Dubi reviewed The Martian by Andy Weir
Review of 'Andy Weir The Martian' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
MacGyver in space!
I really liked this book. It had good pacing, enjoyable humour ("good" is probably the wrong word here), and of course, lots of geeking out on the scientific minutiea of survival on Mars and space travel.
I avoided watching the movie because I didn't want it to colour my reading of the book. So the voice Mark Watney (the Martian) ended up getting was a cross between (the original) MacGyver and the war-mage in Orcs Must Die, because he kinda sounded like that guy, only not quite so stupid.
But while this is a very enjoyable book, I get the feeling Andy Weir is probably not a good author. There are several hints to that - the fact that the sections that aren't in Watney's voice are significantly poorer (and in general, the book gets less interesting when it leaves Watney behind), and the differentiation of voices …
MacGyver in space!
I really liked this book. It had good pacing, enjoyable humour ("good" is probably the wrong word here), and of course, lots of geeking out on the scientific minutiea of survival on Mars and space travel.
I avoided watching the movie because I didn't want it to colour my reading of the book. So the voice Mark Watney (the Martian) ended up getting was a cross between (the original) MacGyver and the war-mage in Orcs Must Die, because he kinda sounded like that guy, only not quite so stupid.
But while this is a very enjoyable book, I get the feeling Andy Weir is probably not a good author. There are several hints to that - the fact that the sections that aren't in Watney's voice are significantly poorer (and in general, the book gets less interesting when it leaves Watney behind), and the differentiation of voices was lacking. It's not terrible in a book that focuses overwhelmingly on one character, but I have to wonder if he could keep this up for a more traditional narrative. What really hit this home for me was the short essay by Weir they stuck at the end of the book. He writes just like Mark Watney. Watney IS Weir, in tone at least.
Of course, this doesn't detract from this book in itself, but it does highlight its flaws as a piece of literature.
