THE MARTIAN by Andy Weir

Narrated by R.C. Bray

Enjoy Your Boogie Fever

Rich Durnell is a Steely Eyed Missile Man

Mark Watney Doesn’t Die Project

You’ve read the publisher’s synopsis so you know that this is a man stranded on mars story. At first it feels like the movie Silent Running, slow and lonely. Then for a time it is Robinson Crusoe on Mars, but with better science. It then transitions into an Apollo 13 type of thing with tense moments and ingenious MacGyver type jury-rigging to get things done. But then it gets interesting, transforming into a story that is as fun and motivational as The Right Stuff with the Alan Shepard’s attitude of “fix your little problem and light this candle.” As you can see it helps to be a space geek to like this novel but it is just flat out a good story, with realistic characters and tense situations. More suspense than Science Fiction. Recommend this to your movie-going friends to get them hooked on audiobooks.

During the first part of the book, I thought that R.C. Bray was going to be a reader and not a performer, but once the earth characters made their entrance he proved to be an excellent performer. He handles both male and female characters with ease, every voice seeming appropriate. R.C. Bray is a big reason why this is a great audiobook.