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The Martian: a book review

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Review: The Martian

The Martian tells the story of Mark Watney, an astronaut on the Ares 3 mission to Mars. After a terrible storm almost destroys the ship and the base, the crew of his ship believe he is dead. 1) _____. Alone on the red planet, he has to survive until the next mission to Mars arrives.

While this novel is fiction, in some ways it feels like non-fiction. It is very scientific and packed with details about survival on Mars. Watney is a botanist and engineer, and he begins to grow food and produce water in his artificial camp. How does he do this? 2) _____.

The author is Andy Weir, and this is his first published book. In it he has created a realistic character. There is a lot of humour in the story, and the reader can identify with the emotions (although no one can really imagine what it's like to be on Mars). Watney admits at the beginning that he is in deep trouble, but he never gives up. 3) _____. Instead, what The Martian gives us is a realistic look at an intelligent person alone on a planet and trying to survive.

The majority of the plot takes place on Mars and is written in the form of Watney's journal entries. 4) _____. Unfortunately, the other characters in the book (his fellow crew members, the scientists at NASA on Earth) do not get much development and so they often feel one-dimensional.

I should also mention that the book is thrilling to read. You will be on the edge of your seat until the very end. 5) _____. It's good not only for space travel fans and scientists but for anyone who is looking for a unique and exciting story. The Martian was so popular that it was made into a film starring Matt Damon in 2015, but I recommend reading the book first.

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The martian, common sense media reviewers.

Gripping tale of space survival has unexpected humor.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

The Martian presents a very realistic picture of a

Education in the sciences has many practical uses.

Mark Watney, the protagonist of The Martian, is an

Adult characters make passing reference to their s

The first line of the book is "I'm pretty much f--

Educational Value

The Martian presents a very realistic picture of a near-future mission to Mars. It features many discussions of chemistry, physics, and biology, with the details presented in an engaging manner.

Positive Messages

Education in the sciences has many practical uses. When in a life-threatening situation, don't panic, but stop and think. Perseverance pays off.

Positive Role Models

Mark Watney, the protagonist of The Martian , is an easygoing "everyman" who survives a deadly situation by remaining calm, thinking through the problem, and devising solutions that depend on his knowledge of science and engineering.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Adult characters make passing reference to their sex lives. The wife of an astronaut wants her husband to come home, and a couple is teased about being together secretly.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

The first line of the book is "I'm pretty much f--ked." The Martian features adult professionals in highly stressful situations, and the amount of strong language rises accordingly. In addition to variants of "f--k," "s--t," and "a--hole," used perhaps a dozen times each, the characters employ "damn," "hell," "bitch," and "ass" semi-frequently.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Andy Weir's The Martian is a gripping, realistic tale of survival on an alien planet that's been popular with both adults and teens. Botanist Mark Watney is left for dead on Mars and must devise a way to stay alive until he's rescued. The story emphasizes the values of science and logical thinking. Adult characters under pressure often use strong language, including variants of "f--k" and "s--t," as well as "damn," "hell," "ass," and "bitch." No violence or sexual content. You may want to check out the 2015 film adaptation starring Matt Damon .

Where to Read

Community reviews.

Parents say (13)
Kids say (40)

Based on 13 parent reviews

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So much swearing, what's the story.

After a wind-whipped antenna punctures his space suit, botanist Mark Watney is left for dead on the surface of Mars. He survives that initial calamity but finds himself alone on the planet with no idea how to communicate with anyone back on Earth. His food, water, and oxygen will only last so long, so he needs to devise a plan that will let him live until rescue arrives. There's little room for error, though, and Watney comes dangerously close to disaster on numerous occasions.

Is It Any Good?

A first novel originally serialized on author Andy Weir's personal website, this 21st-century Robinson-Crusoe-on-Mars tale starts strong and maintains a high level of suspense. Mark Watney is an instantly likable protagonist: brave, resourceful, and smart and possessing an engaging sense of humor.

The tech talk may occasionally get a little thick, and some of the supporting characters are less than well-rounded, but Weir does a great job of escalating predicaments for his main character to surmount.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about why people enjoy tales of survival against long odds. What others have you read or seen as movies?

What are some ways of staying calm in the middle of a crisis? How can you control your emotions to think rationally?

Do you think exploring other planets is a worthwhile endeavor? What kinds of information can come from such missions?

Book Details

Author : Andy Weir
Genre : Science Fiction
Topics : STEM , Adventures , Great Boy Role Models , Science and Nature , Space and Aliens
Book type : Fiction
Publisher : Broadway Books
Publication date : October 27, 2014
Publisher's recommended age(s) : 14 - 18
Number of pages : 387
Available on : Paperback, Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
Last updated : July 13, 2017

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Awards & Accolades

Our Verdict

Kirkus Reviews' Best Books Of 2014

New York Times Bestseller

THE MARTIAN

by Andy Weir ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 11, 2014

Sharp, funny and thrilling, with just the right amount of geekery.

When a freak dust storm brings a manned mission to Mars to an unexpected close, an astronaut who is left behind fights to stay alive. This is the first novel from software engineer Weir.

One minute, astronaut Mark Watney was with his crew, struggling to make it out of a deadly Martian dust storm and back to the ship, currently in orbit over Mars. The next minute, he was gone, blown away, with an antenna sticking out of his side. The crew knew he'd lost pressure in his suit, and they'd seen his biosigns go flat. In grave danger themselves, they made an agonizing but logical decision: Figuring Mark was dead, they took off and headed back to Earth. As it happens, though, due to a bizarre chain of events, Mark is very much alive. He wakes up some time later to find himself stranded on Mars with a limited supply of food and no way to communicate with Earth or his fellow astronauts. Luckily, Mark is a botanist as well as an astronaut. So, armed with a few potatoes, he becomes Mars' first ever farmer. From there, Mark must overcome a series of increasingly tricky mental, physical and technical challenges just to stay alive, until finally, he realizes there is just a glimmer of hope that he may actually be rescued. Weir displays a virtuosic ability to write about highly technical situations without leaving readers far behind. The result is a story that is as plausible as it is compelling. The author imbues Mark with a sharp sense of humor, which cuts the tension, sometimes a little too much—some readers may be laughing when they should be on the edges of their seats. As for Mark’s verbal style, the modern dialogue at times undermines the futuristic setting. In fact, people in the book seem not only to talk the way we do now, they also use the same technology (cellphones, computers with keyboards). This makes the story feel like it's set in an alternate present, where the only difference is that humans are sending manned flights to Mars. Still, the author’s ingenuity in finding new scrapes to put Mark in, not to mention the ingenuity in finding ways out of said scrapes, is impressive.

Pub Date: Feb. 11, 2014

ISBN: 978-0-8041-3902-1

Page Count: 368

Publisher: Crown

Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2013

SCIENCE FICTION

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More by Andy Weir

BOOK REVIEW

by Andy Weir

by Andy Weir ; illustrated by Sarah Andersen

More About This Book

SEEN & HEARD

by Max Brooks ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 16, 2020

A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.

Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z (2006).

A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.

Pub Date: June 16, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7

Page Count: 304

Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine

Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020

GENERAL SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | GENERAL THRILLER & SUSPENSE | SCIENCE FICTION

More by Max Brooks

by Max Brooks

BOOK TO SCREEN

THE THREE-BODY PROBLEM

From the remembrance of earth's past series , vol. 1.

by Cixin Liu ; translated by Ken Liu ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 11, 2014

Remarkable, revelatory and not to be missed.

Strange and fascinating alien-contact yarn, the first of a trilogy from China’s most celebrated science-fiction author.

In 1967, at the height of the Cultural Revolution, young physicist Ye Wenjie helplessly watches as fanatical Red Guards beat her father to death. She ends up in a remote re-education (i.e. forced labor) camp not far from an imposing, top secret military installation called Red Coast Base. Eventually, Ye comes to work at Red Coast as a lowly technician, but what really goes on there? Weapons research, certainly, but is it also listening for signals from space—maybe even signaling in return? Another thread picks up the story 40 years later, when nanomaterials researcher Wang Miao and thuggish but perceptive policeman Shi Qiang, summoned by a top-secret international (!) military commission, learn of a war so secret and mysterious that the military officers will give no details. Of more immediate concern is a series of inexplicable deaths, all prominent scientists, including the suicide of Yang Dong, the physicist daughter of Ye Wenjie; the scientists were involved with the shadowy group Frontiers of Science. Wang agrees to join the group and investigate and soon must confront events that seem to defy the laws of physics. He also logs on to a highly sophisticated virtual reality game called “Three Body,” set on a planet whose unpredictable and often deadly environment alternates between Stable times and Chaotic times. And he meets Ye Wenjie, rehabilitated and now a retired professor. Ye begins to tell Wang what happened more than 40 years ago. Jaw-dropping revelations build to a stunning conclusion. In concept and development, it resembles top-notch Arthur C. Clarke or Larry Niven but with a perspective—plots, mysteries, conspiracies, murders, revelations and all—embedded in a culture and politic dramatically unfamiliar to most readers in the West, conveniently illuminated with footnotes courtesy of translator Liu.

Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2014

ISBN: 978-0-7653-7706-7

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Tor

Review Posted Online: Oct. 4, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2014

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The Martian

By andy weir.

'The Martian' by Andy Weir is a 21st century science fiction classic. The novel was published in 2015 and was adapted into a feature film in 2018.

Article written by Emma Baldwin

B.A. in English, B.F.A. in Fine Art, and B.A. in Art Histories from East Carolina University.

After reading The Martian , I found myself torn between my appreciation for the storyline and Watney’s likable character and the moments that the amount of detail and narrative style took me out of the story.

