book - it's so much more than that. Utterly brilliant. * Bella *
One of the best thrillers I've read in a long time, an incredible story about an astronaut marooned on Mars. This is no science fiction tale: the technology is beautifully researched and based on what is currently envisioned for a manned flight to Mars. It feels so real it could almost be nonfiction, and yet it has the narrative drive and power of a rocket launch. This is Apollo 13 times ten. I could not put this book down. -- Douglas Preston * #1 New York Times bestselling author of Impact and Blasphemy *
Gripping...shapes up like Defoe's Robinson Crusoe as written by someone brighter. -- Larry Niven, multiple Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author of the Ringworld series and Lucifer's Hammer
The tension simply never lets up, from the first page to the last, and at no point does the believability falter for even a second. You can't shake the feeling that this could all really happen. -- Patrick Lee, New York Times bestselling author of The Breach and Ghost Country
Weir has fashioned in Mark Watney one of the most appealing, funny and resourceful characters in recent fiction ... gripping * Huffington Post *
one of the best survival stories you'll ever read (think Robinson Crusoe on Mars only more extreme). -- Martin Sorenson * Publishers Weekly *
Sharp, funny and thrilling, with just the right amount of geekery. * Kirkus *
Apollo 13-meets-Robinson-Crusoe-on-Mars, and I guess for those who enjoyed the films Gravity or Moon, this one will be a literary equivalent ... I was, in the end, totally won over by this book in its celebration of how humans can deal with anything the harshness of science and extreme environments can pose, and it kept me reading longer than I meant to * SFFworld.com *
one of the most thrilling and absorbing novels I have ever read * Sfcrowsnest *
Riveting...a tightly constructed and completely believable story of a man's ingenuity and strength in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. * Booklist *
Weir combines the heart-stopping with the humorous in this brilliant debut novel... the perfect mix of action and space adventure. * Library Journal (starred) *
An exciting, insightful science- based tale [that] kept me turning the pages to see what ingenious solution our hero would concoct to survive yet anotherimpossible dilemma * Terry Brooks *
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“A real page turner”
I read this book as recommended by my 12-year-old son. You don't need to be into science or sci-fi in order to enjoy the read. There was some techy space vocabulary that I didn't understand but that... More
“Utterly brilliant!”
I was very kindly sent a review copy of The Martian by the publishers and my goodness was I happy about that. I'm not the biggest sci-fi fan out there but this was the perfect mix between fact and brilliant... More
“A bold, tense tale of survival on Mars...”
What a brilliant read! Mark Watney finds himself stranded on Mars as the rest of his team presume him dead and make their get away from the Red Planet without him. Reporting via journal/blogging entries, we follow... More
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