BOOK
The Martian
by Andy Weir
THE GIST
The gist
An astronaut stranded alone on Mars, with no way to call home, has to science his way to survival one problem at a time (2011).
ON THE SHOW
On the show.
- Ep 1 — Why Does SciFi Matter? (16:15–16:58): Caitlin's proof that hard sci-fi doesn't have to be intimidating. There are pages about growing potatoes on Mars, but you don't need to follow the science to enjoy the story.
TERMS
Terms it runs on.
- Hard vs. Soft Science Fiction — A spectrum, not a rule: hard sci-fi sticks closely to real, checkable science, while soft sci-fi cares more about people, societies, and ideas than about how the technology works.
- Near-Future Science Fiction — Science fiction set only a few years or decades from now, in a world that's recognizably ours with one or two things pushed further.