Scientific Language

The author’s use of scientific language is one of the major reasons that the novel has reached the popularity that it has. It’s also the reason that some readers find themselves uninterested in finishing the book. Throughout this novel, readers will find numerous examples of Weir’s extensive research and knowledge of topics like botany, space travel , and the limits of living on Mars. Weir spent a great deal of time researching this novel, a fact that can be seen quite clearly in the below example:

I ran a full diagnostic on the Oxygenator. Twice. It’s perfect. If anything goes wrong with it, there is a short-term spare I can use. But it’s solely for emergency use while repairing the main one. The spare doesn’t actually pull CO2 apart and recapture the oxygen. It just absorbs the CO2 the same way the spacesuits do. It’s intended to last 5 days before it saturates the filters, which means 30 days for me (just one person breathing, instead of six). So there’s some insurance there.

This quote from The Martian comes from Chapter 2 of the novel when Watney is going over the various pieces of equipment that he has available to him and what might go wrong with them. Here, readers can see how Weir is able to weave scientific details with his narrator’s humor. There are casual moments mixed in with more detailed ones. For example, the novel begins with the lines:

I’m pretty much fucked. That’s my considered opinion. Fucked.

Watney’s narration comes in the form of log entries, as described below. This allows him to insert his emotional responses quite easily.

In most instances, readers are going to find themselves entertained as they’re exposed to an interesting explanation in regard to what Watney is doing or how desperate his situation is.

But, for some readers, including myself, there are times when the scientific details feel over the top or too detailed. There are occasions where it feels that Weir spends too much time explaining how something works and not enough time ensuring the events are dramatic. Of course, for others, this won’t be the case. In fact, this novel’s scientific details are one of the main reasons that the novel became as popular as it is. Its commitment to the genre earned the novel good reviews. Often, it is described as one of the best science fiction novels of recent years.

Narrative Perspective

Much of this novel is written in the first person, something that certainly adds to the realism of Watney’s experiences. One exception to this is that the narrative comes from a series of logs, similar to diary entries that Watney recorded. This means that each chapter is written after something has already happened or right before something happens.

On occasion, I found that this fact took away from the suspense and drama of the situation. Watney will speak to the details of a day but, readers are already aware (because the narrative exists at all) that he’s going to make it through the day okay. With most of the dramatic details written in the past tense, some readers may find the most dramatic moments slightly anticlimactic. For example, when Watney is on his journey to retrieve Pathfinder and Sojourner. All the information is relayed to the reader after it happens. A passage begins with:

Almost made it to Pathfinder today, but I ran out of juice. Just another 22km to go!

Watney goes on to describe how things went as well as can be expected, with readers already well aware that he’s not going to have any significant issues as he talks about the day from the tone at the beginning of the log entry.

Characterization

Mark Watney, Weir’s protagonist in The Martian, is incredibly well-rounded. Throughout the novel, readers learn more and more about who he is and how he will react to a specific situation. For example, at the beginning of the book, readers may find themselves surprised by the humor Watney uses to cope with being stranded on Mars. But, as the novel progresses and readers become more familiar with him, these humorous moments feel familiar in an even more entertaining way.

Perhaps due to how well developed Watney is, I found myself disappointed in the lack of character details the rest of the astronauts and NASA workers and administrators had. This is particularly true for the crew members. The details reader receive about the characters comes primarily through Watney’s relationship with them. They feature only as minor characters throughout the bulk of the novel until the rescue is fully underway. Watney’s letters to his fellow crew members serve as one of the primary ways that readers learn about them. For example, when he’s writing his letter to Johanssen:

Your poster outsold the rest of ours combined. You’re a hot chick who went to Mars. You’re on dorm-room walls all over the world. Looking like that, why are you such a nerd? And you are, you know—a serious nerd.

Conclusion

The Martian is a remarkable novel, one that most readers are going to entertain and be thrilled by. But, it also has elements that some may find draw distance between themselves and the action. This includes the narrative perceptive and the amount of scientific detail that Weir chose to use in some passages. This shouldn’t deter anyone from approaching the novel and enjoying the drama of Watney’s situation. There are many good reasons to read The Martian, the most important of which is Weir’s creativity and the believability of the narrative. Many science fiction novels are criticized for their outrageous plotlines and non-scientific details. This is certainly not something that readers of The Martian will contend with.

The Martian Book Review: Andy Weir's Science Fiction Classic

Book Title: The Martian

Book Description: 'The Martian' is a meticulously researched and entertaining novel that tells the story of Mark Watney, an astronaut stranded by himself on Mars.

Book Author: Andy Weir

Book Edition: First Edition

Book Format: Paperback

Publisher - Organization: Crown Publishing Group

Date published: June 11, 2011

ISBN: 978-0-312-64796-5

Number Of Pages: 384

Writing Style
Lasting Effect on Reader

The Martian Review

‘ The Martian’ by Andy Weir is an incredibly creative and well-researched novel that has been described as one of the most important science fiction novels of the 21st century. It follows the plight of Mark Watney, an astronaut left behind on Mars and initially presumed dead.

Mark Watney’s humorous character.
Creative plotline
Interesting scientific detail.
Lack of characterization for secondary characters.
Amount of scientific detail.
Lack of drama in climactic moments.

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About Emma Baldwin

Emma Baldwin, a graduate of East Carolina University, has a deep-rooted passion for literature. She serves as a key contributor to the Book Analysis team with years of experience.

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The Martian: A Review

Who knew so much heart and passion could be conveyed through such scientific thought processes?

Andy Weir’s The Martian takes place almost entirely with one character alone on a deserted planet. When Mark Watney and his crew find themselves in the midst of a life-threatening dust storm on day six of their 31 day mission on Mars, they decide to evacuate. Unfortunately, Watney is struck by a satellite that was ripped loose from the storms winds, and the crew is forced to leave without him. To everyone’s dismay, especially Watney’s, he survived being impaled by a satellite, and now he’s in for the fight of his life. He has to survive living on Mars for at least four years before another mission is sent to the planet he now calls home.

The most shocking part of Watney’s experience is his sheer inability to give up. Obstacle after obstacle is thrown in his path, and he takes each one in turn and devises a solution. His persistence to live is inspirational. Reading about the challenges Watney faced on Mars further convinced me that I chose the right career path for myself — not an astronaut.

Written as log entries in a NASA journal (I read it as an audio journal, but it could have been a video journal as the movie depicts), Watney chronicles his actions and thought processes every step of the way in hopes that someone will one day see what his life was like on Mars. He uses critical thinking, problem solving skills, and a vast amount of scientific and mathematical knowledge to save his own life on multiple occasions. From growing potatoes in a frozen desert to devising a strategy to regain communication with NASA, Watney truly solves every problem thrown his way with grace and efficiency. Well, maybe not grace since he did have to cut off the arm of his own spacesuit at one point.

Weir delicately describes a world where no one would like to be stranded alone, yet he creates a character that deftly faces the challenge. He coaxes the reader into caring so deeply about a character who is doomed from the start. Apart from some quippy comments, most of Watney’s monologues are pure science and math, yet the reader cares deeply about his success and yearns for his safety. I would actually venture to say that is one of the most compelling aspects of this novel — Weir’s ability to intertwine analytical, scientific fact with sarcasm and humor. Watney’s humorous attitude throughout the whole experience is what makes him such a compelling character. Through careful placement of humor and humanity, Weir reminds the reader that they are not only rooting for Watney’s survival, but humankind.

This book is not only a testament to one individual’s unwillingness to give up in the face of death every single day (sol), but the ability of the human race to come together for a common cause.

“But really, they did it because every human being has a basic instinct to help each other out. It might not seem that way sometimes, but it’s true.”

This book gave me hope. It reminded me that most people in this world are good. Most people do the right thing and fight for what they believe in. In the midst of the longest government shutdown in history — in the midst of chaos and destruction and what seems like an utter lack of human decency toward one another — it’s important to remember that humankind is not all bad. In fact, it’s mostly good.

Weir’s story isn’t just about Mark Watney and his ability to survive on Mars’ surface for over 500 days (sols). It’s also about peoples instinctual ability to come together for the greater good — to help their fellow comrades out when they have fallen. A moral that does well with repeating now and, I’m sure, in the future.

Happy reading, Kimberly

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The Martian (BOOK REVIEW)

Andy Weir’s The Martian is easily the quickest book I’ve burned through in years. It took me less than 2 days, a staggering achievement when considering I was listening to the audiobook. Alright, it’s not that staggering. It was only just over 10 hours long, and my usual Audible book ranges between 15 and 30 hours in length… Still, I devoured the book. I was glued to it for hours on end with it’s jaw-dropping intensity. You see, not only is The Martian a great book. It’s a great science fiction novel. And guess what. It puts the ‘science’ back into science fiction – so much so that I often forgot it was a sci-fi novel. It felt like something that had truly occurred, and that was so cool.

The novel follows Mark Watney, a stranded astronaut on Mars. A near-fatal ravaging from a sandstorm on the red planet gave NASA and Watney’s crew the ‘OK’ to abort the mission, both parties presuming Watney to be dead. And now he’s entirely alone, with no way to communicate to earth, and with only enough sustainable food, vitamins, and water to get him through about 200 sols (Mars days). The next manned mission to Mars isn’t scheduled to land for another couple years. So it’s either he gets working on a way to create sustenance immediately, or he’ll truly become the first man to die on Mars.

I’ve been meaning to read this one for a while, especially for all it’s accolades, such as winning the 2014 Goodreads Choice Award for a Science Fiction novel. It wasn’t until the trailer for the upcoming film , starring Matt Damon, that I decided to give it a listen. And from what I see in the trailer, it’ll do the novel real justice. The only aspect of the novel the trailer didn’t seem to fully capture was the humor – of which there is plenty.

Mark Watney is charismatic. He’s witty. He’s hilarious. But he’s also so very smart. The novel’s enjoyment hinges on the fact that he can literally crack a quip about anything. Had the novel chosen a more serious character, it probably would’ve felt a lot like the film Gravity, and I’m glad it diverged heavily from that direction. Although there are other characters and POVs outside of Watney’s, it’s his that the novel revolves around and spends the majority of its time on – and being that he is literally the only person on the planet, it would have gotten really boring really quick if it were anyone else.

