Book Review: The Martian by Andy Weir

Consider you are in an isolated place with limited supply of oxygen and water. You also happen to have a dangerous liquid compound called as “Hydrazine”. You are to survive in this place long enough, with your water supply not estimated to last that much duration. Hydrazine is highly toxic and dangerously unstable but your only source of hydrogen, which can be combined with oxygen to create water. What would you do?

Consider some more facts - Nearest help is 225,300,000 km away. To add to this, no one knows you are alive and trapped in this isolated place. So no one is going to come and rescue you. And we have not even started with problem of food supplies. Quick thinking and improvisation is the key and that’s just what astronaut Mark Watney has to do to keep surviving. Because the isolated place is Mars, and Mark Watney is the only man on this lonely planet.

“I’m pretty much f***ed. That’s my considered opinion. F***ed.” 

The story of “The Martian” is set in the near future when inter-planetary travel has just begun, and Watney is an astronaut and member of NASA’s Ares-3 mission - third manned Mars landing. On the 6^th day after landing on Mars, due to a series of unfortunate events his crewmates are forced to abandon him during a severe dust storm. They believe he is dead. Now Watney must attempt to survive using only leftover tools and components from the abandoned mission – An array of solar panels, a habitat that doubles up as a lab, two rovers, some spacesuits and some scientific equipment. The storm has knocked out the communications antenna and there is no way he can inform his crew or mission handlers that he is alive. The next manned mission is not scheduled to land for 4 years and Mark has limited amount of essential supplies, not supposed to last that long. Somehow he must survive that long.

“I’m stranded on Mars. I have no way to communicate with Hermes or Earth. Everyone thinks I’m dead. I’m in a Hab designed to last 31 days.
If the Oxygenator breaks down, I’ll suffocate. If the Water Reclaimer breaks down, I’ll die of thirst. If the Hab breaches, I’ll just kind of explode. If none of those things happen, I’ll eventually run out of food and starve to death.

So yeah. I’m f***ed.” 

Mark Watney does come up with a solution to this matter-of-fact problem and every other problem that comes along. But remember – this is space and all plans are “Mission Critical”. As always, Murphy’s Law imposes itself in every manner possible. Plans go awry, missions go sideways and Mark is required to fight for survival every minute of his existence on the unforgiving planet. This makes for an interesting reading as the best part of the book is dedicated to careful breakdown of each and every problem and the solution to it in a very scientific and mathematical manner. If they can at all be used as verbs, then Mark Watney “Sciences” and “Maths” his way out of each situation.

“It’s a strange feeling. Everywhere I go, I’m the first. Step outside the rover? First guy ever to be there! Climb a hill? First guy to climb that hill! Kick a rock? That rock hadn’t moved in a million years! …
First, first, first!” 

Majority of the book is in the form of audio and text log entries by Mark Watney on the mission computer after the fateful incident. To break the monotony of the proceedings and to provide fresh perspectives, author Andy Weir has interspersed these entries with events that happen at NASA as well as on the spaceship “Hermes” which is the return vehicle for the rest of Ares-3 crew. And mind you, these events and characters are not just after thoughts. Each event is well explained and every character is well developed and they play an important role to achieve the ultimate goal – “Bring Mark Watney back to Earth”. 

“Just once I'd like something to go to plan, ya know? Mars keeps trying to kill me. Well... Mars and my stupidity keep trying to kill me.” 

The author who is a geek in real life (he is a professional software programmer) and Mark Watney by extension, try to concentrate on the positive aspects of the situations and use humor and wit to overcome the negative psychological effects that would otherwise arise out of constantly facing life endangering situation in a hostile environment, devoid of any human contact or social exchange. He does curse and gives up a number of times, but soon composes himself with some quirky one liners. He seems to be a composite character of Chandler from ‘FRIENDS’ and Sheldon from ‘Big Bang Theory’. 

“You know what? “Kilowatt-hours per sol” is a pain in the ass to say. I'm gonna invent a new scientific unit name. One kilowatt-hour per sol is... it can be anything... um... I s**k at this... oh f**k it. I'll call it a “pirate-ninja.” ” 

This Adventure slash Science-Fiction is part Apollo 13 and part Cast Away, and builds on the strengths of both genres to give us story that will satisfy hard core geeks and nerds and casual readers alike. Do ensure that there is no pending “mission critical” work for you before you pick up this book, because once you start reading, it is un-put-down-able!!!

P.S. The book is being made into a movie, directed by Ridley Scott and Matt Damon in a role that cuts a contrasting figure to his other 'Left alone in space' role in Interstellar.

Book Review: The Great Zoo of China by Matthew Reilly

Matthew Reilly, an Australian author, is well known for his fast paced action thrillers. His earlier novels - Ice Station, Area 7 and Temple - have been instant hits and are notable for twisting plots and long action sequences. He draws his inspiration from a lot of Hollywood action/Sci-fi blockbusters like Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Back to the Future series.

Matthew’s latest installment – The Great Zoo of China – goes into a territory that he has never ventured. The setting is rural China, the primary protagonist is a female character and the antagonists are creatures that the world believe exist only in mythologies.

Dr. Cassandra Jane ‘CJ’ Cameron, a writer for National Geographic and an expert on crocodiles is invited to preview an extra-ordinary and secret Chinese project. It is a zoo which has been in the making for 40 years. Along with her are a group of high profile VIPs and journalists which include US Ambassador to China and his assistant, who is actually an ex-CIA field agent. Chinese believe that they have created a place which is unparalleled in human history and something that will soon become an icon of Chinese culture. The zoo houses one of the greatest creatures that we thought existed only in mythology – The Dragons. The Chinese have taken elaborate measures to protect the zoo and its patrons from these predators. It also includes a drastic last resort option – A self-destruct mechanism. If you are in an action movie/book this is a perfect recipe for disaster. What can go wrong will go wrong – and wrong it goes, horribly!

It turns out that the one of the species of the dragons are super-intelligent animals who have been waiting for the perfect opportunity to seize the control of the zoo (and the world). They start executing their grand plan with schemes that go beyond the zoo boundaries, and soon metal and flesh are shredded with equal disdain. Equally treacherous are the Chinese officials who will stop at nothing to keep this failure a secret from rest of the world. So it falls upon CJ and a handful of characters to get out of the crossfire and stop the mayhem and save humanity from disaster.

The writer takes some time for exposition and it has been done in great detail with ample space given to explain the dragon mythos as well as the specifics of the zoo, done through a guided tour of the characters by the Chinese officials. Characters are introduced (to be killed later in some gruesome way). One of the USPs of Matthew Reilly’s books have been the usage of maps and 3D views of the environments in which all the action takes place, and he leaves no stone unturned in his latest story as well. Once he is done with the exposition, all the action starts and it ends only on the last page. In between there are ample high adrenaline action pieces, twists and scares and majority of the characters are killed. Recently though, Matthew Reilly has taken the artistic license too far and as such some of the sequences venture into the realm of “impossible” or “outrageous” or like in this case - “fantasy”. Sadly, this time it is too much to digest and even though the action is very good the end result is somewhat a mish-mash of ‘Jurassic Park’ and ‘How to Train Your Dragon’.

This book is a onetime read, especially if you have never delved into action thrillers before.