Book Review | Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Ryland Grace is the lone survivor of a critical mission—failure means the extinction of every living thing on Earth. But right now, he is unaware of this and can’t remember his name or his assignment.

All he knows is that he’s just awakened from a long sleep, millions of miles from home, with only two corpses beside him. As memories slowly return, he realises he must solve a daunting scientific mystery and confront an extinction threat alone. Or is he alone?

What would you call an organism that exists on a diet of stars?

Imagine crying while reading a science fiction book. Who does that??

Me. It’s me!

Project Hail Mary is hands down one of my favourite books of the year! It combines space travel, science mystery, heartwarming friendship and humanity’s fight for survival in a thrilling, entertaining package.

I’m aware I’m biased because I love space stories! But this book is fantastic! It’s like Sunshine, Interstellar and Arrival all rolled into one. The author’s debut, The Martian (and adapted into a movie starring Matt Damon), is one of my favourite sci-fi books because it has a relatable main character who brings wit and resourcefulness to what is essentially a hopeless situation. There are tons of “science!” and technical details, but they’re presented in an accessible format, so I didn’t feel lost at all.

It’s the same here, where Ryland Grace is sent to space to save Earth from an extinction-level event. Except he doesn’t remember that. He wakes up in a spaceship with no memory, his crewmates dead, and an insurmountable task ahead of him. There are flashbacks to his life on Earth, where he slowly recalls information to get him through the journey. And then he meets an unexpected ally! I don’t want to spoil it, but the friendship here is wholesome and pure. The author said he didn’t plan to write this book to depict the pandemic, but it’s eerily reflected through themes of isolation, loneliness, survival and sacrifice. The ending is bittersweet, but it makes perfect sense to me.

Also, I highly recommend listening to the audiobook! The narrator (Ray Porter) is great, and there are audio tricks used for a certain character that work amazingly well. It made the reading experience so much fun!

Now I’m waiting impatiently for the movie to come out!

About the author: Andy Weir

Photo by NASA