One of the best things about the novel was the fact that 95% of his scenes were log entries he typed up on his downtime. This may seem odd in theory, but his witty character bleeds into each log making it enjoyable, and by the end of each log entry you’re left needing to know more as he is generally off doing something potentially life threatening directly after he enters it.

Another thing the book got totally right? It’s science. It’s math. Two subjects I was truly atrocious at during my schooling. How bad, you may ask? Well, I was in Algebra 1 for four years, if that’s any indication. But I did graduate in the 99th percentile in English, so that’s something. Anyway, that’s why I’ll never be a rocket scientist. Luckily, our Martian is . And a damn good one. Author Andy Weir accounted for just about any contingency with his science. And although I may not be the best to judge ‘good science,’ this novel is leagues ahead in the realism department than any other book I’ve read in recent memory; probably ever.

The science does begin to get stale though. In the beginning of the book it was a breath of fresh oxygen for the genre. But the technobabble doesn’t abate. This drags the book down some, especially if you simply have no clue what they’re talking about (like me).

Anything that could happen to our poor, lonely astronaut, does happen. Often it truly seems like a hopeless struggle. But as a botanist and an engineer, he finds a way, just about every time. Even then, terrible things do happen to Mark. To have the mental stamina, the knowledge necessary to fix the issues, and the sheer will to survive? It seems it was a good thing he was the one stranded on Mars and not one of his other crewmates.

Great novel. Cannot wait for that film.

Grab this in: Hardcover | Paperback | eBook | Audible

16 thoughts on “ The Martian (BOOK REVIEW) ”

A survival story on steroids! I listened to the story on audio also, and finally nabbed a DVD from the library to see the movie this weekend.

Like Liked by 1 person

It was done very well, you’ll definitely enjoy it.

Strangely enough, I just listened to the audiobook as well (I also reviewed it, but don’t take that as spam). I really enjoyed it for all of the reasons you listed. Mark’s personality was excellent, and it is certainly what drove the book for me. However, I do agree with the common criticisms. While it is certainly true that he needed to fix them for the book to progress, I felt it happened too frequently and the conflicts seemed simple to resolve. Rather than focusing on adding more conflict constantly, I would have liked to learn more about Mark. What drove him to be a scientist? What are his parents like? Did he leave anyone behind when he went to Mars? The book touches on this with one of the minor characters, but not Mark himself (at least not as far as I remember). Anyway, that’s just my two cents. Overall I really enjoyed the book though.

Like Liked by 2 people

Yeah, that’s a great point. We got a lot from his personality, but not what drives him. Not what makes him who he is. I didn’t even think about that. Nice.

It looks like the movie is going to give him some backstory, including a spouse and child.

I devoured this book too, and agree Damon should be an excellent actor to play Mark.

I too started ripping through the book fairly recently and agree with your thoughts 100% (except that the book actually predates “Gravity” so it’s not really a reaction to Sandra Bullock’s leaden emoting). I, too, am not so good on the math and sciences… I *assume* Weir got it right. The science and on-the-spot calculus certainly sounded plausible and authentic-ish, to this untrained ear. Also, his pop culture references were pretty accurate. I still picture Watney as being about 20 years younger than Matt Damon, but the book still works if read with Damon’s “voice”.

I read this book when I found out Ridley Scott was doing the movie and I absolutely loved it. Matt Damon seems a perfect casting for Watney. This movie has the potential to be amazing.

Yeah, I’m hoping it does the book justice.

I just downloaded the audiobook yesterday. Loving it so far. One thing I’m finding is that while there is a lot of technobabble, it’s still fairly understandable – Stephen Baxter, for example, sometimes gets bogged down in technobabble in his similar books.

I’ll agree with you there. Watney does a good job explaining it to the reader.

I was considering reading this… but then I read a lot of reviews where it was like this book was just a whole bunch of “oh it broke, I’m gonna die, nevermind I fixed it” over and over… of course maybe it’s more for people who like the more technical aspects of such… I mean I do like scifi that uses real science and theories and such… but I really think this may a bit more than what I’d prefer…

Yes, that is a common criticism. However, had he not been able to fix most or all of these issues that arise, the book would be very short. It’s about survival, on a planet where literally every literally every breath is precious. I can’t really hold that against the book.

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I have been dying to read this book and now I even more eagerly anticipate getting to the head of the waiting list for it at the library!

It’s such a great read!

I have to get my hands on this one. Sounds wonderful! Thanks for sharing the awesome review! If you’re ever interested in some other great book reviews and musings, be sure to follow! Thanks!

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Submitting a book for review, write the editor, you are here:, the martian.

As debut novels go, you won't find many finer than THE MARTIAN by Andy Weir. I'll just come right out and make that clear from the get-go. From its opening descent into chaos to the final nail-biting pages, the book is a complete triumph. And before you think you know what's going on by the title alone, know this: the Martian in question is not a little green alien bent on domination of Earth. No, here the Martian is a man.

The Ares Program is NASA's manned Mars project. Mark Watney is the lowest ranked astronaut on the Ares 3 mission, and while he's one of the first people to ever walk on Mars, he may now become the first man to die there. When a tremendous dust storm ravages the surface encampment, Watney is injured and blown away from his team as they attempt to reach the evacuation module. Fearing a loss of the entire crew, they leave, believing Watney is dead.

Following along with Watney's story is easy because he documents it in a mission blog. He's alone, the only living thing in a harsh world, with limited food, water and air. His calculations tell him that he will starve to death long before the next possible mission arrival. He has no means by which to speak with NASA. He is, quite literally, a man alone.

"As debut novels go, you won't find many finer than THE MARTIAN by Andy Weir.... From its opening descent into chaos to the final nail-biting pages, the book is a complete triumph."

On Earth, however, NASA has said their goodbyes. Watney has had a memorial service, the Postal Service has issued a memorial stamp, and they're wondering if the Ares 4 mission will be able to secure funding after this loss. They determine that one way they just might get those funds is if part of the next mission becomes a "recovery operation" by which they locate and bring back Watney's remains. Positioning satellites to photograph the old Ares 3 mission base, they are shocked to see things out of place, and more shocked to learn that Watney is, in fact, alive.

This sets off the rollercoaster ride of THE MARTIAN. They have to announce the findings by law, which could backlash against them for abandoning an astronaut, yet just may secure even more funding for a rescue mission. How can they contact Watney and let him know that they know he's alive? That they're coming? And how do they even put together the necessary means to do so in such a short window? They know how much time he has. It's the Apollo 13 square peg/round hole problem on a massive scale.

Weir spends a lot of time getting the science right. He did tons of research, and what he has come up with is the most realistic-feeling manned space adventure you could want. Every page may be riddled with science --- solid, hard science --- but it is presented in a way that is anything but boring or beyond the reach of a common reader. In fact, a few of the characters, including Watney, are constantly riffing and injecting THE MARTIAN with wit and humor that keep the novel from becoming a dry, plodding yawner.

Besides the Earth/Mars issues and the shifting of the story from one to the other, Weir also weaves in the story of the crew of the Hermes , Watney's crewmates who are presently on their way back to Earth. They're rocked by their experience and devastated at having to leave behind a fallen companion...but NASA has blocked them learning about Watney's survival and the plans for his rescue. Weir's ability to weave these three story elements together is done with a very deft hand, and as a result, THE MARTIAN is not a book easy to put down.

Mars is a brutal world. A cold world. A harsh world. Following the trials of Watney as he fights to survive is a glorious adventure. It is easy to cheer his successes yet heartbreaking when the planet rises up to beat him down. Through it all, it is his intelligence and rapid-fire humor that engages you and ties you to him. Watney will not let you go, but he would understand if you left. As he says, "It's true, you know. In space, no one can hear you scream like a little girl." Screaming aside, Mark Watney is THE MARTIAN you find yourself rooting for.

Reviewed by Stephen Hubbard on February 14, 2014

The Martian by Andy Weir

Publication Date: February 11, 2014
Genres: Fiction , Science Fiction , Suspense , Thriller
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Crown
ISBN-10: 0804139024
ISBN-13: 9780804139021

Book Review: The Martian

Posted by Lys Morton | Sep 23, 2015 | Arts , Features

Andy Weir’s book The Martian encapsulates the wondrous question of “what if” in character, plot, and the narrative story, creating a piece where the reader excitedly wonders if our main character will die or not.

It would be easy to have a story like this be incredibly dark, the character brooding and glooming, all hope lost. Instead, the reader is met with Mark Watney, a man that makes jabs, jokes, and puns every step he can. Faced with the probability that he will die on this planet long before help can ever reach him, Watney takes moments to ponder world-shattering thoughts like, “How come Aquaman can control whales? They’re mammals! Makes no sense.”

Throughout the book, readers will find themselves laughing. Because of this, a story that takes the Man vs. Nature story to new heights is not the doom and gloom we are used to. You have confidence in Watney. Instead of anxiously asking, “How are you ever going to survive this latest problem?” you sit back and say, “I know you can get through this, now tell me how.” This confidence in a character is refreshing, and readers will find themselves rooting heavily for our stranded hero.

This story is not just Watney’s story—Weir gently bounces from Watney’s first person narrative to a more omniscient third person as people learn of his survival, and then work on the impossible task of bringing him home. Switching between first and third person is a writing rule that wars are fought over. You’re either told never to do it, or you find a teacher that gleefully rubs their hands together and encourages such shenanigans. And The Martian adds another notch into the belt for this.

Although you love Watney, it’s refreshing at times to pull back and see things he doesn’t see, view characters he may never meet. Along with keeping the story moving, and adding fresh perspectives, the narratives on Earth help Weir show one of the fundamental points he puts in his book: people want to help others. Whether they’re trapped on a mountain, victims of a disaster, or a solitary human stuck 140 million miles away, humans will go out of their way to help.

