The Martian (2011)It's the 4th of July as I write this and tons of folks are headed to the beach. Anyone who isn't carrying this novel along as their beach book is really missing out. Author Andy Weir is a computer scientist and self-confessed science nerd. This book had its genesis in a mission to Mars he planned first in his head and then in a computer simulation. Recalling the difficulty Apollo 13 faced just because piping wasn't uniform and easily jerry-rigged, he had the idea of challenging an astronaut with a whole series of such dilemmas. The kicker is that each solution to a problem tends to cause the next one. Mark Watney, an engineer/botanist, is presumed dead in a storm on Mars and his crewmates leave him behind when their mission is aborted. Unfortunately, the storm also devastates the equipment with which he could have communicated with Earth or the crew. Watney tells his ensuing survival tale in the form of a journal, making much of the book an extended soliloquy. He's quite the wise-acre, but ingenious enough to keep saving himself and good-humored enough to stay optimistic throughout. He's inevitably been compared to both MacGyver and Robinson Crusoe. Essentially, he starts out with: a Habitat and some remaining supplies; machines for making air, water and energy; two rovers; and ten real potatoes intended for the crew's Thanksgiving dinner. From these meager beginnings the story builds to the point where he finds a way to get himself off the planet. Weir uses the hard sci-fi form, meaning that, rather than encountering aliens or relying on imaginary technology, all of the science that Watney uses already exists or is imminent. This gives the story a realism to balance out the improbability of overcoming one catastrophe after another. The book is a tad overlong and some of the episodes, with their scientific detail, can get tedious if you aren't quite as nerdy as the author. But Watney is such an engaging protagonist and the general pace of the narrative is so propulsive that it makes for an enjoyable escapist entertainment. (Reviewed:) Grade: (A) Tweet Websites:-WIKIPEDIA: Andy weir -AUTHOR SITE: AndyWeirAuthor -WIKIPEDIA: The Martian (Weir novel) -ESSAY: How science made me a writer: As a programmer and all-around nerd, I learned that the intricacies of science can be a great driver for plot (Andy Weir, 2/11/14, Salon) One day, in between doing highly charismatic non-nerdy things, I started working up a manned Mars mission in my head. I even wrote my own software to calculate the orbital trajectory my imaginary crew would take to get from Earth to Mars. And not some boring Hohmann Transfer, either! I envisioned a constantly accelerating VASIMR powered ship, which — ahem. Sorry, got carried away. Anyway, I had to account for failure scenarios on their surface mission. What if something went wrong? How could I design the mission so the crew would have contingency plans? What if they had multiple failures, one after another, that ruined those contingency plans? - - - - -PODCAST: Poured Over: Andy Weir on Project Hail Mary (Isabelle McConville / March 19, 2026 a, B&N Reads) -PROFILE: Project Hail Mary Author Andy Weir Did Not Hold Back About Black Mirror (JOE ROBERTS, MARCH 15, 2026, Slash Film) -INTERVIEW: 'The Martian': Author Andy Weir discusses his new sci-fi novel (Molly Driscoll, February 20, 2014, CS Monitor) -INTERVIEW: 'The Martian' Author Andy Weir Explains All the Ways Mars Wants to Kill You: Weir explains what definitely would have killed his hero, what O.J. Simpson and Mark Watney have in common, and why space mutinies are more common than you might think. (Andrew Moseman, Popular Mechanics) -AUDIO INTERVIEW: Andy Weir: ‘The Martian’: To write The Martian, first-time novelist Andy Weir had to study orbital mechanics, astronomy, and the history of manned spaceflight. The payoff is a survival story so realistic, it’ll make you wonder, Could a stranded astronaut really survive on Mars? (Ira Flatow, 2/14/14, NPR Science Friday) -PROFILE: The surprising story of how Andy Weir's self-published book 'The Martian' topped best seller lists and got a movie deal (Kelly Dickerson, Jun. 22, 2015, Business Insider) -PROFILE: Andy Weir and his book ‘The Martian’ may