Title: Project Hail Mary
Author: Andy Weir
Genre: Science Fiction, Mystery, Thriller
Pages: 496
Publication Date: Oct 4, 2022
StoryGraph* Moods: <–Adventurous, Funny, Hopeful
How I Stumbled Upon This Book: I had read another book by this author, and when this came up as a read for a local SciFi/Fantasy book club read, I decided to join the club.
Other Books by this author: The Martian, Artemis
*StoryGraph also offers content warnings.
Description: You wake up and can’t remember your own name. Scary enough on it’s own, right? Now imagine you’ve just discovered you’re on a space craft lightyears from Earth and have no idea how you got there. Oh, and you’re two crew mates apparently died enroute while you were in a coma. This is the predicament Ryland Grace finds himself in at the start of the story.
Little by little, Ryland’s memories, and his name, come back to him – and he discovers he’s on a one-way trip through space in the hope of saving Earth from a dying a sun. No biggie, yeah? Except Ryland is a middle school science teacher – not an astronaut. And he’s far from home. And he has the weight of his planet and entire species on his shoulders. And he’s alone.
Or is he?
Why I recommend this book: Ok, first, the science – Weir is a master at breaking down super complex ideas in a way that (most) anyone can understand them (I say ‘most’ because maybe it would still be over the heads of some young readers). Helpful that his main character is a science teacher used to teaching kids, so it also doesn’t come off as condescending. If you are worried about the ‘science’ part of the science fiction genre, Weir’s books are a great entry.
Next, the sass and snark Weir is known for. The main character is easy to like and relate to, even though their circumstance is not anything I would ever have to experience. The humor in the snark made me laugh several times (even on the second read).
Last, even as someone who prefers character-driven narratives, the plot grabbed me from the first page and just propelled me forward to the end – and left me wanting more. (I always lament that the SciFi/Fantasy genre is so full of series – that sometimes, I just want a stand-alone novel. But then it’s so good, I want more! 🤣) Even on the second read, I remembered some of the issues that occur – but not necessarily the solutions, so I just kept going.
I first read this book a couple years ago when my local SciFi/Fantasy book club picked it to read (it was the reason I went the first time). At the time, I was one of two members besides the guy running it. Since then, it’s come up in a number of conversations, and then when they announced the movie would be coming out in early spring (and we have a number of new members who hadn’t read it), we decided to read it again. Now, I’m not great with audio books. Audio is my least favorite way to consume long-form prose. But – when we read it the first time, the club leader had listened to it, and spoke about how great it was. So – SPOILER (don’t read on if you are planning to read the book): One of the characters speaks in musical chords – and in the audio, you get to hear those, which was really cool. Plus, as much as the narrator’s voice lives well on the page, hearing it just adds another layer. If you, too, don’t do well with audiobooks, then I recommend reading along while listening. (Also, the book lived up to what I remembered of it – I loved it just as much this time around.)
Ryland: “I penetrated the outer cell membrane with a nanosyringe.”
Strat: “You poked it with a stick?”
Ryland: “No! Well. Yes. But it was a scientific poke with a very scientific stick.”“When stupid ideas work, they become genius ideas.”
~ Andy Weir, Project Hail Mary
Ami Maxine 