Rating: 4 Stars
Date Started: 26 November 2017
Date Finished: 29 November 2017
Length: 9 hours
Genre: Science Fiction
I was dreading reading this because I read a couple of reviews by people who I generally agree with. I loved The Martian, and didn’t want to taint that by reading a book that left me less than satisfied by the same author. However, I won a signed copy from work, and then I also got a delayed notice from Netgalley that it’s been added to my shelf. Then it was calling to me on audio and I took it as a sign that I should just read the damn thing. I decided to listen to it, because Rosario Dawson was the narrator and I LOVE her.
And I’m so glad I did! Ok fine, it’s not the brilliant piece of work that The Martian was, but it was still freaking good! I’m just speculating, but maybe those reviewers who were disappointed had waaaay too high expectations…
Jaz Bashara did indeed channel an element of Mark Whatney, but she was still her own character and someone that I totally enjoyed reading about. She’s a bit crude and has a dirty sense of humor, but I totally get that because I do to… surprise surprise, women can also like potty humor!
One of the reviewers said that she was pegged as the town tramp, but I honestly didn’t get that. She came off more as someone who owns her own sexuality and doesn’t give a damn who approves and who doesn’t… the rude things that some people alluded to came off as mostly jealousy or petty rudeness. I do wonder about that condom though…
Okay fine, so there were a bunch of interesting stuff that got thrown in that didn’t end up going anywhere, but at the end of the day it wasn’t that big of a disappointment to me. And I liked the excitement of the plot that was a little weird but it was exciting and it worked! It made sense in context and I wasn’t going to overanalyze the reasons or the science or why we had to learn everything about welding… it’s a book, for crying out loud! It’s supposed to exploit every last bit of action it can, and damnit I enjoyed this to the max!
Maybe the reason I really loved it more is because of the performance of Rosario Dawson. I’m not going to pretend like I know if she did the different accents right, but in my head she was absolutely stunning. She had just the right intonations to create the right kind of atmosphere, and when she did the action or high stakes scenes, it was so compelling that it completely pulled me in. Also, I was able to more-or-less zone out the too technical bits without completely missing out on anything.
In conclusion, this isn’t another shot at The Martian, so if you’re going to read it, go in without that expectation. You’ll definitely enjoy it more. Also, listen to the audiobook if you can, it’s 100% worth it.
Fiction Fantastic 