Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (2021)
Epic: Emotional: Fun
Book cover blurb
A LONE ASTRONAUT. AN IMPOSSIBLE MISSION. AN ALLY HE NEVER IMAGINED.
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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My Review
There were tears. Brave manly tears, but still, yeah, tears.
If this book had been described to me in its simplest terms, a science-based project to save our dying sun, I'd have quickly said, 'Hard SciFi? No thanks. That's not for me.' Thank gods I listened to the hype. And thank those same gods for free Kindle samples! I read the first chapter of the sample and was utterly hooked. I was right there with the main character, completely bewildered and desperate to find out more.
The choice to make the lead character, Ryland Grace, a school teacher was sheer genius. Making him the middle man between ordinary intelligence and super intelligence gave the exact amount of scope to believe he could be as afraid and lost as he is, and also able to fathom complex answers when needed the way he does. Grace is one of the most engaging characters I've found in a book for a very long time. The supporting characters were also a perfect mix, and the exchanges between them were fantastically entertaining, shocking and awkward.
The split narrative storytelling was a joy. Flashbacks occur as Grace's memories return in conjunction with current experiences. This is the only way this book could work and I loved it. The earthside flashbacks build interest and engagement just as much as the outer space story and each narrative had me eager to get back to the other in turn, urging me on through page after wonderful page.
Ok, let's get to it. The science. If you think the science in this story spoils the enjoyment then, I'm sorry, you're wrong. If you have a problem with the scientific conundrums and problems then I would suggest that's because you'd made up your mind to have a problem with it even before you got to it. Instead of skimming over it and grumbling, try actually reading what Weir has taken the time to put on the page for you. It's been written in a way that's pretty easy to understand, and if I can understand this stuff then anyone can, and it enhances the tension of exactly what's happening. So don't winge about it, read it.
Do I have anything negative to say? No, not really. If you really want me to nitpick I could say that Ryland Grace's avoidance of profanity was pretty unbelievable. But in all honesty, I actually found it quite charming. In a world where the profanity count in entertainment is a one-upmanship competition, I applaud anyone who refuses to toe that line.
This is an incredibly entertaining book, you really do need to read it.
My copy of this novel
Ballantine hardback edition.
Published in 2021
478 pages
ISBN 9780593135204