My review of David Baron’s new history book The Martians is at PopMatters:
[In 1907] the country was several years into a bona-fide mania for Martians. The aliens were the basis of hit theater shows, a constant source of wildly illustrated speculations in newspapers, and the subject of fervent speculation. Starting in the early 1890s, discussion on the subject tended not towards whether there were intelligent beings on Mars but what kind of intelligent beings they were…
Astronauts go to Mars and a storm makes them bug out early, thinking they’ve left one of their own behind dead. Only that astronaut, a botanist played by Matt Damon with Chuck Yeager panache, isn’t dead and he’s got to figure out how to stay alive on an alien planet for years while Mission Control tries to put together a rescue plan. The Martian, based on Andy Weir’s bestseller, is the first Ridley Scott film in years that registers a pulse and might be the year’s first film to grab attention from both mainstream audiences and Oscar voters.
A can-do paean to engineering and astronaut awesomeness, The Martian is opening everywhere this week. My review is at PopMatters.
Here’s the trailer:
Chris Barsanti 
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