The Martian by Andy Weir

I read The Martian after reading Artemis by Andy Weir, so I was not expecting much. Boy was I wrong. This book was so much better than Artemis. I absolutely lost track of everything I was supposed to be doing and read this entire novel in a single afternoon!! I so wanted, no needed to know what was going to happen next. It had me hooked from page 1. If you like science fiction or even just science at all this book is amazing. If you do not care about science, you will still enjoy the survival aspects and human condition aspects of this book. I held my breath so many times as I was reading it, and when I finished it I purchased the audio version, just so I could hear it all over again and wow do yourself a favor and splurge! Get them both! Read the words while listening to this audio. Hear the reader evoke the emotions Mark must be feeling as he is stranded on Mars, wondering if he will ever see another human again. This book was fantastic and the plot was astounding. The main character was realistic and deep. No flat stereotype here. As for the world building, what can I say, life on Mars? I do not like to read critic reviews until after I read the book, but I have to agree with all the positive reviews out there, Weir created a masterpiece with this one.

 5 out of 5 stars for The Martian
5 out of 5 stars for the Audiobook

Artemis by Andy Weir

Ok, I am all over the place with my opinions of this book. I have lots of likes and lots of dislikes within the pages of this book. First the likes. I love the science fiction concept of a city on the moon. I like the way the Weir has built the setting of this book. He has set rules and a society structure. Nothing is thrown together or half-baked. He put a lot of thought into the hierarchy of this society and where the characters would fit into the book. The characters themselves were a bit of a problem for me. Some were well written, some were two dimensional, and some were thrown in, it seemed, just because they were a bridge to get from one point in the plot to the next. It was painfully obvious the female character was written by a male author. Things no female would think or say about herself were commented on or by the protagonist. Also, the flow of the plot was sketchy. sometimes you think you understand exactly what the goal of the novel is, and then everything does a 180. What is the main conflict in this story? I could list several conflicts. Really would a 26 year old woman make this many bad decisions in a row? Again, I like the world and some of the characters, I was even taken in by some aspects of the plot, but for me this was not Weir's best work. I hope he sticks with male protagonists in the future. I did purchase the audio format of this novel as well and the reader does an excellent job of making the story more interesting. The sound added dimension to this story. If you are interested in this book, I advise the audio version.

I give Artemis 2.5 out of 5 stars
I give the audio presentation 5 out of 5 stars