Book Review: Project Hail Mary

Wilbur staring off into space, just like Ryland in Project Hail Mary. Photo by Kate Ota 2021

Project Hail Mary is an adult sci-fi by Andy Weir, famous for writing The Martian. I read this in about four days and couldn’t stop thinking about it. It has the same high tension as The Martian with his signature sense of humor. Perhaps fewer f-bombs.

The main character, Dr. Ryland Grace wakes up alone on a space craft and slowly pieces together what happened. Basically, bacteria (for lack of a better term) have infected the sun and are eating/dimming it, to the point life on earth has less than one human lifespan remaining. Dr. Grace was sent to an infected, but not dimming star to discover how that star has remained resilient and send the cure/fix/explanation home. Oh yeah, and then he’s supposed to just die. But we know that’s not going to happen without a fight.

As always, I loved Weir’s sense of humor. It’s so hard to make someone be funny when they spend most of the book alone. It’s also a unique take on first contact with alien life. He nails science explanations to the point that I, as a person with a Masters in physiology, believed everything was plausible. (If I’d been paid to poke holes in his biology, maybe I could have. But not when it’s just for fun!) The characters aside from the MC were also well done.

On the downside  . . . hmm. This is usually where I talk about what I didn’t like but honestly, I loved this. When’s the movie coming out? (He sold the rights in 2020 and Ryan Gosling is attached so this question is not just a joke.)
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I’d recommend this book if you loved The Martian or Interstellar or are into alien encounters that aren’t battle/conqueror-type interactions. If you like hard sci-fi, especially biopunk, you’ll enjoy this. It may not be for those who are science averse. If, for example, you found the science of The Martian to be confusing or distracting, then this is not going to work for you either.
 
Have you read Project Hail Mary? Did you enjoy it? That ending! Let’s discuss in the comments!