A rounded up 3.75 stars.

I make no bones about the fact that I generally do not have the math for anything that approaches science-fiction or science-based-fiction. This means I cannot say yea/nay with any sort of authority about the plausibility of this concept. Is it possible that a man, during a team based mission to Mars, could have been left behind, survive against nearly insurmountable odds and keep up a pretty unwavering sense of cheer? I'd believe it - not because I know anything about space, advanced mathematics or thermodynamics, but because I have anthropocentric belief in the resilience of humans; I know in my heart that we are among the most stubborn motherfuckers out there. That is realism to me.

Mark was kind of a dick, which seemed to rub a lot of reviewers the wrong way. I can understand that, but I had a giggle every now and again because being an overall asshole isn't actually a Bad Thing for me and fictional characters. It was his off-hand, occasional sexist remarks that dropped his character down several notches (for example, sending in his farewell letter to Johanssen commentary about her being "the hot chick who went to Mars" might have been tongue-in-cheek, but was also very unnecessary). So, basically, he's like a lot of dudes I know, but also on Mars.

When it comes down to it, the science and math made sense within the context of daily entries from Mark and did add to the story's Big Picture, but it didn't work for me. I did my best not to let my eyes glaze over, but it was a struggle, which I acknowledge is more of a failing on my part than the novel's. However, when I hit chapter six, I was mightily relieved to see that the whole novel wasn't just sol log entries. Diary entries, letters, logs - these narrative devices are all written by someone who the Exciting Thing has already happened to, which really cuts down on the Adventure Quotient for the reader. Considering this is survival fiction, that brought the story's "!!!" down for me occasionally.

As Mark contemplates his successful rescue

, his thoughts veer toward something that seem out of character for his brand of cheerful assholery, but sums up the overall thesis of this novel:

The cost for my survival must have been hundreds of millions of dollars. All to save one dorky botanist. Why bother?

Well, okay. I know the answer to that. Part of it might be what I represent: progress, science, and the interplanetary future we've dreamed of for centuries. 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.