Book Review: No Way by S. J. Morden

Note: This is book 2 of the series, therefore the review contains spoilers for book 1 (you can read my review of One Way here.)

Pros: gets you quickly up to speed with regards to the events of book 1, interesting characters, some ethical dilemmas, hard SF, variety of conflicts

Cons:

After building the base on Mars and surviving XOs attempted assassinations, Frank cuts at deal with the company to impersonate Lance Brack and help the NASA astronauts arriving in a few months with their mission. But XO has others secrets on Mars, and they intend to keep their malfeasance unknown on Earth.

No Way picks up immediately after the end of One Way. If it’s been a while since you read the first book, the author does an excellent job of reminding you of the ending and the more important elements within the first few chapters of book two.

Frank is a sympathetic protagonist despite his past. He faces a lot of ethical dilemmas before the NASA crew arrive, and a few more afterwards. The crew themselves face some tough decisions later in the book.

I appreciated that the conflict was a mix of man vs nature, man vs himself, and man vs man. The book is well paced, with sections where things are going well followed by tense chapters where things go very wrong.

Descriptions of life on Mars circle around the constant danger, the monotonous scenery, and the utter excitement of being on an alien planet. While I personally can’t vouch for the scientific accuracy of everything that happens, the author is a rocket scientist with degrees in geology and planetary geophysics.

There is some thematic overlap with The Martian, though the tone here is more serious. If you like survival stories, or Mars, this is a fantastic book.

Shout-Out: Retrograde by Peter Cawdron

Mankind has long dreamed of reaching out to live on other planets, and with the establishment of the Mars Endeavour colony, that dream has become reality. The fledgling colony consists of 120 scientists, astronauts, medical staff, and engineers. Buried deep underground, they're protected from the harsh radiation that sterilizes the surface of the planet. The colony is prepared for every eventuality except one - what happens when disaster strikes Earth?

Movie Review: The Martin

Directed by: Ridley Scott, 2015

Pros: brilliant performance, shows all the people behind the scenes of a space mission, accurate science for most of the film

Cons: not as tense if you’ve read the book, ending diverges

IMDb listing

When Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is left behind on Mars by his fellow Ares 3 crew during a ferocious sand storm, he must work hard to survive until a rescue attempt can be made.

This is a wonderful man against nature story closely adapted from the novel by Andy Weir.  It shows the resilience and determination of someone faced with terrible odds, told with a wry sense of humour and, when things inevitably go wrong, despair followed by renewed hope. 

Matt Damon gives an amazing performance as Watney, showing a full gamut of emotions.  I was also impressed by the supporting cast, particularly Donald Glover as the astrophysicist who figures out an important solution.  I loved that the cast was large and diverse, showing both the number of people necessary to run space missions and the fact that space should be a global endeavour, not run or controlled by a single nation. 

While the storm that forces the crew off of Mars isn’t scientifically accurate, most of the rest of the things that happen in the film are (with the noted exceptions of the ‘Iron Man’ manoeuvre at the end of the film and the spaciousness of the Hermes). 

If you’ve read the book the film isn’t as tense, since you know what’s going to happen.  The film also trims out some of the crises Watney faces in the novel.  Having said that, they did an excellent job adapting the source material, keeping Watney’s sense of humour as well as showing all the dangers he faces.  There was a bit of unnecessary repetition at times with relaying messages, where both the writer and reader would say the same lines out loud.  On the other hand, I liked how they showed the NASA team testing things on earth at the same time Watney’s doing them on Mars.

There’s a bit of divergence in the ending.  The film’s does something unscientific but then has a better denouement than the book.

I saw the film in 3D.  I wasn’t thrilled with the 3D format I saw it in (polarized glasses), as it took my eyes several minutes to adjust to the effect, and later in the film I had to adjust to it again a few times (not sure this is a criticism of the film or the glasses as I’ve never had this happen before and I’ve seen several 3D movies with different glasses).  The effects, though not filmed for 3D worked well with the technology.  The first time you see the Hermes space ship is magnificent.  There’s a decent number of shots that gave good depth of field to make it worth the extra if you like 3D.

I thought the Ares Live marketing campaign for the film was brilliantly done.  I also appreciated that the footage in those trailers wasn't in the film.  The videos added to the film if you saw them, but weren't required to enjoy the film itself.

If you like science in your movies, give this a go.  It’s very well filmed and highly entertaining.

Panoramas of Mars

Yesterday I finished reading A Plunge Into Space by Robert Cromie (expect a review in a few weeks), wherein a small crew of people land on Mars.  The book was first printed in 1891.

So with Mars on my mind, it's cool to see the new panoramic photos sent back by NASA's Opportunity Rover.  (And yes, these pictures are from the Opportunity and Spirit Rovers, from a previous mission, not Curiosity, which just landed on Mars).  And boy, is Mars ever picturesque (even with the false colouring taken into consideration).

Arounder Mars has several virtual tours you can scroll around.

Or check out this panoramic video.