Things get a lot more complicated once NASA realizes that their boy is still alive. with a little bit of Lost in Space thrown in for good measure. We watch as he fights for survival against an insanely harsh natural environment, creates crazy contraptions and scrapes by however possible. ( Fred: The Movie does not count.)īut here's why The Martian is so stupendously successful: the novel follows the tumultuous tale of Mark Watney, a humble botanist/astronaut left for dead on the surface on Mars. That's a fairy tale-style success story-it'd be like turning a YouTube video into a big budget motion picture. Although he was an unknown writer, word-of-mouth (and Reddit) eventually built to the point that the novel was officially published in 2014, instantly shooting to the top of the New York Times Bestseller List. Author Andy Weir actually worked as a programmer while writing the novel in 2009, releasing the story one chapter at a time on his adorably old-school website. it's a sci-fi spectacular that topped the New York Times Bestseller List, got made into a movie directed by Ridley Scott, and is credited with giving the space program their biggest PR jolt since the Cold War.Įven its road to publication is exciting-and that's a sentence that's almost never, ever uttered.

The Martian ain't just an awesome sci-fi spectacular. Tougher than duct tape, more frightening than the Martian wasteland, and funkier than disco, The Martian is one of the most exciting science fiction novels of recent years.Īnd we're not just saying that because we heart this page turner and its snarktastic protagonist.

The martian weir novel