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Biography
American

Andy Weir

1972

Andy Weir self-published The Martian as a serial on his website, then as a 99-cent Kindle book — and it became one of the biggest publishing phenomena of the 2010s. The novel — about astronaut Mark Watney stranded on Mars, surviving through engineering ingenuity and gallows humour — sold millions of copies and was adapted into a Ridley Scott film starring Matt Damon (2015). Weir writes hard science fiction in which the science is the plot: his characters survive by doing maths correctly.

Past sales0
PeriodContemporary
NationalityAmerican
1. Biography

A short life of the author

Andrew Taylor Weir (b. 1972) was born on 16 June 1972 in Davis, California. His father was a particle physicist, and Weir grew up steeped in science. He studied computer science at the University of California, San Diego, and worked as a software engineer at AOL and other companies. He wrote fiction as a hobby, publishing short stories on his personal website.

Life and Career

The Martian began as a serial posted chapter by chapter on Weir’s website starting in 2011. Readers pestered him to put it on Kindle; he did, at $0.99, in 2012. It became a massive self-published bestseller. Crown Publishing acquired it in 2014 and published a print edition. Ridley Scott’s film adaptation (2015), starring Matt Damon, grossed over $630 million worldwide.

The novel’s appeal is its protagonist’s voice — Watney narrates his ordeal with profane humour and relentless problem-solving — and its scientific rigour. Weir researched orbital mechanics, Martian botany, and atmospheric chemistry obsessively; the novel’s solutions are plausible (with minor acknowledged liberties).

Artemis (2017), set in a lunar colony, was less well received — critics found its protagonist less compelling. Project Hail Mary (2021) — about a man who wakes up alone on a spaceship with no memory, tasked with saving Earth from an extinction-level threat — was a triumphant return. Its portrayal of an interspecies friendship (between the protagonist and an alien named Rocky) was one of the most emotionally affecting relationships in recent science fiction. Ryan Gosling stars in the film adaptation.

Major Works and Themes

Weir writes survival fiction in which intelligence, knowledge, and persistence are the tools of rescue. His fiction is optimistic — humans are clever, problems are solvable, science works — in a genre that often defaults to dystopia.

Key Works

  • The Martian (2011/2014)
  • Project Hail Mary (2021)

Collecting Weir

The self-published first edition of The Martian (2011, self-published paperback via CreateSpace) is extremely rare.

The Crown hardcover first edition (2014) brings $50–$200. Project Hail Mary (2021, Ballantine) brings $20–$60. Weir signs at events.