If you liked
Books like The Martian
by Andy Weir
The Martian is competence porn at its best: an astronaut stranded on Mars science-ing his way home one problem at a time, narrated with enough jokes that the math never drags. Andy Weir made hard science fiction fun again. If you want more books where a smart person out-thinks the void, these are the reads.
The shortlist
What to read next
Project Hail Maryby Andy Weir
“Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir 2021 review. A junior-high science teacher wakes alone on a deep-space craft with no memory. Andy Weir's third novel and the canonical contemporary hard science fiction novel about a single problem solved correctly.”
Sea of Tranquilityby Emily St. John Mandel
“Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel 2022 review. Four characters across four centuries are connected by the same anomalous moment. Mandel's third in the post-Station-Eleven sequence and the most structurally ambitious of the three.”
Klara and the Sunby Kazuo Ishiguro
“Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro 2021 review. Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, watches the children passing by the storefront and waits to be chosen. Late-career Ishiguro at his most patient and most strange.”
Station Elevenby Emily St. John Mandel
“Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel 2014 review. A roving theatre troupe performs Shakespeare in the Great Lakes twenty years after a pandemic. National Book Award finalist 2014 and the canonical contemporary post-apocalyptic literary novel.”
Cloud Cuckoo Landby Anthony Doerr
“Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr 2021 review. Five characters across three timelines connected by a fictional ancient Greek novel. Doerr's follow-up to All the Light We Cannot See.”
The Mountain in the Seaby Ray Nayler
“The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler 2022 review. A scientist studies a possibly-sentient octopus species on a Con Dao island. Nebula Award finalist and the canonical contemporary literary science fiction of its year.”
FAQ
Common questions about The Martian read-alikes
- I want more Andy Weir.
- Project Hail Mary is the one, and most readers think it is even better than The Martian. Same lone-problem-solver setup, same wisecracking voice, bigger stakes and a first-contact twist. Read it next and do not spoil yourself.
- I want the hard science with a bigger idea underneath.
- The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler is a thoughtful near-future novel about octopus intelligence and consciousness that still respects the science. It trades Weir's jokes for ideas but rewards the same curious reader.
- I want smart sci-fi that reads like literary fiction.
- Sea of Tranquility and Cloud Cuckoo Land both fold big speculative ideas into character-driven storytelling. Klara and the Sun gives you Ishiguro's quiet android narrator. None are as breezy as The Martian, but all keep the wonder.
- I want a survival story, not a space one.
- Station Eleven is a post-pandemic survival novel built around a traveling theater troupe. Different disaster, same interest in how people keep going and stay human when the systems fail.
The original