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bomenvernietiger's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.75
There's a really interesting and well thought out plot, but it's massively dampened by the many little mistakes and plot-holes, prose that sounds like it came from a drunk text message, an overly light-hearted and casual tone that doesn't fit the story, a boring main character, events that are often way too plot-convenient, annoying humour, cheesy dialogue, and Andy Weir's stubborn unwillingness to explain or do research into anything that doesn't adhere to his highly specific personal interests.
This could have been an amazing hard scifi that could teach people so much about physics and astronomy, but it's written in a way that the science doesn't actually matter because whenever there's a plot issue Weir's science can't solve, it's either glossed over or splattered with plot convenience sauce (aka 'xenonite'). It could have also been a nice, silly, emotionally deep, feel-good soft scifi, but the characters and the prose are way too dull for that, and anything heartfelt about the book is drowned in constant scientific explanations. Both of these ideas would have been great stories, but they were smashed together and the result is a mess.
This is extra sad considering Andy Weir can write something as good as The Martian. But this is such a downgrade. Everything good about The Martian is missing here, while everything questionable from it is doubled down on.
This could have been an amazing hard scifi that could teach people so much about physics and astronomy, but it's written in a way that the science doesn't actually matter because whenever there's a plot issue Weir's science can't solve, it's either glossed over or splattered with plot convenience sauce (aka 'xenonite'). It could have also been a nice, silly, emotionally deep, feel-good soft scifi, but the characters and the prose are way too dull for that, and anything heartfelt about the book is drowned in constant scientific explanations. Both of these ideas would have been great stories, but they were smashed together and the result is a mess.
This is extra sad considering Andy Weir can write something as good as The Martian. But this is such a downgrade. Everything good about The Martian is missing here, while everything questionable from it is doubled down on.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Violence, Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Death, Medical trauma, Suicide, and War
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic, Pedophilia, and Cancer
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