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  • The Martian

  • Written by: Andy Weir
  • Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
  • Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (2,059 ratings)

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The Martian

Written by: Andy Weir
Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
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Publisher's Summary

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.

Editorial Review

Would you have the right stuff to survive on the dangerous red planet after all your crew members have perished? The Martian is one man’s journey to see if he has what it takes to survive truly unimaginable conditions.

The Martian by Andy Weir is a combination of sci-fi and contemporary drama, bending genres with its realistic style and, as yet, the unobtained location of Mars. The story follows astronaut Mark Watney who makes the exciting trip to Mars as part of the Ares 3 expedition only to be stranded there as the only survivor after the death of his crewmates. From there, he is forced to get as inventive as he can to survive on an uninhabitable planet, navigating airlock and oxygen supplies and dwindling food quantities.

The resulting story is one of resilience, strength, and overcoming obstacles. The Martian is a grounded and human-based science fiction. The story tells more of the endurance inherent in humanity than of the adventures and wonders of space, even though Watney still has to deal with issues of gravity, dust storms, space suits, spaceships and rocket fuel as he waits for his rescue mission from Earth. Weir’s style is both realistic and humorous as he includes technical details a NASA specialist and botanist should know. But he doesn’t forget to address the day-to-day struggles of a castaway’s life in solitude; but also throws in funny nods to reality, like mentioning the Mars rover, pathfinder, and mars ascent vehicles. There’s even a reference or two about aliens - though the characters are decidedly human.

This audiobook adaptation is narrated by Wil Wheaton, an experienced narrator and iconic actor - especially in the fantasy and sci-fi genres. He recounts this mission to Mars story with proper emphasis and tone, bringing a level and down-to-earth style to the significant aspects of spaceflight and life on Mars. Exciting, dynamic, and engaging, his voice perfectly matches Andy Weir’s style. Whether you’ve seen the Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, and Ridley Scott motion picture adaptation or are discovering The Martian for the first time, this is an excellent listen for science and science-fiction fans who have dreamed of interstellar adventure.

What listeners say about The Martian

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Well worth it for Wil Wheaton.

I watched the movie. I listened to interviews about the book on StarTalk Radio. I bought it on audio book when I found out Wil Wheaton read it. He kept every character distinct along with just a hint of his presence. He kept the drama dramatic, and he swore the way I would have in those precious moments. Love the details Weir put into it. Really great science fiction with expert narration.

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Fantastic!

Some people might be hardline Bray fans and not like this book. I am both a hardline Wheaton AND Bray fan.

They both have different styles, and that's why I now own and love both versions. Wil does an amazing job reading some of John Scalzi's books. This is a perfect segway.

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This book is amazing and Wil Wheaton just made it so much better than reading it

This book is great is exciting, realistic and fun to listen too because of Wil, and as a guy who is very into this sort of thing it checks all the boxes of a good book
I rate this a 5 out of 5 on everything

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Great Listen

Highly recommended title, Will Wheaton dose it once again with this knock out narration. this is a must listen.

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Phenomenal

Fantastically written and narrated. Wil Wheaton surprised me with how good of a narrator he actually is. Reading this (listening) took me to mars and put me in an EVA suit and made me fear for my life. Edge of your acceleration couch kind of stuff. Fabulous book. You don’t want to skip it.

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So awesome!

I loved this book the first time I read it and Wil Wheaton really brought it to life for me!! He did such an excellent job and I really enjoyed listening to this book!

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Fabulous

Perfect fit of narrator and story. well read, so exciting, terrific story thank you.

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Exciting and Engaging

Phenomenal book! Science fiction that's realistic and smart, but still remains approachable. Wil Wheaton does a great job of narrating, his tone is perfect for the story - and especially for the main character!

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Wil Wheaton is the perfect fit

So much better than the movie, the book creates such an atmosphere (bad pun) and Wil Wheaton absolutely crushes the narration!

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Loved it

Was excited to see this on Audible and even more excited to see Will Wheaton was narrating it! Great read, great performance! highly recommend!

Disco sucks.

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  • L. Newman
  • 2020-01-11

I love Wil Wheaton but why not R. C. Bray?

Hey, Audible! You had a perfect version of this already recorded by R. C. Bray. I like Wheaton, but frankly his reading pales in comparison to Bray. And now we can't even buy that version. :(

Seriously, folks. Find a CD of Bray's reading. It is awesome.

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  • Alexander
  • 2020-01-14

Sorry Wil

Sorry Wil, I’m a big fan but this ain’t it. Wil struggles to vocally differentiate characters, and his accent for Vogel is terrible. It’s a great book and I enjoyed the movie. But now I think I have to listen to the original recording to get Wil’s version out of my head

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  • Gigi
  • 2020-01-19

Wrong Narrator for this book

I hate to say it but Wheaton is the wrong narrator for this book Do not misunderstand I love Wheaton as a narrator in general. His narration of ready player one was spot on. His voice in my opinion is too young for the character in this book. RC Bray's voice was much better suited. Also, I really had a hard time deciphering one character from the other. Wheaton's characters all sound pretty much the same throughout the book

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  • Joel Cagle
  • 2020-01-07

What a slap to R.C. Bray's face!

