Here are some things The Martian, a novel about an astronaut left by his teammates on Mars after disaster strikes, is - funny, witty, sarcastic, fun.
Andy Weir's book follows Mark Watney, who is the astronaut I've mentioned left on Mars by his teammates. He's stranded after the crew of his Mars mission, Ares 3, has to leave the planet in a hurry when a storm strikes, and Mark's suit is pierced by a stray antenna. Assuming there is no way he can have survived, the crew flies away. Only Mark, through a series of bizarre events, is still alive, and instead of giving up he starts planning how he'll survive until the next mission to Mars arrives. And when NASA discovers he's alive, they mount a mission to rescue him that captures the attention of the world.
The Martian is funny from its opening line ("I'm pretty much fucked"), which shocked me and then delighted me. I was a little apprehensive about reading this book because I thought it might be really depressing and kind of scary to read about a guy stranded on his own with no hope of surviving. But actually The Martian is full of humour and of hope - Mark is a character who draws you in with his pithy comments, his can-do attitude, his ability to survive the worst crap Mars can throw at him, his resourcefulness, and his intelligence.
