I have descended from my ivory tower and read a fiction book that was written in the 2000s…and I had such a fun time doing it! Andy Weir weaves science into his stories so well, and I loved the relationship between Grace and Rocky. Finally, as far as tropes go, humans and aliens trying to teach each other their respective languages is one of my favorites.
I really enjoyed it…until the ending where the main character lived, are cloned burgers of himself to survive, and decided to live on the alien planet teaching rock children. It just all seemed stupid. It would’ve been much more meaningful if he died - sacrificing himself for his friend and their planet (full character arc of him being brave finally).