'Project Hail Mary' by Andy Weir is a science fiction novel that follows the story of Ryland Grace, a man who wakes up on a spaceship with no memory of who he is or why he is there. He soon discovers that he is on a mission to save humanity from an alien infestation that is consuming the sun. The book combines elements of suspense, science, and adventure as Ryland navigates challenges, solves scientific problems, and forms unexpected alliances with alien lifeforms to unravel the mystery and find a solution to save Earth.
The writing style of 'Project Hail Mary' is described as fast-paced, humorous, and engaging. The author, Andy Weir, expertly weaves scientific details into the narrative, making complex concepts accessible and adding credibility to the mind-bending events in the story. The book alternates between present-time events on the spaceship and flashbacks that provide background information, creating a well-balanced narrative that keeps readers on the edge of their seats.
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From The Publisher:
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
From the author of The Martian, a lone astronaut must save the earth from disaster in this "propulsive" (Entertainment Weekly), cinematic thriller full of suspense, humor, and fascinating science-in development as a major motion picture starring Ryan Gosling.
"An epic story of redemption, discovery and cool speculative sci-fi."-USA Today
"If you loved The Martian, you'll go crazy for Weir's latest."-The Washington Post
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?
An irresistible interstellar adventure as only Andy Weir could deliver, 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.
Ratings (816)
Incredible (333) | |
Loved It (301) | |
Liked It (110) | |
It Was OK (46) | |
Did Not Like (18) | |
Hated It (8) |
Reader Stats (1477):
Read It (818) | |
Currently Reading (18) | |
Want To Read (461) | |
Did Not Finish (16) | |
Not Interested (164) |
36 comment(s)
Meh, ok but boring
I wanted to love this book. I REALLY DID.
I promise I did try, but I just couldn't...
I absolutely love anything involving space (
anything), and I truly did enjoy this aspect of the book, but there's ultimately one reason I need to give this book three stars:
I don't think I've ever disliked a main character as much as I disliked Ryland Grace.
What a whiny, pretentious, arrogant, horribly annoying man! If Earth were ever under the threat of being destroyed by Astrophage, I'd rather let it destroy us than have Grace save the day. THAT is how much I dislike him.
Maybe I ended up just looking for things to dislike about this book, but can we please talk about why intelligent, no-nonsense women are always portrayed as bitchy and arrogant? Why did Andy Weir feel the need to have one of his characters suggest Stratt needed to get laid to relax?
Am I reading too much into this or is this truly completely unnecessary?
Also, the loyal Chinese man of few words, the
extremely respectful Black man, and the vodka-loving Russian woman... Seems a bit stereotypical, but again, maybe I'm just fishing for things to dislike.
I do have to say that there was one thing I really did enjoy:
ROCKY! He is truly the only thing that kept me going through the book. I LOVE HIM! In fact, I would absolutely LOVE a book from Rocky's point of view. I found myself skimming through all the parts that did not have Rocky in them, just to get to more Rocky content. Of course, leave it to Ryland Grace to be so whiny he even gets annoyed with
newly discovered alien life forms
. How could you call Rocky a jerk?!
All in all, I truly do wish I would've enjoyed this book, but I could barely get through it.
Great concept, terribly main character that absolutely killed the whole vibe for me.
I had such a great time reading this book. It was tense and heartwarming and funny. It was a lot more character focused than previous Sci-Fi books I’ve read which I enjoyed.
I would go in as blind as possible. The main character has amnesia and is slowly recovering his memories throughout the story and I think if you go in with no background knowledge it fits the story better.
I think even if you haven’t liked Sci-Fi in the past you will still enjoy this. It is a lot smaller scale, simpler, and character focused than other Sci-Fi novels.
It's 4.5 for now but might change to 5 later. It's all depends on how the book sits with me over some time. Ryland Grace is alone in space. Just woken up for what could be years long sleep with only two other dead astronaut as company. He doesn't know who he is or what he supposed to do. But he has to save humanity somehow! This was fun and exciting. The same loveble humour as in Martian but its own charm. Don't want to spoil anything but I loved the friendship in this book, so fun and wholesome.
“I clench my teeth. I clench my fists. I clench my butt.
clench every part of me that I know how to clench. It gives me a feeling of control. I'm doing something by
aggressively doing nothing.”
Very VERY fun and quick read that was chock full of actual real science and math and physics and all sorts of STEM topics. The casual writing style made it easy to become invested in the main character to constantly root for his success through the ups and downs. Some parts of the story were a lot more drawn out than others where weeks of story were quickly glossed over but overall very fun read.
One of the best SF novels I have read. I expected something similar to Martian but Hail Mary delivered more. It has Martian's silly yet enjoyable humour, science stuff that makes you feel you know your stuff and a crazy yet relatable protagonist. Loved it.
Exciting, sometimes funny, and with a sweet ending.
Too much math and science for my taste but found the friendship intriguing.
Andy Weir is great at making science exciting to read about. His characters are like Sherlock Holmes, but they only use science and every situation is life or death.
However, he has a tendency to write the same protagonist every time. Characters are not his strong suit. Some of the things we learn about Ryland Grace are just because he tells us - he never shows us. And it feels shallow.
The plot is great! I'm not a scientist so it's not like I can check his work but I really enjoyed the plot. Just annoyed by the paper thin protagonist.
****2.0****
DNF @50%
This might be one of the unpopular opinions. I did not like it.
There were so many instances which were hard to believe. Main one being a grade school math teacher can know and do so many things in small time gap. And the science and numbers went over my head, plus I had no energy to google out everything just to understand and enjoy the book.
I did like Martian which was a bit simple and straight forward. This one has a movie feel. And narrated keeping movie audience in mind (purely my opinion).
Happy Reading!!
What can you read after
Project Hail Mary?
About the Author:
Andy Weir built a two-decade career as a software engineer until the success of his first published novel, The Martian, allowed him to live out his dream of writing full-time. He is a lifelong space nerd and a devoted hobbyist…
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