Mark Watney is very, very lucky, and also completely screwed. Out of countless candidates, Mark is among the first human beings ever to explore Mars. He may be the first to die there.
When humanity’s third mission to Mars (named ‘Ares 3’) is hit by a freak storm, the mission is terminated early. Knowing that their departure vehicle can only stand so much battering, the crew stagger through the storm, clamber into the vehicle and blast off.
They leave behind a storm-wrecked communications array, a habitation module, two buggies, and one wind-tossed astronaut. Mark Watney ought to be dead.
‘The Martian’ is a story of being marooned and of trying to survive in a (very) hostile environment. If we were going to describe the book in terms of other books or films then ‘The Martian’ is Gary Paulsen’s ‘Hatchet’ meets the film ‘Apollo 13’. It might sound like I’m parroting…
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