The Martian

A brand-new production of Andy Weir’s modern sci-fi classic, narrated by the incomparable Wil Wheaton, and featuring bonus content from the writings of Mark Watney.

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars.

Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there.

After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive - and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive.

Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain old "human error" are much more likely to kill him first.

But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills - and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit - he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?

Wil Wheaton, who has lent his voice to sci-fi blockbusters like Ready Player One and Redshirts, breathes new life (and plenty of sarcasm) into the iconic character of Mark Watney, making this edition a must-listen for both longtime fans of The Martian and new listeners alike.

BONUS MATERIAL: This edition includes the following extras:

• “Diary of an AssCan” - Mark Watney, new astronaut
• “I Made It!” - A happy letter to Mom
• “Car Trouble” - A somewhat sad letter to Mom
• “The Earthling” - A postscript. *Available for the first time in this recording

©2011, 2014, 2019 by Andy Weir (P)2019 Audible, Inc.

Not as good as R.C. Bray version

Find the old version it's 10x better. The little extra at the end is fun but not worth purchasing the book all over again.

Wil Wheaton Ruined This

I love this book. I've read it, enjoyed it, and thought, "This would be a great book to have on audio so I can listen when I travel!"
WRONG.
Look, I'm not a Wil Wheaton hater. I enjoyed him on STTNG, and he has genuine geek credibility, but his performance was so over the top and grating it was distracting.
He obviously enjoyed himself. His performance is not subtle.
I think he saw Matt Damon's performance in the movie and thought that he could replicate the same goofy charm.
He was wrong.
HUGELY disappointed.
I would love this if it were performed by a less hyper, more understated performer.

How do they compare? Bray vs. Wheaton

Let me start this off with the basics. This is an amazing book that must be read for anyone into any sort of science fiction. The science is heavy but manageable. The book never takes itself too serious as there is a great amount of finding the funny in what could be way too dreary. Weir does a fantastic job getting you to like Mark Watney and wondering if the current obstacle will be the last one for our intrepid protagonist. It's a fun read.
I absolutely loved RC Bray's rendition of The Martian and came to this new recording by Wil Wheaton with a lot of trepidation. I've loved a lot of Wil's narration in the past and thought it can't be too bad.
While Bray had different voices for each character, Wheaton does the same voice for all characters. That can be forgiven as this is a story told by Mark Watney, even for the parts he wasn't around. I'm okay with that. What got me was the difference when Mark Watney was energetic or had to curse. Bray brought a lot of emotions to the part, with the default setting being a smarmy humor that really brought out how funny Watney was. Wheaton's interpretation is more of an "aw, shucks" default. There is a lot of Wade Owen in his Mark Watney interpretation. It's good on its own, but comparing it to the depth of emotion given by RC Bray, it doesn't quite fit.
I'm glad I listened to this rendition as the extras were fun and the story is compelling, but further relistens will be the RC Bray version. If you can find that version on CD anywhere, get it because you can't get it on Audible anymore.

Not R.C. Bray, but worthy nonetheless

I know that this will likely be a common theme with these reviews, but R.C. Bray’s performance on the podium publishing version made this book for me. Whatever happened in the deal between him and Audible on this re-release was certainly unfortunate.

All that being said, Wil Wheaton has an excellent performance here. It is unfair to judge him versus his contemporary. Andy Weir’s style and humor and Wil’s delivery is excellent. This story is amazing and certainly one of my favorites.

Amazingly enjoyable

Will Wheaton was great.. LMAO will be a repeat listen. again and again and again.....