> On 22 Jun 2014, at 04:17, "xxxxxx@shadowgard.com" <xxxxxx@shadowgard.com> wrote:
>
>> On 21 Jun 2014 at 11:50, Timothy Collinson wrote:
>>
>> But I stumbled across _The Martian_ by Andy Weir (published by Del
>> Rey in the US and the UK in 2014). RUN don't walk to your nearest
>> book supplier to find this. It's brilliant. I've just finished it
>> (in less than 24 hours) it was that gripping. It's not really SF as
>> it could happen today (well, tomorrow maybe) but basically tells the
>> story of one of the crew of a Mars mission left behind on the surface
>> when the team is aborting their trip in some haste.
>>
>> It's a terrific survival tale in the tradition of Robinson Crusoe
>> (think Crusoe meets Gravity!) and is definitely the kind of book you
>> want to start when your diary isn't too full.
>
> More or less an update of "Robinson Crusoe on Mars" (a fun movie from
> the 60, even if the science is *horrible*)

Yes.  Only the science in _The Martian_ is impeccable, along with the
knowledge of NASA procedure/equipment.  At least as far as I can tell.
It's certainly very very convincing.

If anyone's running Across the Brightface - or similar - there's lots
to mine here.

It also reminds me of a short story I wrote while I was in Africa 30
years ago.  I suspect I've still got it, but whether I would dare to
show it in public is a completely different question!  I'll take a
look.

tc