Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir – Review

Published: May 4, 2021

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Series: Standalone

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 496 (Hardcover)

My Rating: 5.0/5.0

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:

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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Aw man, what an emotional, amazing book this was! I am somewhat embarrassed to admit this is my first Andy Weir book, though I loved the movie adaptation of The Martian and bought the book so many years ago with plans to read it. This was a phenomenal introduction to his work – lots of sciency goodness, tons of heart, and humor. The whole saving Earth thing was also kind of a big deal too, but it’s really about the journey, ya know?

Now about that journey… It all starts when an astronomer notices a line of infrared light in space and also the sun appears to be dimming. Forgive me if I get any of the little details wrong – it was a lot to take in! A dimming sun spells cataclysm for humanity, resulting in mass starvation, an ice age, and other equally dreadful potential futures. Thus begins the work of finding out what’s causing this catastrophe and stopping it. Enter Ryland Grace, teacher extraordinaire. Grace was a brilliant scientist until he got sick of the petty shit that goes on in academia and he peaced out with a final, flaming paper roasting his peers. He is recruited by the task force working on the problem and gets deeply involved in solving this problem.

With all that being said, you might wonder how he ultimately ended up on a spaceship with two dead astronauts in the compartment with him and no memory of who he is. Because that is exactly how this book begins. The timeline goes back and forth between the present on this strange ship and the past, where Ryland begins to gather his memories back and realizes that he’s humanity’s last hope. Now it gets really fun! 

BIG SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

This isn’t just about saving the world – it’s also a first contact with aliens book!! Ryland arrives at Tau, the star where the astrophages (star eaters) that are dimming the sun originated. And lo, THERE IS ANOTHER SPACESHIP!!! I literally squealed with excitement! And the being aboard – a crablike fellow Ryland dubs Rocky – is friendly and he’s also trying to save his star Eridani, from the astrophage too. They team up and the book becomes equal parts learning about one another and finding a solution to the astrophage problem. It’s a delight to read about the developing friendship and inevitable foibles along the way. This book was somehow wholesome even though failure could mean the extinction of billions. And the ending. O man, that ending was so bittersweet. I just loved it! 

Project Hail Mary will be hands down one of my top 10 books this year. I think this one will leave a lasting impact and could very easily be translated to the big screen and become an amazing movie. It would probably make me cry in the theater (oh how long since I’ve been in a movie theater). The last book I read with such a well blended technical and emotional aspect was Seveneves, and we’re just going to ignore that last part of the book that either should not have existed or should have been a separate book. I just can’t say enough wonderful things about Project Hail Mary – go read it for yourself!