Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Jacket Blurb: 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.

Read for August 2021 book group.

If you read The Martian, you will probably enjoy this. Book group feedback: well enjoyed by one and all. Nearly everyone had at least one quirk they came away with, but hands down, outstanding read. Audio book version comes highly recommended. Same narrator who did the Bobiverse series.

Yes, this was a fun and engaging read that ran the gambit from simple entertaining, speculative scifi, first contact, pre-apocalypitc catastrophe, with some good emotional context and "Survivor" situation thrown in. As I mentioned in my opening paragraph, everyone in book group had a quirk that popped them out of the story. I'm not going to say what mine was because it would be a major spoiler. Not going to do that to ya'll.

Not sure what else I can say that hasn't been said in the plethora of reviews for this one. There is great emotional connection between Ryland and Rocky, Rocky has to be one of the best aliens invented to date (seriously), and while the plot is reminiscent of the Martian (sole survivor has to figure out how to survive and he *might* get h0me) it's very different too. The science seems well thought out and proofed, I honestly wouldn't know, but it seems pretty solid.

In short, this checked all my happy scifi boxes. There are plenty of gushing, more elaborate reviews you can certainly read, but bottom line, GREAT book. Go read it.

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