Sunday, February 26, 2017

Science Fiction Annotation - The Martian


Author: Andy Weir
Title: The Martian
Genre: Science Fiction
Publication Date: Self-published in 2011, published in 2014
Number of Pages: 369
Geographical Setting: Mars and Earth
Time Period: Unknown
Series (if applicable): Not a series

Plot Summary:
Mark Watney who is presumed dead by his crew mates, is accidentally left behind when a dust storm on Mars forces the team to abort their mission. He is injured and only has a limited amount of food and supplies which he will have to use to last him until the next trip NASA makes to Mars. Through Watney’s resourcefulness, smarts and good sense of spirit he is able to stay alive long enough for NASA to realize he has survived and they are able to create a rescue plan in order to save Watney from the deadly planet of Mars and possible starvation. Using his desire to survive, resourcefulness, engineering and botanist skills he continually confronts one obstacle after the next until he can be rescued.

Subject Heading:
Astronauts-Fiction
Survival-Fiction
Mars-Fiction      

Appeal: 
This book is fast-paced and easy to read despite its use of technical math and scientific terms.  It is suspenseful and thrilling, yet really humorous and entertaining at points. Watney’s desire to survive is what I found most appealing in this book, he is a strong, relatable, smart, courageous character and the reader will cheer for his survival throughout reading the book.

3 Terms that Describe this Book:  
Humorous, Suspenseful and Entertaining

3 Relevant Non-Fiction Works and Authors:

The Case for Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must by Robert Zubrin- This book describes how humans can be sent to Mars using present day technology.

Mars: Our Future on the Red Planet by Leonard David- This book explains that Mars is next in line for space exploration and how human habitation on Mars isn’t too far off.

Destination Mars: New Explorations of the Red Planet by Rod Pyle-This book describes NASA and the European Space Agency’s plans to conduct four different trips to Mars in the near future. It describes the history of Mars exploration and the challenges and difficulties of traveling there.

3 Relevant Fiction Works and Authors:

Seveneves by Neal Stephenson- Both of these books are science fiction and they deal with survival. In each book the characters deal with the planets natural forces which causes imminent danger to them.

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer- Both are relatively recent sci-fi books about survival, although this book deals with a group of people, it is the first book in a trilogy and it is more eerie than the Martian.  


I am Legend by Richard Matheson- Both books are about  a man trying to survive on a plant, although in I am Legend there are vampires after the character in I am Legend, I think both are suspenseful and similar enough for readers to enjoy both.

1 comment:

  1. I love this book and think they did a pretty decent job adapting it. Full points!

    ReplyDelete