author : Andy Weir

The third Mars mission has had to evacuate and return home because of a dangerously strong storm. Due to a freak accident, Mark Watney is left for dead. But he’s not dead. And now he’s alone on Mars, without enough food, air, or energy to last the many months it would take rescue to arrive. Not that he can call for help. Nevertheless, he is an engineer…

This is a great adventure of engineer versus planet, in the old tradition: Apollo 13 meets Gravity meets A Fall of Moondust.

Watney is competent and resourceful, and he does have resources to be resourceful with: all the equipment the crew left behind when they abandoned Mars. Mars keeps throwing problems at him, and he keeps figuring out solutions, knowing that the first problem he can't solve will kill him for sure.

What makes this fun is all the engineering (although I’m sure it’s much harder than shown here); the little acid comments Watney keeps making about the entertainment choices of his departed crewmates; and the potatoes.

I am surprised that Watney didn’t realise that Earth would be able to see that he was still alive, but much of the rest of it rings sufficiently true to make this a thrilling adventure across the Red Planet.

The moon has a small town, Artemis, population 2000. Most of the inhabitants are either super-wealthy, or the ordinary blue-collar people keeping the town running, and working as tourist guides. Some are criminals. Jazz is a bit of both: a legitimate porter, and a smuggler to keep the wolf from the door. But she’s making no headway in saving to pay off a big debt, so when one of her super-wealthy smuggling customers offers her what looks like a great deal for some sabotage, she decides to take it. But the job doesn’t go as planned, and soon Jazz is on the run, and the worst is, she doesn’t even know who’s after her! She will need all her moon-smarts just to survive, let alone win out.

This is a fast paced romp, essentially based on a huge McGuffin, but with plenty of engineering know-how needed to solve all the problems. Jazz is a drop-out, which is why she wants money; she also has a well-developed business ethic, which is why she gets into trouble in the first place; she also happens to be an engineering genius, which is how she gets even deeper into trouble.

The book superficially has a YA vibe, but Jazz is not a teenager, she’s in her mid-20s. So occasionally the story and the vibe clash somewhat. However, this is an interestingly-drawn world, both the politics of Artemis, and its Earth-based back story. I enjoyed the grunge-tech feel to life on the moon (although I’m sure there are holes in the engineering, and in the chemistry). And I particularly appreciated how the ending panned out.

Ryland Grace wakes up in a spaceship. He’s lost his memory. He doesn’t know who he is, where he is, or why he’s there. The fate of the entire planet Earth hangs on him completing his mission. But he doesn’t know what the mission is, or even that there is one.

This is The Martian on steroids. The problem to solve is bigger, less understood, and more important. The setting is more claustrophobic. The setbacks are more catastrophic. The revelations as he slowly regains his memory are shattering. And the resolution is more emotional.

Great stuff.