I will start by saying I tend to like Will Wheaton. I listen to RPO at least once a month, not to mention all the John Scalzi books I listen to, that he has narrated. That being said, this performance was awful. He reads the book at you, he does not perform it. To me, it is like when Alexa reads me a book (try it, ask Alexa to read an ebook you bought from Amazon.....I dare you!). The story is an AMAZING one. Andy Weir knocked this book out of the park! I can't say enough about this AS A BOOK, but I feel like the people raving about this version have never heard an audiobook before. I can't see how anyone can prefer this version, when compared to the job R.C. Bray did. If I were him I would be livid! Turns out he's a better man than I am. the truth is, this disaster of a recording came about because of money. The audio rights with Podium Publishing ended (audio rights usually last 7 years), and it turns out that Audible bought the audio rights to the book, but not the performance commissioned by Podium. So they would need to re-record it. To be fair Audible did ask Bray to record the book again, but apparently weren't willing to pay him what he is worth. So now, not only do we have a lesser product, we can't even get our hands on the original anymore. Audible really dropped the ball on this one, and all because of a couple bucks.

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  • James Cannady
  • 2020-01-17

Wil Wheaton phones it in

The previous narrator was much better. Why re-record this? Because they got Wil Wheaton? He doesn’t even attempt to create different voices for different characters. It’s like listening to Wil Wheaton read the book in his head. The book is better than the movie but both are better than this audio book. Very disappointing

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  • daniel
  • 2020-02-25

Bring back RC Bray

Wil Wheaton fails at this narration! I loved Wil in Ready Player One and Redshirts but Wil struggles in this book. I listened to The Martian on CD years ago and it was one of my favorite audiobooks but now I am disappointed. I will admit that Wils narration breathes a bit more sarcasm into Watney but his overall tone fails to capture the struggle that Watney goes though. On top of that, Wil's ethnic accents are terrible and he does not clearly differentiate other characters, throughout the entire narration I had difficultly identifying which character was supposed to be talking. The Martian is a great scify book and i would recommend it to anyone who is interested in the exploration of our universe, but this audiobook is a husk of what it used to be.

I actually want a refund because when i purchased this audiobook i thought i was getting the RC Bray version that i used to have on CD. Please audible, at least bring back the RC Bray version to let the listeners choose.

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  • Chelsea
  • 2020-01-23

Horrible performance

I literally downloaded this app so I could listen to this audio of one of my favorite books. I listened to half of it but Wil Wheaton's performance is so painfully bad that I am giving up. He doesn't even try to change his voice. In the chapters with multiple characters it is a hot mess.

I found a copy with the original narrator online that I am going to steam instead. It'll be a hassle but at least it will be worth listening to.

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  • Technical_User
  • 2020-01-29

Wil Wheaton ruins this book.

I've never read the book and decided to listen to it on my drive to work. The narration is so unpleasant to listen to, and ruins what is probably an enteraining story.

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  • Andrew Hillyer
  • 2020-01-07

I'm really disappointed with this new addition

I have never listen to a Wil Wheaton before but I have heard good things and "Ready player one" has a sample that makes him sound really good. I was pretty excited to get this book because the original with R.C. Bray was phenomenal. I listen to that book proble 5 times now. I was looking for a new experience but what I got was a great book turned dull with the monotone and the lack of character voice changes. I really hope this book gets better. I'm even considering returning the $5 book so far. I hope the bonus material is worth it. Who'm I kidding. Andy Weir won't disappoint.

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  • Eric W Hollomon
  • 2020-01-18

Why a new version?

Wil is awesome but R.C. Bray’s version is sop darn good. I am not clear why a new narrator was needed.

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  • Sham
  • 2020-04-12

missing RC Bray's voice...

I've listened to this book a dozen times, still fantastic, still choke a few key moments.

BUT, to me Mark Watney's voice is, and forever will be, that of RC Bray (no offense Will Wheaton). I'm soooooo disappointed I didn't buy the RC Bray version...

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  • Anonymous User
  • 2023-11-22

A great story, excellent performance

The end is crazy good. The whole story is interesting, well written and very well read. I only regret that there is not more self-introspection, but still, I recommend!

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  • Anonymous User
  • 2023-01-16

I'd put 6 stars if there was enough space

Wonderful story, impressively well written and narrated.
I love the realistic-looking physics problems and how the emotions of characters feel real as well.
Definitely one of my favourite book ever.

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  • Clara CASIER
  • 2022-09-22

Hilarious and smart

The story in itself is great, the comments he makes are just hilarious, scientifically it's not that crazy AND it's read wonderfully... 10/10!

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  • Forissier Josselin
  • 2022-04-29

An exceptional book

It was awsome from beginning to end, kept me engage th whole time.
The story was well design full of very accurate scientific details ans very realistic for a not so distant future.
And on top of this the character are very interesting and funny. But not too much either.

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  • SERGE C.
  • 2022-04-25

Terrific !

I love this story, the humor of the author and the excellent performance of the narrator. So much so that I’ve already listened to it 4 times (!) and I’ve listened to other titles from Andy Weir. Looking for your next listen ? You’ve found it, and then listen to Project Hail Mary, you won’t be disappointed.

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  • Justine
  • 2021-06-18

Wow

After two or three disappointments, I was debating leaving Audible. Well, I'm not anymore. I laughed, I cried, I thoroughly enjoyed this audio book. The story is gripping and very well written and Wil Wheaton's performance is perfect for it.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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  • AMY F L
  • 2021-03-02

A great aventure!

The first part just about killed me: I found the narrator's voice really irritating and the technical details and calculations were total overkill for me.

However I warmed to the character as I persevered and by then I was completely hooked on the 'will he/ won't he' of Mark's survival. A cracking adventure in the last part of the tale, it's well worth a listen!

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