Writing could use a bit of editing but it moves through with surprises all around. It grabbed me with the premise. The problem solving was interesting. I felt that men would love the science and engineering needed to keep the main character alive.

I\\\\\\\'m not a heavy reader of science fiction, but The Martian by Andy Weir is one book that has changed my mind about this genre forever. A team of scientists are finally on Mars. It\\\\\\\'s the end of their mission and an unexpected storm emerges. After the storm settles it becomes clear that the one scientist that was thought to have died during the storm has survived and now he is left alone on the surface of Mars. His mission now is simply survival.

The reader witnesses the angst and despair of our lone survivor, Mark Watney. Fortunately, Mark is a botanist and contrives a way to grow food to extend his life (I was sick of potatoes by the end of the story . . . read the story!). He salvages what he can from the mission camp and ingeniously reimagines usages for his survival. Once he\\\\\\\'s able to reestablish communication with earth, he no longer has to survive without a goal. His goal is to live long enough to be rescued.

Mr. Weir\\\\\\\'s story captured my attention from the very beginning. As a child of the 60s, growing up with Star Trek, space is an unknown that man has wanted to conquer for decades. We\\\\\\\'ve never gone further than the moon or the space station with manned flight, so this mission to Mars was fantastical. The Martian isn\\\\\\\'t simply a story about the science of staying alive on a foreign environment; it is about survival. Don\\\\\\\'t get me wrong, there\\\\\\\'s plenty of science involved and even that I found interesting. I cheered along with the masses on earth as I witnessed Mark Watney\\\\\\\'s progress and gasped in horror when things didn\\\\\\\'t go as expected. Mr. Weir has this incredible ability to write science fiction and make it seem more like science possible. Mark Watney becomes more than just a man fighting for survival; he became The Martian. Trust me, even if you think you don\\\\\\\'t like science fiction, you\\\\\\\'ll want to read this book.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was well written and a very fun read. I highly recommend it to all.

Reccomend reading..found it to be believable in the not too distant future..it is my choice for book club..looking forward to the comments from the members.. I found myself cheering him on...

The Martian was an unexpectedly funny adventure! What an imaginative blend of adventure, suspense, humor and humanity. One of the best books I've read in years. Highly recommend!

you will either love this or hate it. Some of the technical parts were boring reading, but the concept of an astronaut being left on Mars and how to rescue them is an interesting one.

We had a lively discussion about this book! From the characters, the setting, and the humor, it made for a great book talk.

The Martian takes a tale from all walks of life and all generations in history and brings it to the current technological day of today. We have all seen and read the stories of survival of the fittest. We have all known about stories of the hero overcoming nearly impossible odds. This novel brings all of those raw, general, simple ideas and puts them into the 21st century. Technology on Earth is beyond where it has ever been before but on Mars, the same cannot be said. Using the knowledge of Earth, and the extremely limited resources available, our protagonist is able to thrive and survive in a desolate, nearly prehistoric environment.

This novel is definitely not for the weak minded. If a person is able to look beyond the science, the math and the technology, however, he/she will see that this is just a simple story of survival and of basic human nature.

Interesting mix of geeky space information and quirky humor. We all liked this book.

I really enjoyed this book.

Great book. Narrator was super sarcastic and brilliant. Great book!!!

I found myself laughing out loud, gasping at his misfortune and being transported to another place. I want to meet Mark Watney!

I loved the humorous quips at the end of the highly scientific paragraphs.

Laugh out loud funny, gracefully braking down NASA terms so that even I could understand them; this is an Oddesy I enjoyed with my whole heart and could not stop thinking about.

This book interweaves the three elements above to tell the story of how a person who's odds of dying are extremely high manages to use all of his scientific knowledge and a resilient spirit to cheerfully face those realities. Funny and inspiring while staying very realistic.

This was an amazing title! I was reluctant to select a science fiction title for our book club, but everyone enjoyed it very much!