have saved NASA and the entire space program (Joel Achenbach May 5, 2015, Washington Post) -ARTICLE: 'The Martian' Author Andy Weir Takes a Spin on NASA's Electric Rover (Tariq Malik, May 08, 2015 , Space.com) -PROFILE: Andy Weir on his strange journey from self-publishing to Hollywood (Sara Vilkomerson, 11/05/2014, Entertainment Weekly) -INTERVIEW: Stuck on Mars with nothing but disco: Ars talks with The Martian’s Andy Weir (Lee Hutchinson, Nov 16, 2014, Ars Technica) -INTERVIEW: Andy Weir, Author of The Martian: A conversation with a space nerd-turned-novelist. (Rebecca Maksel, July 23, 2014, airspacemag.com) -PROFILE: ‘Project Hail Mary’ Author Andy Weir Is a Blockbuster Machine. But He Only Cares About the Science: The bestselling writer and self-described “dork” explains how he crafts upbeat space-set thrillers from dire scenarios only expertise can solve (CT Jones, March 22, 2026, Rolling Stone) - - - - - -PROFILE: Andy Weir's self-published 'The Martian' travels through space to best-sellerdom (Georgia Rowe, 03/10/2014, Mercury News) -PROFILE: 'The Martian' author is less optimistic about getting to Mars than NASA: His book about a colony on Mars is about to become a Hollywood blockbuster, but Andy Weir isn't quite as bullish as NASA about his fiction becoming fact within 25 years. (Eric Mack, May 5, 2015, Cnet) -PROFILE: A Survival Guide to Mars: A Computer-Scientist-Turned-Novelist Explores Life on Mars in Debut Thriller (Alexandra Alter, Feb. 14, 2014, WSJ) -REVIEW: of The Martian by Andy Weir (Adam Frank, NPR) -REVIEW: of The Martian (Tom Shippey, WSJ) -REVIEW: of The Martian (Philip Marchand, National Post) -REVIEW: of The Martian (Kirkus Reviews) -REVIEW: of The Martian (Independent) -REVIEW: of The Martian (Cassandra Neace, Bookriot) -REVIEW: of The Martian (Emily Bartlett Hines, BookPage) -REVIEW: of The Martian (Jeff Foust, Space Review) -REVIEW: of The Martian (Anthony Schulz, Book Examiner) -REVIEW: of The Martian (Rebecca Skane, Seacost Online) -REVIEW: of The Martian (Thomas M. Wagner, SF Reviews) -REVIEW: of The Martian (Samantha Nelson, AV Club) -REVIEW: of The Martian (Kevin Nance, USA Today) -REVIEW: of Project Hail Mary () -REVIEW: of Project Hail Mary () -REVIEW: of Project Hail Mary () -REVIEW: of Project Hail Mary () -REVIEW: of Project Hail Mary () -REVIEW: of Project Hail Mary () -REVIEW: of Project Hail Mary () -REVIEW: of Project Hail Mary () -REVIEW: of Project Hail Mary (Lawrence De Maria, Washington Independent Review of Books) -REVIEW: of Project Hail Mary () -REVIEW: of Project Hail Mary () -REVIEW: of Project Hail Mary () FILM: - - - - -INTERVIEW: How ‘Project Hail Mary’ Made Andy Weir’s Story Even More Cinematic: io9 spoke to directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller about some additions to the movie, out March 20. (Germain Lussier, March 19, 2026, IO9) -INTERVIEW: Phil Lord and Chris Miller on Project Hail Mary: “We wanted the movie to feel like you were in the guts of a machine”: From 21 Jump Street to The Lego Movie, Phil Lord and Chris Miller specialise in making great pop cinema out of unlikely material. As their new film Project Hail Mary sends Ryan Gosling out into the lonely cosmos, we talked to the directing duo about their mission to make films like no-one’s seen before. (Lou Thomas, 13 March 2026, BFI) -PODCAST: ‘Project Hail Mary’ Will Amaze! Amaze! Amaze! With Phil Lord and Chris Miller (The Big Picture, 3/20/26, The Ringer) -PROFILE: What the ‘Project Hail Mary’ Directors Learned From a Firing: Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, best known for animations like the “Spider-Verse” films, took lessons from “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” a project from which they were dismissed. (Esther Zuckerman, March 20, 2026, NY Times) -PROFILE: Phil Lord and Chris Miller think they’ve solved the riddle for adaptating Andy Weir’s Artemis (Steve Seigh, 3/20/26, JoBlo) - - - -ESSAY: The Ending of ‘Project Hail Mary’ Teased a Surprising Offscreen Subplot: Ryan Gosling stars in Phil Lord and Chris Miller's adaptation of Andy Weir's novel, in theaters now. (Germain Lussier, March 23, 2026, Gizmodo) -ESSAY: Project Hail Mary is packed with hard science. An astrophysicist breaks it