The Martian has a few blunders here and there, expected for a first novel, but its main fault is the ending. Weir gives us so much throughout the book, gently building up tension until we are again shocked by the massive stakes that are at play. You are committed to this story, to the character, and as the final scenes play out you grip the book tightly, waiting for something to go wrong. And then there is a little sign-off, and you are done. With how much you come to care for Watney, the radio show-style goodbye feels cheap, as if someone forgot the ending when the story went to print and another one was hastily written up. It was the largest flaw of the novel and it was enough to knock the rating down a whole star, but not enough to discourage others to read it. Whether for the McGuyver stunts, witty commentary, or near future tech, The Martian is worth the read.

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Book review: the martian by andy weir, december 3, 2020 petrik leo comments 7 comments.

I have a Booktube channel now! Subscribe here: https://www.youtube.com/petrikleo

This is my 500th review!

Cover designed by: Eric White

The Martian by Andy Weir

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: Standalone

Genre: Sci-fi

Pages : 384 pages (Hardcover)

Published: 11th February 2014 by Crown (US)

I have to admit, I didn’t expect I would have such a great time reading this book, but The Martian , somehow, became one of the most enjoyable sci-fi books I’ve ever read.

“I guess you could call it a “failure”, but I prefer the term “learning experience”.”

As I mentioned several times across my reviews, if I’ve watched a movie/TV series adaptation—that I loved—based on books first before I read the book, there’s a good chance that I might find the reading experience inferior because I already know how the story will go; the same situation goes for the other way around, too, of course. Usually, this is countered by beautiful prose or incredible characterizations/details that the movie/TV series omitted. Now, The Martian doesn’t have what I’d consider memorable prose, but the engaging narrative and the charm of the main character was more than sufficient to thoroughly hold my attention. Remembering that the The Martian used to be an unknown self-published novel and looking at how successful it is now, I think it’s safe to call The Martian as one of the biggest success stories in self-publishing history.

“I don’t want to come off as arrogant here, but I’m the best botanist on the planet.”

The Martian is a survival story, and what made it such an incredible book? Mark Watney and its pacing. Mark Watney, oh Mark Watney, what an absolutely delightful human being. Think about it, this is a story about someone being stranded on Mars all by himself. Not on a deserted city, not on a deserted Earth, but on Mars. Handled by a different author, this premise could’ve easily become a grim and bleak novel. But not The Martian . Even knowing the outcome of the story didn’t affect my enjoyment; Watney’s positivity and attitudes are intoxicating. We often hear advice that says a positive mindset brings positive results. And the positivity in Watney’s character in the face of constant danger despite the terrifying premise made this such an accessible book by the mass population.

“He’s stuck out there. He thinks he’s totally alone and that we all gave up on him. What kind of effect does that have on a man’s psychology?” He turned back to Venkat. “I wonder what he’s thinking right now.” LOG ENTRY: SOL 61 How come Aquaman can control whales? They’re mammals! Makes no sense.”

I seriously laughed several times when I’m reading this book; that doesn’t happen frequently. I feel like comedy is one element that’s insanely difficult to pull off right in a novel. For the majority of the time, I find humor in novels much more effective when they’re actually balanced with intense and serious moments/events. This is something that Andy Weir executed magnificently in The Martian . Watney is resourceful, he’s determined, he’s hopeful, and the balance between tension and humor was brilliant. The result? A narrative that’s so equally entertaining, hilarious, intense, and compelling that even all the sci-fi jargons became so much fun to read.

“Yes, of course duct tape works in a near-vacuum. Duct tape works anywhere. Duct tape is magic and should be worshiped.”

Yes, worship the duct tape; they can fix almost everything.

There were instances where everything just felt so believable that I forgot I was reading science fiction. It’s a genuinely good feeling to read a book that lives up to all the praises; it seems like it doesn’t happen too often to me anymore lately. The Martian is easily one of the most wonderful sci-fi I’ve ever read; intense, funny, believable, and relentlessly captivating. Whether you’ve watched the movie adaptation or not, and regardless of what you feel about the movie, I still highly consider you to read this book.

“If a hiker gets lost in the mountains, people will coordinate a search. If a train crashes, people will line up to give blood. If an earthquake levels a city, people all over the world will send emergency supplies. This is so fundamentally human that it’s found in every culture without exception. Yes, there are assholes who just don’t care, but they’re massively outnumbered by the people who do.”

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7 thoughts on “ Book Review: The Martian by Andy Weir ”

500 reviews!!! That is an achievement!!! Congratulations!!!

Thank you!! 😀

Congrats on 500 reviews! I love this movie, I really need to resd the book! Great review!

(www.evelynreads.com)

Thank you, Evelyn!! Yes definitely do read the book, too! 🙂

Saw the movie years ago. Now have to read the book based on your review!

I hope you’ll love the book, too, Anne! And I’m glad you picked up the book already! 🙂

Reserved this at the library based on your rave review. 🙂 Definitely need some cheer, hope, and optimism in these crazy days, so this will be great. Saw the movie a good while back and liked it. Thanks for the rec!

Reading Skills

The martian: a book review.

Read a review of the book 'The Martian' to practise and improve your reading skills.

Andy Weir's The Martian is a gripping, realistic tale of survival on an alien planet that's been popular with both adults and teens. Botanist Mark Watney is left for dead on Mars and must devise a way to stay alive until he's rescued.

An astronaut who is left behind tries to survive as a catastrophic dust storm abruptly ends a manned trip to Mars. Weir is a software engineer who has written one novel thus far.

Astronaut Mark Watney and his team were battling to escape a deadly Martian dust storm and return to the craft, which was at the time orbiting Mars. He vanished within the following minute, having been blown away, with an antenna protruding from his side. His biosigns had gone flat, and the crew had noticed that he had lost pressure in his suit. They were in great danger, so they made a painful but reasonable choice: believing Mark was dead, they lifted off and returned to Earth. But as it happens, Mark is still very much alive thanks to an odd series of circumstances.

He finds himself stuck on Mars with little food and no way to contact Earth or his fellow astronauts when he finally awakens some time later. Fortunately, Mark is both an astronaut and a botanist. So, armed with a few potatoes, he establishes farming as a profession on Mars. From there, Mark faces a series of increasingly difficult technical, physical, and mental obstacles just to survive. Eventually, he learns there is a slim chance he might truly be saved. Weir demonstrates a virtuoso ability to write about extremely technical topics without far behinding readers. The end effect is a narrative that is both engaging and believable.

Some readers may find themselves chuckling when they should be on the edge of their seats because the author gives Mark a razor-sharp sense of humour that occasionally lessens the tension a bit too much. Regarding Mark's speech patterns, the contemporary conversation occasionally undercuts the futuristic environment. In fact, the characters in the book appear to use the same technology and speak in a similar manner to how we do today (cellphones, computers with keyboards). The sole difference between this parallel present and the one in which the narrative is set is that humanity are currently sending manned missions to Mars. However, the author's creativity in coming up with fresh messes for Mark to get into is astounding, as well as her creativity in working out how to get out of those messes.

Lastly, However, there is a problem when Weir tries to strike a balance between exploring a subject in depth and letting it go. Characterization is one such instance; at its best, it is shallow and at its worst, it is clichéd. There are other characters in The Martian besides Watney. The other astronauts from Ares 3 and some members of NASA make up the supporting cast, and Weir can't help but pay each of them a bit too much attention.

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Task 2 - A book review (the martian)

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This is a multiple choice reading comprehension exercise adapted from the activity called "The Martian: a book review" from The British Council

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The Martian: A book-and-movie review

December 11, 2015 Lark_Bookwyrm Book Reviews , Movie reviews 8 ★★★★

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate the planet while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded on Mars' surface, completely alone, with no way to signal Earth that he’s alive — and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone years before a rescue could arrive. Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to kill him first. But Mark's not ready to quit. Armed with nothing but his ingenuity and his engineering skills — and a gallows sense of humor that proves to be his greatest source of strength – he embarks on a dogged quest to stay alive, using his botany expertise to grow food and even hatching a mad plan to contact NASA back on Earth. As he overcomes one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next, Mark begins to let himself believe he might make it off the planet alive – but Mars has plenty of surprises in store for him yet. Grounded in real, present-day science from the first page to the last, yet propelled by a brilliantly ingenious plot that surprises the reader again and again, The Martian is a truly remarkable thriller: an impossible-to-put-down suspense novel that manages to read like a real-life survival tale.

The Martian is one of those stories you literally can’t put down. The basic “McGyver-marooned-on-Mars” scenario combines with one disaster or setback after another to make for riveting reading. Weir’s main character, Mark Watney, displays an engaging mix of humor, courage, and tenacity. And Weir even manages to make the science not only comprehensible but also interesting — no mean feat when the book covers everything from human waste reclamation to exofarming to space travel to chemistry.

However, the whole novel could do with a little more description and quite a bit more character development. You get some sense of some of the important secondary characters, but only a superficial one. Even Watney, whom we know best since he narrates much of the book through log entries, can be defined by several characteristics: inventive, smart, stubbornly determined, and wise-cracking being the most important. Those characteristics remain unchanged from the beginning to the end of the book. Watney is a likeable and admirable person, but he experiences no real growth despite a situation that, realistically, <i>must</i> have had some impact on him mentally and emotionally, whether for good or ill (or both.)

The focus on plot and problem-solving over character depth and development is deliberate, Weir stated in a talk at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (YouTube), and it hearkens back to the classic science fiction of his childhood. Indeed it does; I was reminded more than once of Heinlein and Asimov as I read. Yet Heinlein did more to develop his characters than Weir does, and his blending of science and human interaction is what made him my favorite of the classic SF authors in my own youth.

Despite my personal preference for deeper characters, I must admit that Weir tells a heck of a good story. I plowed through The Martian in a single evening, in part because I knew I’d be seeing the movie the next day, but mostly because Weir’s pacing is so good. He knows exactly when to throw yet another stumbling block or disaster into Watney’s path — or into NASA’s, since Watney’s narrative is interspersed with third-person chapters showing what NASA and Watney’s crewmates are doing to rescue him. I kept thinking as I read that it would make a terrific movie.

