I had a similar reaction. Maybe because I've been reading for 35+ years and read stuff which is prob much better than The Martian. I see its attractions and his skill, no doubt, but felt lately there's a bit of a hype train going on where the actual material is nowhere near as good as the hype.

Its not as bad as the hype-to-reality gap for Fifty Shades though: that's a book where I couldn't go more than a page or so, every time I've sampled it (partly out of curiousity, partly to study its secrets), without groaning or laughing aloud at how bad it is.

The Martian is much much better than that, but his formula shows its bones quickly.