This is not your typical Sci-Fi novel. It\\\'s about the main character\\\'s ability to survive with humor, ingenuity, warmth, and the will to survive.

Fun read...lots of science but funny and great story

As a reader of both fiction and nonfiction but never science fiction, I truly enjoyed THE MARTIAN. I sure didn't expect to and was reading it only because my husband bought it for me so that I would go with him to see "The Martian" movie.

Mark Watney, an astronaut left for dead on Mars, did not die, after all, and spends more than a year managing to both stay alive and find a way to get back to earth. Sound corny? I thought so, too. But by the time I was halfway through the book, I agreed with the WALL STREET JOURNAL that it was brilliant. Yes, a lot of reviewers incorrectly describe books that way, but in this case, you'll see why it's true.

The story is told alternately in first and third person; that is, Watney logs his efforts in first person and NASA and the rest of the world root for him in third person. Watney's are the brilliant parts of the book. And, if you thought when you were in school that math was a useless and unnecessary subject, Andy Weir puts the lie to that here.

Now I'm anxious to see the movie.

If you are an engineer and love problem solving, you will like this book. I wanted more about the people and fewer, long explanations of how every problem was solved. I realize he faced great problems, just to survive. I just didn't enjoy the majority of this book. I select our book clubs books, and this won't be one of them!

Don't let the heavy science orientation at the beginning of the book put you off! Great characters and clever plot create a surprisingly successful and plausible tale

I'm not into sci-fi but this was great!. I actually believed this was happening to the main character stranded on Mars. His daily struggles and obstacles held both humor and anxiety right at the reader.

Mark Watney has found himself trapped on Mars with no way of communicating with earth, and no hope of rescue. He perceivers and begins to plan what he can do to survive until the next group of astronauts lands on Mars.

Obviously this book has been all over the place recently, and I've heard it recommended as a good pick for most readers. I was a little apprehensive at the start as I felt the initial math and science were a bit hard to decipher, but once the book got going it was really enjoyable. In between Watney's diary of his days are sections from various NASA employees perspectives as they work to bring Watney home. It was a fun read for my bookclub.

There were some laugh out loud parts! I truly enjoyed this book. I like how it was detailed just enough not to be boring. (truth be told, I even enjoyed the movie, but not as much as the book)

Our members really enjoyed this book, despite all the intricate technical details about computers, chemistry and botany. The main character, Mark Watley, was endearing and funny and when the math got to be too much - we just skipped it without losing any of the story. Our club also watched the movie after we discussed the book. It's a good, quick read!

Difficult read unless you are interested in the technical aspects of space travel. Enjoyed part of the story but really skimmed so much of the book as not interested in Science Fiction literature.

I Found parts of this book boring (enough of the technical stuff), parts of it laugh out loud funny and after a while (and probably for the same reason) riveting. The Marian was the ultimate "Realty TV show” – It captured us as surely as "American Idol" or "survivor". Mark Whatley's struggle shines a light on the frailty of life and the strength of one mans determination to live.

Technical,but interesting.

Our book club as a whole enjoyed the book. When it came to the technical items in the book, we were split as to if it hindered the book or made it more realistic. We did compare it to Apollo 13. Some of the club said they wished they had read the book before seeing the movie. We don't usually do science fiction books for the club but enjoyed the survivor theme and how he was able to cope with being on Mars alone.

This book was full of math and scientific details which were a bit confusing and boring for me. I was able to skim over those parts and follow the plot of the story pretty well. It was an interesting topic.

Nothing I would consider reading. Read only a few pages. Would never recommend it.

Very good overall read. The main character finds himself in an awful situation. Through his determination, humor and "MacGyver" creativity, he has an amazing adventure and accomplishes his mission.

Absolutely hilarious. Not just that, I loved the actual science used in it even if it was a bit much every now and then. Mark Watney is a great protagonist in my opinion, and considering the fact that I’m a science fiction lover, this is easily one of my favorite books of all time.

The author went too far into scientific details at times, making the book difficult to understand. I couldnâ??t finish this one...