Week 9: Space Opera

Week 9: Space Opera

The Martian is a humorous sci-fi opera.  A typical freak Martian dust storm (reminiscent of the movie “Mission to Mars with Gary Sinese) suddenly hits astronauts/botanists on a mission while on Mars. 

The main character, Mark Whatney, gets blown away and stuck in his side with an antenna and left for dead by his fellow crewmates.  His suit is damaged, so no vital signs are detected.  Mark realizes his dilemma, alone and stranded, and goes into survival mode.

The Martian uses his brain “I am going to have to science the heck out of this” to survive.  Mark uses his training in botany and engineering to come up with several ways to survive.  He grows potatoes out of his own “waste” and invents water by passing leftover hydrazine, rocket fuel over a catalyst.

He is a brain geek and survivalist bringing the “Nerd Thriller” genre into the Mainstream.  This is hyper-technical meets Robinson Crusoe times two!  What helps this novel be so technical is the author is an actual software engineer.  I found the humor genre in this book as well like Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.  The humor cuts the tension of a very grim situation.  The dialogue undermines the bleak setting. 

It gets interesting once we read the people back on Earth realize his is alive, thanks to satellite photos that show the equipment on Mars being moved.  You really want this character to survive.

What is coincidental is this book is about the nerd that is the hero, very much like how I always thought Spock was the hero in Star Trek – even though others all made Kirk out to be the Golden Boy.  Scotty was also one of my favorite Star Trek characters as well.