Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Released: May 4, 2021 | Genre: Science Fiction
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Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish.
Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.
All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.
His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.
And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone.
Or does he?
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Before writing Project Hail Mary, Andy Weir spent about a year working on an unpublished science-fiction novel called Zhek. The story wasn’t coming together, so he shelved it but kept the idea of an extraordinarily efficient spacecraft fuel capable of converting mass into energy. He eventually combined that concept with two unrelated ideas of a man waking up aboard a spaceship with amnesia and a woman with extraordinary authority, and turned those spare parts into Project Hail Mary.
REVIEW
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Better than The Martian? 🤔
No book is perfect, so I tried to find something wrong with this one. I wrote down the only criticism I could think of… then thought about it some more and deleted it.
Some readers will probably say Project Hail Mary isn’t as funny as The Martian. That’s true, the humor is there, but it’s not as constant or in-your-face. Personally, I think pulling back on the comedy allowed the story to land with more impact, creating stronger suspense and engagement. A perfect example is the Antarctica scene. I won’t spoil it, but it’s one of my favorite parts of the book and really puts the scope of the story into perspective.
As for the science, there is a lot more of it here than in Andy Weir’s previous work, so be ready for that. But more importantly, Weir proves himself to be a master of “micro-problems” and problem-solving; stories within stories. The book is full of arcs, each containing its own set of challenges. Every problem makes sense within the context of the story, is paced well, and never becomes too complicated for the reader to follow. Some solutions even create new problems later, yet nothing is left dangling. Everything ties together into a complete, satisfying story.
Now, the characters. Rocky is absolutely the cutest thing ever. He is the perfect mix of creepy and adorable. That is all I will say to avoid spoilers.
Stratt, on the other hand, is my personal favorite. She’s tough, no-nonsense, and commands every scene she’s in.
“Your Honor,” Stratt interrupted. “Can I make motions now?”
“Technically,” said the justice, “but it’s irregul—”
“I move to dismiss.”
“On what grounds, Ms. Stratt?” said the justice.
“Because I don’t have time for this bullshit,” she said.
Another great thing about reading Andy Weir is that you actually learn something along the way.
“In fact, the gravity you experience in orbit is pretty much the same as you’d experience on the ground. The weightlessness that astronauts experience while in orbit comes from constantly falling. But the curvature of the Earth makes the ground go away at the same rate you fall. So you just fall forever.”
(Admit it, you didn’t know that either)