* * *

And of course, it does. Drew Goddard’s screenplay and some fine acting from the entire cast help to flesh out the characters, making it easier for me to care about the secondary characters. Matt Damon is brilliant as Watney, giving him more depth than Weir’s character through his facial expressions and body language, and letting us see him change in subtle ways as the weeks and months go on.

The film’s technology is incredibly realistic and quite believable. Like Weir, the filmmakers tried hard to get the science right, modeling much of the technology on existing NASA hardware as well as stuff currently in development. (There are a few exceptions to the “get the science right” rule of thumb, as Weir himself admits. The huge storm at the beginning could not be that strong in the real Martian atmosphere, for instance, but he needed it to kick the story off. And he didn’t know when he was writing the book that water would be discovered in the Martian soil.)

The film is also remarkably true to the book. Some sections have been condensed and one, a dust storm that Watney has to drive around for weeks, has been left out entirely, presumably because it would prove boring on film, but on the whole, it’s very faithful to Weir’s text, right down to much of the dialog (or monologue, in Watney’s case) — though scriptwriter Goddard adds a few memorable lines of his own. The script also develops the interspersed scenes on the Hermes spaceship and on Earth, and it alters the climax in a way which makes it both more dramatic and more satisfying without changing the essence of the scene. (I don’t want to give anything away, but it just works better, bringing two characters full circle, in a sense.)

Where the film departs most obviously from the book, though, is in supplying an epilogue. I think the epilogue is crucial to the movie’s overall impact; it grounds the characters and the audience, figuratively if not literally, showing how their stories — and that of space exploration itself — continue. In bringing the astronauts home, it brings the viewer back to earth; in looking forward, it makes us look forward as well.

I’m sure that audiences who haven’t read the book will still enjoy the movie, but I’m really glad that I read it immediately before seeing the film. Since the film had to condense some of the science out of necessity, it was helpful to have the explanations clear in my head, and it made it easier to compare the two. What made it so much fun, of course, is that both book and movie take a terrific story and tell it well.

CHALLENGE: Popsugar #3: A book that became a movie.

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8 Responses to “The Martian: A book-and-movie review”

Laura @Library of Clean Reads

I want to read the book before I see the movie too. Reading your reviews made me even more sure that this is what I should do. I was tempted to see the movie but I’ve read about how good the book is.

Lark_Bookwyrm

I think you could enjoy the movie without reading the book, but I liked knowing the science in more detail, and I always have fun comparing book to movie — except when the movie butchers the book, which is definitely not the case here.

Rita @ View From My Home

I haven’t read the book nor seen the film, but I intend to do at least one of these activities in whatever order. I think my son has this book on his kindle unread, so I’ll have to give it a try, though I do prefer stories with lots of character development and less technical details. Sounds worth the hype!

The interesting thing is that the plot is what’s most important – the repeated “how is he going to McGyver his way out of this one?” really keeps you reading. The technical details are there, and pretty well explained, but they don’t detract from the tension. And the main character/narrator is an interesting guy, so that keeps the book from getting dry, too.

Literary Feline

Well, I had a little extra incentive to read it and see the movie, since Drew Goddard, the screenwriter and executive producer is the son of my parents’ good friends. I’ve never met him, but we hear from them about what he’s doing. And he was really excited about this project. 🙂 Also, it does have a classic SF feel like the books I remember reading when I was in middle and high school. So I was excited about reading it.

Bea @Bea's Book Nook

I have the audio book; I’m hoping that will make all the science explanations easier for me. That was an an interesting comparison with Heinlein, now I’m even more intrigued. I will wait to see the movie until after I read the book; I think that like you, it would make more sense to me.

The science explanations were relatively clear — I mean, they made sense to me although I’m not sure I could repeat them. But the audiobook is probably a good way to go, and I’ve heard good things about the narrator.

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The martian.

During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive. Official Selection Toronto 2015 - Gala Presentations

Action / Thriller
Horror / Fantasy / Sci-Fi

Production status

Last updated 1st September 2015

Production Company

USA, UK, Hungary, Jordan production Scott Free Productions (UK), Twentieth Century Fox (USA), Genre Films (US), Mid Atlantic Films (HU), International Traders (JO) Scott Free Productions 42 - 44 Beak Street London W1F 9RH +44 (0)20 7437 3163 http://www.rsafilms.com

Sales Company

Twentieth Century Fox (US) 10201 West Pico Blvd. Los Angeles CA 90035 USA +1 310 369 1000 [email protected] http://www.fox.com/

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B2 graded reading

The Life of Pi: book review (B2)

Religion, shipwrecks and an enormous tiger called Richard Parker ... it’s all in The Life of Pi .

Instructions

Do the preparation exercise first and then read the book review. If you find it too difficult, try one of the lower levels. After reading, do the exercises to check your understanding.

Preparation

The book and its author.

The Life of Pi tells the extraordinary story of Pi, a teenage boy from India, who is shipwrecked and finds himself trapped in a lifeboat in the Pacific Ocean with a ferocious tiger. It is the third book by the Canadian author Yann Martel, and was published in 2001. Since then, it has sold over seven million copies worldwide, won several prizes and been translated into 41 languages. Martel is the son of a diplomat and as a child lived in Costa Rica, Canada, France and Mexico. After finishing university in Canada, he spent two years travelling round India and then decided to devote himself to writing.

In the first part of the book, we learn about Pi’s childhood in the city of Pondicherry in India. His father owns and runs the city zoo and the family home is in the zoo complex. When they aren’t at school, Pi and his brother help out at the zoo. Here, Pi comes to appreciate the beauty of nature and learns a lot about animal psychology and behaviour.

Religion is important to Pi too. Though his family is Hindu, he is curious about other religions and he makes friends with a Christian priest and a Muslim baker. To everyone’s surprise, Pi declares himself to be simultaneously Hindu, Muslim and Christian. When his family and teachers ask him to choose just one religion, Pi refuses, saying 'I just want to love God'. From that moment, his family and teachers decide to let him make his own mind up about religion.

When Pi is 16, a new government is elected that his parents don’t support. Worried about the future, Pi’s parents decide to close the zoo and emigrate to Canada. Some of the animals are sold to zoos in North America and the family travel by ship to Canada taking the animals with them. On the way, there is a terrible storm and the ship sinks. Tragically, Pi’s family and the ship’s sailors all drown, but Pi finds himself in a lifeboat with a hyena, zebra, orang-utan and an enormous tiger. At first, Pi is terrified of the animals and jumps into the ocean. Then he remembers that there are hungry sharks in the water around him and realises his only option is to climb back into the lifeboat. One by one, the animals in the lifeboat kill and eat each other, till only Pi and the tiger are left. Fortunately for Pi, the tiger, who he names Richard Parker, is seasick and has no immediate interest in eating him.

As time goes by and it becomes clear that no ships or helicopters have been sent to rescue survivors, Pi decides to use his knowledge of animal psychology to stop Richard Parker attacking him. Using eye contact, a whistle and rocking the boat to make the tiger seasick, he sets out to show Richard Parker that he is the dominant animal on the lifeboat despite the tiger’s far superior strength. Pi discovers a supply of food and water on the boat, but soon he needs to start catching fish to keep himself and Richard Parker fed.

Pi and Richard Parker spend 227 days in the lifeboat. They live through hunger, illness and exhaustion. They endure violent storms and the burning heat of the Pacific sun, but somehow they survive. At times, Pi finds comfort in his three religions, but at other times he is overcome with loneliness and despair. Finally, the Mexican coast appears on the horizon and everything changes. It would be a shame to give away the ending, so you will have to read the book yourself to find out what happens to Pi and Richard Parker once land is in sight.

What do the reviewers think?

It’s a great book and I couldn’t stop reading it, but I didn’t want it to end either! As you read, you share Pi’s emotional journey through hope, despair, exhaustion, loneliness and joy. There’s one chapter where Pi sings 'Happy Birthday' to his mother on the day that he guesses is her birthday, even though he thinks she is dead. It’s a heart-breaking moment and it made me want to cry. Alex, 15

I found some sections of the book very tedious and slow-moving. For me, there were too many chapters without any action and just long explanations of Pi’s thoughts or his memories. Also, to be honest, I found the plot really unrealistic. I think the tiger would have eaten Pi straight away. Danny, 16

What a fascinating book! I enjoyed the story, but I also learnt a lot about animal psychology, religion and how to survive a shipwreck (you never know, it might happen to you one day!). I would recommend this book to anyone, old or young, men and women. It’s a good read! Paula, 18

Robin Newton

Check your understanding: ordering

Check your understanding: multiple choice, worksheets and downloads.

What do you think about this book? Does it sound like a book you'd choose to read? If you’ve read it, let us know what you thought.

Quesnel mayor censured, banned from First Nation's land

Council voted unanimously to censure ron paull and relieve him of duties at an emotional meeting.

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The mayor of Quesnel, B.C., has been stripped of many of his duties and barred from entering land belonging to multiple First Nations in and around his community.

On Tuesday night, Quesnel's city council voted unanimously to censure Ron Paull and impose multiple restrictions on his ability to represent the city.

The decision is in response to reports Paull's wife has given out copies of a controversial book about residential schools to people in the community and that Paull himself had offered the book to other elected officials at a local government meeting.

In response, the Lhtako Dene, Nazko and Lhoosk'uz Dené First Nations have said they will refuse to work with Paull, who is also no longer welcome on land belonging to the Lhtako Dene.

The story thrust the community of roughly 23,000 people, located about 400 kilometres north of Vancouver, into the national spotlight as a flash point in the ongoing conversation about residential schools and Canada's efforts at reconciliation with Indigenous communities.

But Paull says while he may have made an error in judgment, he has no plans to leave his position.

"I have four loves," he said at this week's meeting. "My wife Pat, my family and friends, my wonderful community of Quesnel, and my faith.... I wholeheartedly intend on continuing giving back to my community."

