I don’t typically read space/sci-fi, but this was a friend recommendation, and my husband had the audiobook, so it took very little effort to leave my comfort zone.

This book was LOVELY. The audiobook is a great option specifically because the narrator really brings the characters to life. The way the story is unfolded is unique and intriguing; I was immediately invested. This was such a pleasant surprise of a book. ( )

I expected a thriller, and certainly there was that, but it was surprisingly... wholesome. Made me feel all warm while reading and made me smile. Also, it's quite funny too. Can't really say more because that would be a spoiler.

Might be best book I read this year (133 read so far so that is saying something). ( )

This is just about perfect retro sci-fi - like something from the 60s, but done properly.
There's a looming disaster for Earth, an unlikely hero drafted in to save the world, spaceships, space travel, even aliens who happen to be likeable and cooperative - after the obligatory tensions at the first meeting.
Andy Weir weaves it all together with consummate skill. The story line is captivating, the science part of the sci-fi is plausible enough to satisfy the reader, and the suspense makes for a ripping yarn. The updates from the 60s are there - climate change, women in positions of authority, but the faux swear words - gosh darn etc, and the lack of any realistic human relationships place it firmly in a genre.
I loved it. ( )

This book is excellent! It will keep you on the edge of your seat! ( )

I had very little idea what to expect going in, only that several people had recommended this book to me. I would not have guessed that a dad-joke telling protagonist who is a cross between Bill Nye the Science Guy and Liz Lemon from 30 Rock and his relationship with a spider-legged creature named Rocky would make me laugh and cry, as I rarely do with sci-fi.

The earth-is-in-danger storyline is simple enough, and yes, the unassuming science teacher saving the day might be a basic trope. However, Ryland Grace, a molecular biologist maligned by academia, now teaching junior high, is one of the better written characters I've come across in the genre. Yes, there are moments where his facepalms and self-effacement-in-order-to-explain-scientific-concepts thing got annoying, but his general sense of humor and interactions with other characters--most especially Eva Stratt and Rocky--make him absolutely loveable and engaging. There's a motley bunch joining the party as well -- an avid Beatles fan researcher from UBC whose development of "Beetle" probes named after the Fab 4 play a crucial role in the book, an not-so-much-ex convict who also happens to be an expert in solar energy, a French climatologist who serves as Weir's strongest and most obvious eco-preacher, and several other characters who bring conflict and questions in ways that make the book provocative, not preachy.

The back and forth timeline actually adds a lot to the plot and the character development as well, as does Grace's own recovery from what befalls him.

Ray Porter's reading in the audiobook is an absolute gem, and is largely responsible for why Ryland Grace will stick in my mind as one of my favorite protagonists ever. I know, if I'm honest, had I been reading it in print, I would have flipped past some of the lengthier scientific explanations. Porter manages to pull you in to listen because one gets the sense that while astrophage don't (yet) exist, and there's a lot in the book that requires one to suspend disbelief, there's also a lot of really critical scientific concepts explained in accessible ways. Rarely did I feel like it was just a gratuitous display of street cred (something I find so often in the genre)--instead I found myself wishing I could sit in Ryland Grace's classroom. I thought the melodic sound effects (vocorder? I wasn't sure) for Rocky's speech made a lot of sense in the audiobook (I hear the words are just italicized in the print edition?), and had I copious free time, I might even dig into it a bit more to test its lexicographic legitimacy.

There are several folks on the internet recommending the audiobook over the print, and I think people's mileage will vary on that, but I will say this is one of the best audiobook experiences I've had and the deeper questions of the book are still sitting with me, long after the glow of the sheer pleasure of the experience has dimmed in my memory. ( )