Buy “The Martian” by Andy Weir on Amazon.
Video Resources:
- The video “Neal Stephenson’s Diamond Age”
Text transcript (literal):
Hello, this is Olivier Roland and today I will tell you about a superb book that I have just read; a fiction book – unusually – that I enjoyed so much that I feel obligated to share it with you.
It’s a science fiction thriller. But don’t worry, if you’re not a sci-fi fan; I think you’ll like it anyway and it’s called “The Martian” by Andy Weir.
It basically tells the story of an expedition to Mars.
I think there are six or seven astronauts. And an accident occurs.
They have to evacuate the base immediately and, unfortunately, they think that one of their colleagues is dead. So they depart from Mars in their rocket and it’s only much later on that they realize the astronaut they have left behind was not dead, he was alive, he was just unconscious.
So, the scenario we are presented with is of an astronaut who is stuck on Mars and who has to work out how to keep himself alive, to survive for a few years, until another mission arrives on Mars to rescue him.
It’s a great story. If you loved MacGyver, which I did as a youngster, well, to keep it simple; this book “The Martian” is MacGyver on Mars, it’s MacGyver in space.
Over hundreds of days we experience the adventures of this astronaut who is alone & abandoned, in an unbelievably hostile environment, in which he could be killed at any moment, far more dangerous than anything you could experience on Earth, and every day he has to do his utmost just to survive the surroundings in which he finds himself.
I found it full of intrigue and the levels of suspense were also really high and extremely well done. The whole feel of it shows that the author, Andy Weir, carried out some very thorough research and kept the scenes as realistic as possible. He presents us with really believable scenarios and how you would go about your efforts to survive in such conditions.
So there you have it, I won’t tell you any more details of the story. Go and read “The Martian”. Frankly, it’s superb entertainment that also makes you think about what space colonization and the conquest of Mars could be like.