I can’t wait till I have grandchildren. “When I was younger, I had to walk to the rim of a crater. Uphill! In an EVA suit! On Mars, ya little shit! Ya hear me? Mars!”

Mark Watney is having a bad day. Injured in a dust storm on Mars, Mark is presumed dead and left by his crew as they make their way back to Earth. With no means to communicate to anyone that he is still alive and just being the lowly botanist on the crew, Mark’s future is uncertain. However, as he chronicles his endeavors to remain alive for the 4 years until the next crew is to arrive on Mars, we are reminded that lowly botanist or no, one has to be incredibly smart and perhaps a little crazy to be chosen to be an astronaut.

What I dig about this book is how accessible it makes a hard science fiction novel to non-hard science fiction readers. There is a lot of technical detail but also an underdog story with lots of wit and sarcasm. A few of my favorite things. The author is a bonafide geek that decided he was going to make sure all his science was as accurate as possible and his enthusiasm is infectious. I can’t wait for Neil deGrasse Tyson to chime in. Robinson Crusoe meets Apollo 13 meets Castaway.