down (Sara Webb, March 18, 2026, The Conversation) -ESSAY: Project Hail Mary is in theaters—but do the linguistics work?: Ars speaks with a linguist about the ease with which Grace and Rocky communicate. (Lee Hutchinson – Mar 20, 2026 , ars technica) -ESSAY: ‘Project Hail Mary’ explores unique forms of life in space - 5 essential reads on searching for aliens that look nothing like life on Earth (The Conversation, March 20, 2026) -ESSAY: How realistic is Project Hail Mary?: Two Science News reporters nerd out about the science behind the new movie (Tina Hesman Saey and Carolyn Gramling, 3/20/26, Science News) -ESSAY: What 'Project Hail Mary' gets right—and wrong—about astrophysics (Cody Mello-Klein, 3/20/26, Physics.org) -ESSAY: How Ryan Gosling’s Out-of-This-World Cardigan Stole the Show in “Project Hail Mary”: The key to nailing a sci-fi wardrobe? A rugged Canadian knit yanked straight out of the 1950s. (Paolo Sandoval, March 23, 2026, Inside Hook) -ESSAY: 10 major differences between the 'Project Hail Mary' book and movie (Matthew Razak. 3/22/26, Space) -ESSAY: How Ryan Gosling Became This Generation’s Tom Hanks: As “Project Hail Mary” proves, no one plays a charming everyman quite like him — except America's Dad (Bonnie Stiernberg, March 23, 2026, Inside Hook) - - - - - -REVIEW: of Project Hail Mary: Ryan Gosling's space epic is 'a mind-stretching sci-fi' (Nicholas Barber, 3/11/26, BBC) -REVIEW: Project Hail Mary Review: Sci-Fi Buddy Picture Takes Time to Soar (Alistair Ryder, March 10, 2026, Film Stage) -REVIEW: of Project Hail Mary () -REVIEW: Project Hail Mary review – A sci-fi dazzler that doesn’t signal great things for the future of cinema: This Ryan Gosling vehicle is immensely likeable and technically impressive, even if it has the whiff of top-shelf nostalgia (Clarisse Loughrey, 10 March 2026, Independent) -REVIEW: “Project Hail Mary”: In Space, No One Should Hear Your Glib Jokes In Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s adaptation of Andy Weir’s novel, Ryan Gosling’s star power fuels an unlikely tale of far-flung friendship. (Justin Chang, March 13, 2026, The New Yorker) -REVIEW: Project Hail Mary review – an entertaining adventure, not a memorable one (Hannah Strong, 3/16/26, Little White Lies) -REVIEW: Verdict: Yes, you should go see Project Hail Mary as soon as possible: A brief spoiler-free review of the film, which opens in the US on March 20. (Lee Hutchinson, Mar 11, 2026, ars Technica) -REVIEW: ‘Project Hail Mary’ Review: The most perfectly crowd-pleasing movie I’ve ever seen. (Sonny Bunch, Mar 10, 2026, The Bulwark) -REVIEW: Project Hail Mary review – Ryan Gosling’s charm carries unserious last-ditch space mission: Tale of a brilliant molecular biologist cast into outer space with only a helpful alien for company is a bit silly, but Gosling’s charisma keeps it watchable (Peter Bradshaw, 10 Mar 2026, The Guardian) -REVIEW: ‘Project Hail Mary’ Rocks: Ryan Gosling stars in the new Andy Weir adaptation from directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, out March 20. (Germain Lussier, March 10, 2026, IO9) -REVIEW: of Project Hail Mary (Alan Zilberman , 3/20/26, Spectrum Culture) -REVIEW: Project Hail Mary Is Another 'You Can Just Do Things' Story From Sci-Fi Novelist Andy Weir: A dazzling, ridiculously charming sci-fi adventure from the author of The Martian (Peter Suderman, 3.19.2026, reason) -REVIEW: 'Project Hail Mary' is a space comedy that comes off as glib and earthbound (Justin Chang, 3/20/26, NPR) -REVIEW: Ryan Gosling and a cute alien team up to save humanity in 'Project Hail Mary' (Linda Holmes, 3/20/26, NPR: Pop Culture Happy Hour) -REVIEW: Project Hail Mary Is a Masterpiece—and a Brilliant Example of Emotional Intelligence: Led by emotional performances from Ryan Gosling and James Ortiz, Project Hail Mary will get you right in the feels. And that’s what exactly what makes it so great. (JUSTIN BARISO, Mar 20, 2026, Inc) -REVIEW: ‘Project Hail Mary’ is an interstellar dramedy grounded by friendship (Sarah Gopaul, March 22, 2026, Digital Journal) -REVIEW: Project Hail Mary: The Stars Want Us Happy (Giancarlo Sopo, March 22, 2026, National Review) - - - - - - - Book-related and General Links: |
Copyright 1998-2015 Orrin Judd
