Andy Weir
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Andy Weir (born Andrew Taylor Weir on June 16, 1972 in Davis , California ) is an American writer and software developer . He became known through his debut novel Der Martianer .
Life
Weir started working as a software developer for Sandia National Laboratories when he was 15 . He then studied computer science at the University of California in San Diego . Although he did not graduate from there, he went on to work for several software companies including America Online and Blizzard Entertainment .
Weir began writing at the age of 20 and initially published short stories on his own website. He names Arthur C. Clarke , Robert A. Heinlein and Isaac Asimov as literary role models . In his free time, he also deals with astrophysics .
The Martian
In 2011 Weir published his debut novel The Martians . The realistic science fiction novel soon became a bestseller.
Weir did not find a publisher for his book at first and therefore gradually published the individual chapters free of charge on his website. The resulting contact with his readers, who criticized the details of his book, significantly improved the scientific content and background. Weir initially offered his completed novel as a free e-book for download, and soon, at the request of readers, also for Amazon Kindle for 99 cents. Shortly after it was published on Amazon, sales rose rapidly and the book caught the attention of publishers, which led to the publication of the print version by Crown Verlag in 2014.
In order to make the book as realistic as possible, Weir wrote a computer program in addition to the usual detailed research to correctly calculate the flight routes to Mars that occur in the plot.
In 2015, the book by Ridley Scott was filmed with Matt Damon in the lead role. In the same year, the novel was also named Knowledge Book of the Year .
Webcomics and short stories
Andy Weir is also the author of two webcomics: Casey and Andy and Cheshire Crossing . He also wrote several short stories, one of the more well-known The Egg (2009, German Das Ei ). It has been translated into 30 languages.
Works (selection)
Novels
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The Martian , e-book: Amazon, 2011; Print: Crown, 2014, ISBN 978-0-804-13902-1
- German: Der Martianer , Heyne, 2014, ISBN 978-3-453-31583-9
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Artemis , Crown, 2017, ISBN 978-0-525-57266-4
- German: Artemis , Heyne, 2018, ISBN 978-3-453-27167-8
Short stories
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The Egg , galactanet.com, 2009
- German: The egg
- Lacero ( published as fan fiction in the 2016 print edition by Ernest Cline's Ready Player One )
Web links
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Weir, Andy |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American writer and software developer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 20th century |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Davis , California |