Quesnel city council censures mayor

Paull will continue to serve as mayor, as there is no formal mechanism to force elected officials to resign. He will also continue to chair council meetings.

However, council has formally condemned his actions, removed him from several committees, removed his travel budget and will not allow him to act as their representative with First Nations or other external groups.

They have also asked him to issue a formal apology, something that he has so far not done.

Coun. Tony Goulet said the steps were necessary to restore Quesnel's relationship with First Nations.

"If we don't have a working relationship with all Indigenous communities, we're gonna be in trouble," he said.

Calls grow louder for B.C. mayor to resign over residential school book incident
Quesnel city council condemns controversial residential school book distributed by mayor's wife

Other councillors expressed concern they would not be able to successfully apply for grants or enter partnerships with other levels of government or contractors without taking strong action.

"Our reputation internationally is being damaged on a colossal scale," said Coun. Scott Elliott. "All the work that we've done to rebrand this city has been demolished."

Council voted to revisit the sanctions in 90 days.

A sign that reads Lhtako Quesnel 2024 Winter Games

In an interview with CBC News after the meeting, Lhtako Dene band administrator Maynard Bara said his nation was pleased with council's decision and said from his perspective, "It's back to business as usual."

"It's great to see that city council did the right thing here and now we can move forward," said Bara, adding the past several weeks have been painful.

Quesnel has taken major steps in working with the Lhtako Dene, starting with a 2015 agreement that formally acknowledged the nation as partners upon whose land the city was built.

In the years since, it has taken other steps toward what it calls "true reconciliation," which include restoring ownership of a downtown park to the First Nation and being the first city to officially co-host the B.C. Winter Games with an Indigenous community earlier this year.

Book given out by mayor's wife

Tuesday's decision came after several weeks of controversy that started at a council meeting held March 19, with a letter of concern from the Lhtako Dene First Nation.

According to the letter, a person related to a member of council — who Paull would reveal was his wife — had been giving out copies of a book titled Grave Error: How the Media Misled Us (and the Truth about Residential Schools).

The book is a series of essays edited by C.P. Champion and Tom Flanagan, described by its publisher as challenging several assertions made about the harms of residential schools.

Three people walk across the top of a grassy hill on an overcast day.

In publicity material for the book, publishers True North and Dorchester Books say statements that residential schools traumatized Indigenous people across generations and destroyed Indigenous languages and culture are either "totally false or grossly exaggerated."

The book is particularly critical of media reports on the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation which, in 2021, announced preliminary findings of ground-penetrating radar work at the former Kamloops Residential School.

The nation has said they found anomalies that could be unmarked graves of children who attended the school, while clarifying that that possibility had yet to be confirmed.

How ground-penetrating radar works

However, the book points out many reports from media and other entities failed to include that context, which the authors say have helped shape a false public narrative of what happened at residential schools.

While some of the essays acknowledge abuse and harm to some children, others challenge the veracity of survivor's accounts as well as the belief that the residential school system amounted to cultural genocide in its attempt to assimilate Indigenous people, as determined by the federally-appointed Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.

Residential schools, day schools, day scholars: what you need to know
Why it's difficult to put a number on how many children died at residential schools

That commission heard testimony from more than 6,000 attendees of residential schools across the country, documenting stories of physical, sexual and psychological abuse, harsh punishments and malnourishment.

The letter from the Lhtako Dene said, weighed against that testimony, the essays in Grave Error amount to "a slap in our people's collective faces" by denying or minimizing the harms of residential schools that many of its members personally experienced and which are still felt within the community.

In response, Quesnel council, including Paull, voted to denounce the book and reaffirm their relationship with the Lhtako Dene.

Paull said at the meeting he had not personally read the book and that he does not always share the same opinions as his wife.

Controversy grows

However, that did not quell the backlash and on April 2 more than 200 people marched outside Quesnel city hall and called on the mayor to resign.

Inside, elders spoke of their own experiences at residential schools while Lhtako Dene Chief Clifford Lebrun told council his nation could no longer work with the city until the matter was resolved, a position reiterated by other First Nations in the region.

That notice led to this week's decision by council to formally distance themselves from the mayor.

Residential school survivor calls for Quesnel mayor to resign

Paull opened the discussion about the possibility of being censured with a statement, saying the anger toward him was "all based on a misunderstanding."

"I was accused of handing out and distributing the book," he said. "I have not read the book."

In a written statement to CBC News, Cariboo Regional District Chair Margo Wagner said that in her recollection of events, "Mayor Paull had a copy of the book and asked me if I was interested in reading the book as it was an interesting read. I politely declined and said I was not interested and walked away from the conversation."

100 Mile House Mayor Maureen Pinkney gave a similar response in an interview with the Quesnel Cariboo Observer , in which she is quoted saying Paull "casually asked if I was familiar with the book and did I want to read it?"

Codes of conduct in local government are being used to quash dissent, critics say

Paull has not responded to interview requests from CBC News, but at the council meeting he said he was simply trying to use the book as a talking point for discussions about what sort of literature might or might not be allowed in local libraries.

But Coun. Laurey-Anne Roodenburg said the issue had moved beyond the book itself.

"I don't care if you read the book – I bought it online and I want my money back," she said.

"It's about leadership and what's transpired as a leader."

She and other councillors expressed disappointment that Paull's story around whether he had ever recommended the book had changed over the weeks, and questioned if he was being truthful.

Councillors also spoke about the amount of scrutiny the episode had placed on them under.

"It has taken a toll," said Goulet. "We're all getting calls, we're getting emails."

Coun. Debra McKelvie said she had experienced multiple sleepless nights.

Lhtako Dene's Maynard Bara said he and Chief Clifford LeBrun had also been getting "hate mail" from people who disagreed with the decision from the First Nation and Quesnel's council.

Among those who have been critical is Grave Error editor and contributor Tom Flanagan, who wrote that what was happening in Quesnel is similar to "totalitarian societies" accusing its members of "thought-crime," while fellow editor C.P. Champion argued in a press release that council is "preventing the truth from coming out."

But Goulet reiterated council never attempted to ban the book or prevent anyone from reading it.

"To me, denouncing was we weren't going to promote the book. We weren't going to talk about it. We were going to leave it at that."

Goulet and the rest of council expressed hope that Paull would eventually apologize and his duties could be restored, but said that decision would not be made without first consulting First Nations.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

CBC Prince George | @akurjata

Andrew Kurjata is a CBC British Columbia journalist born and based in Lheidli T'enneh territory in Prince George, B.C. He has covered the people and politics of northern British Columbia for more than a decade. You can email him at [email protected].

More from CBC Northern B.C.

With files from Betsy Trumpener and Daybreak North

Money blog: 'Loud budgeting' - The money-saving trend that has nothing to do with giving up your daily coffee

Created accidentally by a comedian, "loud budgeting" is breaking down the taboo of speaking about money. Read this and the rest of our Weekend Money features, and leave a comment, and we'll be back with rolling personal finance and consumer news on Monday.

Saturday 11 May 2024 09:05, UK

Weekend Money

'Loud budgeting': The money-saving trend that has nothing to do with giving up your daily coffee
What is most in-demand period property?
£12m tea advert, downsizing, £320 tasting menus and job interview mistakes: What readers have said this week
Free childcare applications about to open for new age band
Where has huge week for UK economy left us?

Best of the week

How to avoid a holiday data roaming charge (while still using the internet)
Mortgage rates up again this week - here are the best deals on the market
My daughter discovered undeclared £600 management fee after buying her flat - can we complain?
Best of the Money blog - an archive

Ask a question or make a comment

By Jess Sharp , Money team

Money saving trends are constantly popping up on social media - but one in particular has been gaining huge amounts of attention.

Created accidentally by a comedian, loud budgeting is breaking down the taboo of speaking about money.

The idea is based on being firmer/more vocal about your financial boundaries in social situations and setting out what you are happy to spend your money on, instead of "Keeping up with the Joneses".

On TikTok alone, videos published under the hashtag #loudbudgeting have garnered more than 30 million views - and that figure is continuing to climb.

We spoke to Lukas Battle - the 26-year-old who unintentionally created the trend as part of a comedy sketch.

Based in New York, he came up with the term in a skit about the "quiet luxury" hype, which had spread online in 2023 inspired by shows like Succession.

The term was used for humble bragging about your wealth with expensive items that were subtle in their design - for example, Gwyneth Paltrow's £3,900 moss green wool coat from The Row, which she wore during her ski resort trial...

"I was never a big fan of the quiet luxury trend, so I just kind of switched the words and wrote 'loud budgeting is in'. I'm tired of spending money and I don't want to pretend to be rich," Lukas said.

"That's how it started and then the TikTok comments were just obsessed with that original idea."

This was the first time he mentioned it...

Lukas explained that it wasn't about "being poor" but about not being afraid of sharing your financial limits and "what's profitable for you personally".

"It's not 'skip a coffee a day and you'll become a millionaire'."

While talking money has been seen as rude or taboo, he said it's something his generation is more comfortable doing.

"I've seen more debate around the topic and I think people are really intrigued and attracted by the idea," he said.

"It's just focusing your spending and time on things you enjoy and cutting out the things you might feel pressured to spend your money on."

He has incorporated loud budgeting into his own life, telling his friends "it's free to go outside" and opting for cheaper dinner alternatives.

"Having the terminology and knowing it's a trend helps people understand it and there's no awkward conversation around it," he said.

The trend has been a big hit with so-called American "finfluencers", or "financial influencers", but people in the UK have started practising it as well.

Mia Westrap has taken up loud budgeting by embarking on a no-buy year and sharing her finances with her 11.3k TikTok followers.

Earning roughly £2,100 a month, she spends around £1,200 on essentials, like rent, petrol and car insurance, but limits what else she can purchase.

Clothes, fizzy drinks, beauty treatments, makeup, dinners out and train tickets are just some things on her "red list".

