This book is the story of an astronaut named Mark Watney. He is a botanist and engineer who got stranded on Mars after a fierce storm forced his crewmates to evacuate the planet without him. NASA presumed that he was dead. He survived the storm, however, and began utilizing his botany skills to make himself a makeshift home and survive on the Martian surface. After some time, personnel at NASA figured out that he was alive and began devising a rescue mission to bring him home.
When I first read this book, I was skeptical of the plot, however, I was blown away when I continued reading. The author did an excellent job at keeping the story electric and a constant page-turner. The wittiness of Mark is a great comic relief and direct contrast to the perilous situation that he is stuck in.
Some advice to future readers would be to have a little context of chemistry before reading this book as it is a big part of Mark’s survival.
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