"The Martian" by Andy Weir

 During a terrible storm, astronaut Mark Watney is apparently killed and abandoned by his crewmates as they scramble to escape from Mars. When he recovers consciousness, he discovers he is all alone in a wasteland with no way to communicate with the rest of the universe. However, he has the habitat and provisions left behind after the mission was aborted. He has breathable air and drinkable water, shelter, and food for 400 days. 

Much of this novel is told through the logs of the protagonist, a modern day Robinson Crusoe. After the first quarter, some of the story is told in the third person, describing events back on Earth. The present tense prevents the reader from knowing whether the narrator survives, allowing the tension to continue untilo almost the very last page. 

Refreshingly, there is no villain. The antagonist is the planet itself, as Watney struggles to survive. The excitement is provided by marvelling at his ingenuity as he contrives solutions to the problems he faces; another reminder of Robinson Crusoe.

Typically of much American fiction, there is an incredible level of detail. Each challenge and each 'fix' is carefully explained. This adds enormous verisimilitude and the feeling that the author has done meticulous research (but it also got a bit boring, so I skim read some of these bits). The overall impression is that all of this could really happen; it is almost a science fiction documentary. 

It is a very different sort of novel but it really works.

The character of Watney is that of an irrepressible joker; this irreverence provides a necessary lighter contrast the technical details and the terror of the challenge facing him. Possibly, it is the only sort of character that could credibly survive even a few days of isolation and hopelessness.

Selective quotes:

• "If I make any mistakes, there'll be nothing left but the 'Mark Watney Memorial Crater'" (4. Sol 32)
• "If you asked every engineer at NASA what the worst scenario for the Hab was, they'd all answer 'fire'. If you asked them what the outcome would be, they'd answer 'death by fire'." (4. Sol 32)
• "No plan survives first contact with implementation" (5. Sol 40)
• "'Do you believe in God, Venkat'? Mitch asked. 'Sure, lots of 'em', Venkat said. 'I'm Hindu'." (15)
• "I started the day with some nothin' tea. Nothin' tea is easy to make. First, get some hot water, then add nothin'." (24. Sol 501)
• "Every human being has a basic instinct to help each other our. It might not seem that way sometimes, but it's true." (26. Mission Day 687)

Brilliantly written, page-turning stuff.

December 2021, 369 pages

This review was written by the author of Motherdarling  and The Kids of God