The 26-year-old PHD student first came across the idea back in 2017, but decided to take up the challenge this year after realising she was living "pay check to pay check".

She said her "biggest fear" in the beginning was that her friends wouldn't understand what she was doing, but she found loud budgeting helped.

"I'm still trying my best to just go along with what everyone wants to do but I just won't spend money while we do it and my friends don't mind that, we don't make a big deal out of it," she said.

So far, she has been able to save £1,700, and she said talking openly about her money has been "really helpful".

"There's no way I could have got this far if I wasn't baring my soul to the internet about the money I have spent. It has been a really motivating factor."

Financial expert John Webb said loud budgeting has the ability to help many "feel empowered" and create a "more realistic" relationship with money.

"This is helping to normalise having open and honest conversations about finances," the consumer affair manager at Experien said.

"It can also reduce the anxiety some might have by keeping their financial worries to themselves."

However, he warned it's important to be cautious and to take the reality of life into consideration.

"It could cause troubles within friendship groups if they're not on the same page as you or have different financial goals," he said.

"This challenge isn't meant to stop you from having fun, but it is designed to help people become more conscious and intentional when it comes to money, and reduce the stigma around talking about it."

Rightmove's keyword tool shows Victorian-era houses are the most commonly searched period properties, with people drawn to their ornate designs and features.

Georgian and Edwardian-style are second and third respectively, followed by Tudor properties. Regency ranked in fifth place.

Rightmove property expert Tim Bannister said: "Home hunters continue to be captivated by the character and charm of properties that we see in period dramas.

"Victorian homes remain particularly popular, characterised by their historic charm, solid construction, and spacious interiors. You'll often find Victorian houses in some of the most desirable locations which include convenient access to schools and transport links."

Throughout the week Money blog readers have shared their thoughts on the stories we've been covering, with the most correspondence coming in on...

A hotly contested debate on the best brand of tea
Downsizing homes
The cost of Michelin-starred food

Job interview mistakes

On Wednesday we reported on a new £12m ad from PG Tips in response to it falling behind rivals such as Twinings, Yorkshire Tea and Tetley....

We had lots of comments like this...

How on earth was the PG Tips advert so expensive? I prefer Tetley tea, PG Tips is never strong enough flavour for me. Shellyleppard

The reason for the sales drop with PG Tips could be because they increased the price and reduced the quantity of bags from 240 to 180 - it's obvious. Royston

And then this question which we've tried to answer below...

Why have PG Tips changed from Pyramid shape tea bags, to a square? Sam

Last year PG Tips said it was changing to a square bag that left more room for leaves to infuse, as the bags wouldn't fold over themselves.

We reported on data showing how downsizing could save you money for retirement - more than £400,000, in some regions, by swapping four beds for two.

Some of our readers shared their experiences...

We are downsizing and moving South so it's costing us £100k extra for a smaller place, all money from retirement fund. AlanNorth

Interesting read about downsizing for retirement. We recently did this to have the means to retire early at 52. However, we bought a house in the south of France for the price of a flat in our town in West Sussex. Now living the dream! OliSarah

How much should we pay for food?

Executive chef at London's two-Michelin-starred Ikoyi, Jeremy Chan, raised eyebrows when he suggested to the Money blog that Britons don't pay enough for restaurant food.

Ikoyi, the 35th best restaurant in the world, charges £320 for its tasting menu.

"I don't think people pay enough money for food, I think we charge too little, [but] we want to always be accessible to as many people as possible, we're always trying our best to do that," he said, in a piece about his restaurant's tie up with Uber Eats...

We had this in...

Are they serious? That is two weeks' worth of food shopping for me, if the rich can afford this "tasting menu" then they need to be taxed even more by the government, it's just crazy! Steve T

If the rate of pay is proportionate to the vastly overpriced costs of the double Michelin star menu, I would gladly peel quail eggs for four-hour stints over continuing to be abused as a UK supply teacher. AndrewWard

Does this two-star Michelin star chef live in the real world? Who gives a toss if he stands and peels his quails eggs for four hours, and he can get the best turbot from the fishmonger fresh on a daily basis? It doesn't justify the outrageous price he is charging for his tasting menu. Topaztraveller

Chefs do make me laugh, a steak is just a steak, they don't make the meat! They just cook it like the rest of us, but we eat out because we can't be bothered cooking! StevieGrah

Finally, many of you reacted to this feature on common mistakes in job interviews...

Those 10 biggest mistakes people make in interviews is the dumbest thing I've ever read. They expect all that and they'll be offering a £25k a year job. Why wouldn't I want to know about benefits and basic sick pay? And also a limp handshake? How's that relevant to how you work? Jre90

Others brought their own tips...

Whenever I go for an interview I stick to three points: 1. Be yourself 2. Own the interview 3. Wear the clothes that match the job you are applying Kevin James Blakey

From Sunday, eligible working parents of children from nine-months-old in England will be able to register for access to up to 15 free hours of government-funded childcare per week.

This will then be granted from September.

Check if you're eligible here - or read on for our explainer on free childcare across the UK.

Three and four year olds

In England, all parents of children aged three and four in England can claim 15 hours of free childcare per week, for 1,140 hours (38 weeks) a year, at an approved provider.

This is a universal offer open to all.

It can be extended to 30 hours where both parents (or the sole parent) are in work, earn the weekly minimum equivalent of 16 hours at the national minimum or living wage, and have an income of less than £100,000 per year.

Two year olds

Previously, only parents in receipt of certain benefits were eligible for 15 hours of free childcare.

But, as of last month, this was extended to working parents.

This is not a universal offer, however.

A working parent must earn more than £8,670 but less than £100,000 per year. For couples, the rule applies to both parents.

Nine months old

In September, this same 15-hour offer will be extended to working parents of children aged from nine months. From 12 May, those whose children will be at least nine months old on 31 August can apply to received the 15 hours of care from September.

From September 2025

The final change to the childcare offer in England will be rolled out in September 2025, when eligible working parents of all children under the age of five will be able to claim 30 hours of free childcare a week.

In some areas of Wales, the Flying Start early years programme offers 12.5 hours of free childcare for 39 weeks, for eligible children aged two to three. The scheme is based on your postcode area, though it is currently being expanded.

All three and four-year-olds are entitled to free early education of 10 hours per week in approved settings during term time under the Welsh government's childcare offer.

Some children of this age are entitled to up to 30 hours per week of free early education and childcare over 48 weeks of the year. The hours can be split - but at least 10 need to be used on early education.

To qualify for this, each parent must earn less than £100,000 per year, be employed and earn at least the equivalent of working 16 hours a week at the national minimum wage, or be enrolled on an undergraduate, postgraduate or further education course that is at least 10 weeks in length.

All three and four-year-olds living in Scotland are entitled to at least 1,140 hours per year of free childcare, with no work or earnings requirements for parents.

This is usually taken as 30 hours per week over term time (38 weeks), though each provider will have their own approach.

Some households can claim free childcare for two-year-olds. To be eligible you have to be claiming certain benefits such as Income Support, Jobseeker's Allowance or Universal Credit, or have a child that is in the care of their local council or living with you under a guardianship order or kinship care order.

Northern Ireland

There is no scheme for free childcare in Northern Ireland. Some other limited support is available.

Working parents can access support from UK-wide schemes such as tax credits, Universal Credit, childcare vouchers and tax-free childcare.

Aside from this, all parents of children aged three or four can apply for at least 12.5 hours a week of funded pre-school education during term time. But over 90% of three-year-olds have a funded pre-school place - and of course this is different to childcare.

What other help could I be eligible for?

Tax-free childcare - Working parents in the UK can claim up to £500 every three months (up to £2,000 a year) for each of their children to help with childcare costs.

If the child is disabled, the amount goes up to £1,000 every three months (up to £4,000 a year).

To claim the benefit, parents will need to open a tax-free childcare account online. For every 80p paid into the account, the government will top it up by 20p.

The scheme is available until the September after the child turns 11.

Universal credit - Working families on universal credit can claim back up to 85% of their monthly childcare costs, as long as the care is paid for upfront. The most you can claim per month is £951 for one child or £1,630 for two or more children.

Tax credits - People claiming working tax credit can get up to 70% of what they pay for childcare if their costs are no more than £175 per week for one child or £300 per work for multiple children.

Two big economic moments dominated the news agenda in Money this week - interest rates and GDP.

As expected, the Bank of England held the base rate at 5.25% on Wednesday - but a shift in language was instructive about what may happen next.

Bank governor Andrew Bailey opened the door to a summer cut to 5%, telling reporters that an easing of rates at the next Monetary Policy Committee meeting on 20 June was neither ruled out nor a fait accompli.

More surprisingly, he suggested that rate cuts, when they start, could go deeper "than currently priced into market rates".

He refused to be drawn on what that path might look like - but markets had thought rates could bottom out at 4.5% or 4.75% this year, and potentially 3.5% or 4% next.

"To make sure that inflation stays around the 2% target - that inflation will neither be too high nor too low - it's likely that we will need to cut Bank rate over the coming quarters and make monetary policy somewhat less restrictive over the forecast period," Mr Bailey said.

You can read economics editor Ed Conway's analysis of the Bank's decision here ...

On Friday we discovered the UK is no longer in recession.

Gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.6% between January and March, the Office for National Statistics said.

This followed two consecutive quarters of the economy shrinking.

The data was more positive than anticipated.

"Britain is not just out of recession," wrote Conway. "It is out of recession with a bang."

The UK has seen its fastest growth since the tailend of the pandemic - and Conway picked out three other reasons for optimism.

1/ An economic growth rate of 0.6% is near enough to what economists used to call "trend growth". It's the kind of number that signifies the economy growing at more or less "normal" rates.

2/ 0.6% means the UK is, alongside Canada, the fastest-growing economy in the G7 (we've yet to hear from Japan, but economists expect its economy to contract in the first quarter).

