andy weir - the martian

another sci-fi debut novel that hits the mark. if you've enjoyed the 1995 movie apollo 13 and the tv series macguyver (and who hasn't?), then this book is definitely for you.

the story follows the exploits of a near-future astronaut stranded on mars who has to devise ways to survive for 4 years(!) until the next martian landing that may rescue him, more than 3000km away from his present location. i had compared the book to the movie apollo 13 because it really felt like reading an extra long book version of it. the novel is supposed to be the diary our astronaut writes in hopes of it being found even if he dies on the surface of mars. while he does use some technical jargon, he always follows up with explanations and plenty of witty humor for the layperson who might read his diary if it is published after his return to earth or demise on mars (and these parts really felt like an advanced macguyver who explains his set-up without shying away from also giving numbers and doing back-of-the-envelope calculations). and just like with macguyver, you learn a lot of interesting tidbits about martian timekeeping, weather systems, geography and geology in-situ resource utilization and, of course, rocket launches and orbital mechanics. a bit of familiarity with the real-world nasa history is perhaps required as the protagonist sometimes refers to historical events without giving the context, for example he happily notes that the carbon dioxide filters of the habitat and the rover are compatible, noting that apollo 13 was a good lesson.

also very interesting is the story of how this novel came to be. the author could not find a publisher interested in the novel and made it freely available on his website; later, at the urging of fans who wanted the convenience of an e-reader, he published the book for kindle on amazon, priced at 99 cents (the minimum that amazon allows). and it turned out to be an overnight success: now he has a proper publisher (and the e-book costs 12$), the book made the new york times bestseller list, there is an audio book and also sold the movie rights for a six-figure sum, not bad at all. the movie is to be directed by ridley scott, starring matt damon and promises to be awesome as long as they keep that lindelof hack away from the script.