- Author
- Andy Weir
- Narrator
- Ray Porter
- Length
- 16 hr 10 min
- Publisher
- Audible Studios
Best for: First time listeners and anyone who loved The Martian.
Most of this book is one man thinking out loud, and that is a risk in audio. Porter handles it by giving Ryland Grace a slightly breathless, self interrupting rhythm, so the long passages of arithmetic sound like a person working rather than a text being read.
The production adds a small processed effect to the voice of a second character. It is used sparingly and it earns its place: by the midpoint the two voices have a back and forth that carries whole chapters.
Pacing slows in the flashback sections, which are more expository. Listening at 1.1x helped there without flattening the jokes.
What we loved
- ✓Ray Porter's career best performance
- ✓Clever use of a processed alien voice
- ✓Funny, warm and genuinely moving
Worth knowing
- –Flashbacks slow the middle
- –Heavy on science explanation
The verdict
An easy first recommendation for anyone new to audiobooks, and a rare case where the audio edition improves on the page.
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