3/ Third, it's not just gross domestic product that's up. So too is gross domestic product per head - the number you get when you divide our national income by every person in the country. After seven years without any growth, GDP per head rose by 0.4% in the first quarter.

GDP per head is a more accurate yardstick for the "feelgood factor", said Conway - perhaps meaning people will finally start to feel better off.

For more on where Friday's figures leaves us, listen to an Ian King Business Podcast special...

The Money blog is your place for consumer news, economic analysis and everything you need to know about the cost of living - bookmark news.sky.com/money .

It runs with live updates every weekday - while on Saturdays we scale back and offer you a selection of weekend reads.

Check them out this morning and we'll be back on Monday with rolling news and features.

The Money team is Emily Mee, Bhvishya Patel, Jess Sharp, Katie Williams, Brad Young and Ollie Cooper, with sub-editing by Isobel Souster. The blog is edited by Jimmy Rice.

If you've missed any of the features we've been running in Money this year, or want to check back on something you've previously seen in the blog, this archive of our most popular articles may help...

Loaves of bread have been recalled from shelves in Japan after they were found to contain the remains of a rat.

Production of the bread in Tokyo has been halted after parts of a "small animal" were found by at least two people.

Pasco Shikishima Corp, which produces the bread, said 104,000 packages have been recalled as it apologised and promised compensation.

A company representative told Sky News's US partner network, NBC News, that a "small black rat" was found in the bread. No customers were reported to have fallen ill as a result of ingesting the contaminated bread.

"We deeply apologise for the serious inconvenience and trouble this has caused to our customers, suppliers, and other concerned parties," the spokesman said.

Pasco added in a separate statement that "we will do our utmost to strengthen our quality controls so that this will never happen again. We ask for your understanding and your co-operation."

Japanese media reports said at least two people who bought the bread in the Gunma prefecture, north-west of Tokyo, complained to the company about finding a rodent in the bread.

Record levels of shoplifting appear to be declining as fewer shopkeepers reported thefts last year, new figures show.

A survey by the Office for National Statistics shows 26% of retailers experienced customer theft in 2023, down from a record high of 28% in 2022.

This comes despite a number of reports suggesting shoplifting is becoming more frequent.

A separate ONS finding , which used police crime data, showed reports of shoplifting were at their highest level in 20 years in 2023, with law enforcements logging 430,000 instances of the crime.

Let's get you up to speed on the biggest business news of the past 24 hours.

A privately owned used-car platform is circling Cazoo Group, its stricken US-listed rival, which is on the brink of administration.

Sky News has learnt that Motors.co.uk is a leading contender to acquire Cazoo's marketplace operation, which would include its brand and intellectual property assets.

The process to auction the used-car platform's constituent parts comes after it spent tens of millions of pounds on sponsorship deals in football, snooker and darts in a rapid attempt to gain market share.

The owner of British Airways has reported a sharp rise in profits amid soaring demand for trips and a fall in the cost of fuel.

International Airlines Group said its operating profit for the first three months of the year was €68m (£58.5m) - above expectations and up from €9m (£7.7m) during the same period in 2023.

The company, which also owns Aer Lingus, Iberia and Vueling, said earnings had soared thanks to strong demand, particularly over the Easter holidays.

The prospect of a strike across Tata Steel's UK operations has gained further traction after a key union secured support for industrial action.

Community, which has more than 3,000 members, said 85% voted in favour of fighting the India-owned company's plans for up to 2,800 job losses, the majority of them at the country's biggest steelworks in Port Talbot, South Wales.

Tata confirmed last month it was to press ahead with the closure of the blast furnaces at the plant, replacing them with electric arc furnaces to reduce emissions and costs.

In doing so, the company rejected an alternative plan put forward by the Community, GMB and Unite unions that, they said, would raise productivity and protect jobs across the supply chain.

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Book Review: The Martian
The Martian- Book Review
The Martian Book Review
The Martian by Andy Weir
The Martian Book Review
The Martian Book Review and Success Principles in it

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Book Review
03 February 2024 Ielts Exam review with Reading and Listening answers || Evening slot|
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The Martian Book VS Movie! (ft. Richard's DAD)

COMMENTS

The Martian: a book review
Review: The Martian. The Martian tells the story of Mark Watney, an astronaut on the Ares 3 mission to Mars. After a terrible storm almost destroys the ship and the base, the crew of his ship believe he is dead. 1) _____. Alone on the red planet, he has to survive until the next mission to Mars arrives. While this novel is fiction, in some ways ...
The Martian: a book review
Read the review of the book The Martian below. Then do the exercises. Review: The Martian. The Martian tells the story of Mark Watney, an astronaut on the Ares 3 mission to Mars. After a terrible storm almost destroys the ship and the base, the crew of his ship believe he is dead. 1) _____.
The Martian Book Review
Mark Watney, the protagonist of The Martian, is an. Violence & Scariness Not present. Sex, Romance & Nudity. Adult characters make passing reference to their s. Language. The first line of the book is "I'm pretty much f--. Products & Purchases Not present. Drinking, Drugs & Smoking Not present. Parents Need to Know.
You may have seen the...
You may have seen the film The Martian with Matt Damon, but did you know it was based on a book? Have you read it? Read the review here to practise and...
THE MARTIAN
Sharp, funny and thrilling, with just the right amount of geekery. When a freak dust storm brings a manned mission to Mars to an unexpected close, an astronaut who is left behind fights to stay alive. This is the first novel from software engineer Weir. One minute, astronaut Mark Watney was with his crew, struggling to make it out of a deadly ...
The Martian Review: Andy Weir's Science Fiction Classic
3.2. The Martian Review. ' The Martian' by Andy Weir is an incredibly creative and well-researched novel that has been described as one of the most important science fiction novels of the 21st century. It follows the plight of Mark Watney, an astronaut left behind on Mars and initially presumed dead. Pros.
The Martian: A Review
Andy Weir's The Martian takes place almost entirely with one character alone on a deserted planet. When Mark Watney and his crew find themselves in the midst of a life-threatening dust storm on day six of their 31 day mission on Mars, they decide to evacuate. Unfortunately, Watney is struck by a satellite that was ripped loose from the storms ...
The Martian (BOOK REVIEW)
You see, not only is The Martian a great book. It's a great science fiction novel. And guess what. It puts the 'science' back into science fiction - so much so that I often forgot it was a sci-fi novel. It felt like something that had truly occurred, and that was so cool. The novel follows Mark Watney, a stranded astronaut on Mars.
The Martian
ISBN-13: 9780804139021. Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he ...
Book Review: The Martian
Andy Weir's book The Martian encapsulates the wondrous question of "what if" in character, plot, and the narrative story, creating a piece where the reader excitedly wonders if our main character will die or not. Weir's own knowledge of space exploration and technological development gives tangible evidence to these questions,…
Book Review: The Martian by Andy Weir
It's a genuinely good feeling to read a book that lives up to all the praises; it seems like it doesn't happen too often to me anymore lately. The Martian is easily one of the most wonderful sci-fi I've ever read; intense, funny, believable, and relentlessly captivating. Whether you've watched the movie adaptation or not, and regardless ...
To those who have read it, is The Martian by Andy Weir a book ...
The Martian was good but, counter to what other people are saying, I was completely underwhelmed by Artemis. Thought it was rushed to market to capitalize on the buzz of The Martian movie and that showed in the quality/clichéness of the characters. In summary: Read The Martian, and look out for his new book this spring!
The Martian: a book review| CEFR
The Martian: a book review Read a review of the book 'The Martian' to practise and improve your reading skills. Definition. Andy Weir's The Martian is a gripping, realistic tale of survival on an alien planet that's been popular with both adults and teens. Botanist Mark Watney is left for dead on Mars and must devise a way to stay ...
Task 2
This is a multiple choice reading comprehension exercise adapted from the activity called "The Martian: a book review" from The British Council Liveworksheets transforms your traditional printable worksheets into self-correcting interactive exercises that the students can do online and send to the teacher.
LearnEnglish Reading B1 The Martian A Book Review
LearnEnglish Reading B1 the Martian a Book Review - Free download as PDF File (.pdf), Text File (.txt) or read online for free. Ejemplo de revisión de libro, en inglés
The Martian Book Review
The Martian is a science fiction novel, published in 2011 by author Andy Weir, and contains 435 pages. Andy Weir's first published novel, The Martian, has taken the world by storm since its release.
The Martian: A book-and-movie review
The Martian: A book-and-movie review. December 11, 2015 Lark_Bookwyrm Book Reviews, Movie reviews 8 ★★★★ The Martian by Andy Weir Published by Crown on Feb. 11, 2014 (hardcover) Genres: Science Fiction Pages: 387 Format: Paperback Source: the library Add to Goodreads Also by this author: Project Hail Mary Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars.
The Martian A Book Review
The Martian a Book Review - Free download as PDF File (.pdf) or read online for free.
Book review
Level 3. In my opinion Pokémon is the best book and movie in the world and I love it and It's awesome. Pokémon was created by Satoshi Tajiri .My favorite character is Ash from Palet town . He is training to be the best of Pokémon going from the Kanto Region to the Galel Region . The Pokémon world is the most fascinating place in the world.
book review
book review. Free online English test. Getting started. Frequently asked questions.
British Council Film: The Martian
Synopsis. During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is ...
The Life of Pi: book review (B2)
The book and its author. The Life of Pi tells the extraordinary story of Pi, a teenage boy from India, who is shipwrecked and finds himself trapped in a lifeboat in the Pacific Ocean with a ferocious tiger. It is the third book by the Canadian author Yann Martel, and was published in 2001. Since then, it has sold over seven million copies ...
Quesnel mayor censured, banned from First Nation's land
First Nations gathered in early April before going to a Quesnel, B.C., council meeting where Mayor Ron Paull was asked to resign, following revelations his wife has been handing out a book that ...
Money latest: Chocolate is a superfood
The owner of British Airways has reported a sharp rise in profits amid soaring demand for trips and a fall in the cost of fuel.