Project Hail Mary
Ratings1,128
Average rating4.5
15
Ratings1,128
Average rating4.5
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, he realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Alone on this tiny ship that’s been cobbled together by every government and space agency on the planet and hurled into the depths of space, it’s up to him to conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.
And thanks to an unexpected ally, he just might have a chance.
Part scientific mystery, part dazzling interstellar journey, Project Hail Mary is a tale of discovery, speculation, and survival to rival The Martian – while taking us to places it never dreamed of going.
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Reviews with the most likes.
Jazz hands!
Ryland and <spoiler>Rocky</spoiler> are a dynamic duo for the ages. Every fist bump, every "amaze" made me giggle. The moment Ryland woke up on the Hail Mary felt like a nod to the <spoiler>1968 Planet of the Apes</spoiler>—the disorientation, fear, and realizations hitting all at once that made my skin prickle.
The scientific breakdowns were thankfully limited and used sparingly to drive the story forward. Ryland's wry, sardonic tone definitely helped keep me engaged too. Honestly, I cared more about Ryland and <spoiler>Rocky</spoiler> than Earth for most of the book. Honorable mention for that badass Eva Stratt, who basically lit a match, threw it over her shoulder, and walked away from an explosion in slow motion in an unexpected courtroom scene.
Oh and the ending! The moment Ryland walked through that door I knew and <spoiler>my heart expanded three sizes this day</spoiler>. The final chapter felt 100% earned.
Andy Weir writes the most engaging characters in sci-fi period.
Woah! It's been a very long time since I read sci-fi, and this story kidnapped me along on a whirlwind of a space adventure! I couldn't put the book down as I needed to know what happened next at all times. The constant element of mystery, with a few action sequences sprinkled in, really achieve the amazing tension that kept me being pulled into the story stronger than gravity (heh). As any good fictional story does, Project Hail Mary draws some pretty compelling parallels to our own reality. Although the comparisons it draws are unambiguous, the thoughts it inspired in me were not. I mean, there aren't really clear villains in this story for me, and that's why it was sometimes difficult to decide whose side I was on. We are pretty used to having heroes and villains in our stories, after all.
The reason I only gave four stars is that despite the exciting storyline, unfortunately Andy Weir's stylistic writing choices did not do it for me the same way. Right from the get-go, the main character's inner dialogue was... grating. I don't like it when too many spoken language ornaments are used in writing, as (to me) it simply makes the writing itself stand out way more than the story or the character's personality. Breaks the fourth wall, if you will. The other issue comes with the 'show, don't tell' rule. There was far too much telling going on!!! I get that for dramatics it can be effective to end a chapter with "Thing X happened. Uh oh. That means bad thing XYZ", but not every few paragraphs, please! I should be able to discern the character's emotions and the implications of things directly from how they're written, without explicit explanations every single time.
How to write like Andy Weir:
Problem • Humor • Solution • Humor • Problem • Humor • Solution • Humor • Problem • Humor • Solution • Humor • Problem • Humor • Solution • Humor • Problem • Humor • Solution • Humor • Problem • Humor • Solution • Humor …
Also don’t bother with character development.
I wish I could rate higher than five stars!! This was amazing. I don’t even typically like fiction and I loved it. It’s funny, there’s some science and learning, and such a heartwarming story. I loved the take on alien life being friendly and not terrifying. I also loved watching the world team up together.
