Book 28 is The Martian. I've already read this book a few times and it's a testament to how good I think it is that I keep going back to enjoy it again. This time, I reversed the order and watched the film before reading the book.
They are essentially the same story, although some of the scenes occur out of order and there are scenes that are in the book but not film and vice versa.
It's a consequence of a film having between 2 hours and 3 hours to tell its story. A book like the Martian is more like 8 to 10 hours. There's a lot more scope in there to explain and just add more content.
One huge criticism I have of the film, after reading the book, is that elements of it just don't make sense. The trek in the rover is the biggest example here. 100+ days cooped up in that rover ? Won't work. Plus where does the extra kit go. The life support equipment. Where does it go ? It's touched on in the movie but so much is glossed over.
Other scenes are added into the movie which are either just plain bad (the explanation of the slingshot) or are unnecessary (the metaphorical "let's kill Sean Bean's character again"). I did think that the movie's Watney teaching scene at the end was an excellent addition though, I'll say more about that in a bit.
What is The Martian ?
The book opens with astronaut and botanist, Mark Watney, writing his log on Mars, a sol or so after being left behind during an emergency evacuation and stranded on our neighbour planet. It's an inhospitable place, with barely any atmosphere and extreme cold. All he has to survive with are the rations left behind, the equipment in place and his wits. The communications with Earth are cut off and it will take 2 years for any assistance to arrive.
The book swaps between the point of view of Watney, as he writes about his escapades in his log, the mission controllers and administrators back at NASA, the rest of his crew and a selection of other places. But it's mostly about Watney.
He's a likeable character with his most important resource being his brain. He'll look up answers and figure things out through science before getting stuck in to sort out the issues he's facing. From food, to life support, to communications, to driving a few thousand miles across a desolate planet, away from his base of security.
There is a lot of humour in the book and it takes the time to explain what's going on in terms that I hope everyone reading can understand. I'm cheating there because I'm an engineering graduate with interest in the other sciences on show in the book and I've been reading fiction about space since I was a kid, so I probably understood the engineering and technology a bit quicker than most. With the language and prose in this book though, I don't think anyone will be left behind by it.
And the science bits are wrapped up in that humour that runs all the way through the book. You can figure out what's going on before the reveals, which just makes it all the better.
There is some unnecessary drama plopped into the story but ... if the author didn't do that, you'd have an Arthur C Clarke lecture. (Legendary author ... but I found his books to be a bit lectury) And the drama causing scenes are very plausible.
As a scifi story goes, this is utterly rock solid in its plotline, the technology and science on show. This is in contrast to a story like Interstellar, where it has an amazing storyline but the technology, science and stuff around that plotline is so bad it's insulting to the space geek. The Martian has an excellent story, supported by accurate science and the characters are varied and charming.
I loved this book. I've already read it a few times and I enjoyed reading it this last time just as much as the first.
Highly recommended.
No comments:
Post a Comment
So much for anonymous commenting ... If you would like to leave a message and don't have a suitable account, there's an email address in my profile.