** spoiler alert ** Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

So, Andy Weir. I loved The Martian, but not so much Artemis or The Egg. And I loved Project Hail Mary. I'm guessing I won't like his next book very much, at least according to this pattern, but for now I can savor this book with all the lip smacking, finger licking savor of a KFC drumstick.

The sun is in trouble, and for some reason, Mark Watney is nowhere mentioned. Maybe he's in another multiverse? In any case (and yes, Watney isn't the only horse in Weir's stable, just the best one until now), our hero is someone new. A few someones. We have our main protagonist, Ryland Grace (I'm still pondering the significance of Grace in a book like this) and his boss, who's name I'm blanking on and my new favorite literary character, Rocky. Rocky, who I should have the icky shivers about because he's like one of my least favorite creepy earth creatures, but who is the breakout star of this book. The buddy factor is in awesome play here.

We have inspiring science, we have new critters - Astophage and Taumeba.
We have an awesome plot. We have surprises and character redemption. (Is that the Grace factor?)
There's a spaceship that doesn't violate what we know/can do now. There's several new species, all of whom are different enough from earth creatures that I'm still thinking about them.
There are funny clever lines. There's heartbreak and worry. There's too many interesting things going on to put the book down and get a full night of sleep. When I put it down, I dream about it.

The worst thing about this book is that it ended. I mean, I wanted it to get to the end, but I didn't want it to end. I'd like to spend more time with Grace and Rocky. Please Andy, give us more. Give us a sequel that explores Rocky's homeworld and his people. His Adrian and his offspring. Tell us what happened on earth. Please don't end it here, although it was a perfectly good and acceptable ending. I just feel like this could be the beginning of several beautiful relationships.

I rarely give 5 stars, so that's how highly I though of this book.
Also, this is sure to be a movie. Hope they cast an unknown.

After finishing my review, I felt free to go and read what others have said, and I find that the better a book is the better the reviews are. And there are some really excellent reviews on Goodreads. It makes me happy.

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir has easily made it to the top of my best of 2021 list. I didn't expect Andy Weir to be able to top The Martian which I absolutely loved, but he really outdid himself with this one. I'm really glad I savored this because it was such a fun reading experience. I particularly enjoyed solving the mystery of Ryland Grace's identity and the purpose of the ship right alongside Ryland. As much as I enjoyed getting to know Ryland as he rediscovering his past, my personal favorite character of the novel has got to be Rocky. He's just the best. There's so much more I'd like to say about this novel, but I don't want to spoil any of it for those that haven't had the chance to pick it up yet. Overall, I can't recommend Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir enough. If you haven't read it yet, what are you waiting for?!

The man opens his eyes and finds himself strapped to a strange hospital bed. His naked body has electrodes plastered head to toe and tubes infiltrating every orifice. His "nurse" is a pair of robotic arms; the voice, feminine, with an emotionless drone. With sleep heavy eyes he scans the room and sees mummified remains in the other two beds. It seems he's been "asleep" a long time. He doesn't know how long because he doesn't remember anything including his name.

After freeing himself, he stumbles around in search of someone or something to explain his circumstances. Stunned he discovers he is completely alone on a space ship hurdling through space with no idea how he got there or why.

Suddenly a neuron fires in his head, and he has a blip of memory. He is in a coffee shop in San Francisco. He's reading an email from the Pulkovo Observatory in Russia soliciting theories to explain why a line of infrared emissions are leaving the sun, dimming it, and heading toward Venus in a widening arc.
"Apparently my brain decided it was critical that I remember that email. Not trivial things like my own name."
As Ryland Grace puts the puzzle together, he asks himself, "Why have I, a Junior High School science teacher ended up on a space ship? " We learn, in a highly technical and scientific manner, that his presence on the ship wasn't exactly voluntary but necessary. The sun is losing energy rapidly to some unknown space algae they named Astrophages. As a result, Earth faces a rapidly developing ice age leading to extinction of all life in the near future. Quoting Martin Luther King, "We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now."

When he puts it all together, Grace makes a decision. His death is a foregone conclusion. Might as well see if he can save the Earth before that happens. And in his search for an answer, he finds he isn't as alone as he thought.

Revealing any more will spoil the story. I will give a heads up. This is a science fiction novel. It has a lot of technical jargon and space science stuff. Understanding and comprehending that material not my strong suit. I stuck to the pathos, ingenuity, jerry rigging, loneliness, entertainment, witty sequences, and humor that our reluctant and inexperienced astronaut provided. Space geeks seem to have a harder time accepting the plot. I did not feel I lost anything by skimming through the equations and astro-geek speak. To me, the heart of the story had a richer more personal message - loyalty and friendship - that left me cheering at the unexpected ending. I really enjoyed the book. (The Martian remains my favorite though.)

I want to thank the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced reader’s copy.

Ryland Grace is the only survivor on a last-ditch effort to save the Earth and all of humanity. The issue? He’s been asleep for who knows how long and can’t remember his name, much less what in the world he’s doing in space to begin with. His two crewmates have died somewhere along the way leaving Ryland to slowly piece together that it is entirely on his shoulders to save the world. Or is it?

I read a lot of books that I truly adore. Books that pull you in and just don’t let go. Project Hail Mary is one of those books but on a different level. The writing was so entrancing to me! There are several times that I had to set the book down because it’s easy to become deeply and legitimately concerned for Ryland and the mission at hand. There’s a lot of science involved throughout this story and it’s so freaking cool! I was told by several different people that I was going to love this book and that was 100% accurate. It’s just so damned good. This book would be perfect for nerdy empathetic types. Or just people that like books in general. Whatever.

Now I want to go to space even worse than before despite having existential crises just looking at the stars sometimes 😂

Thanks so much to NetGalley, Ballantine Books, and Andy Weir for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I think this is his best one yet!

The characters are well developed, the science is great but not too intense, and the relationships are perfect. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in science, space, or sci-fi!

I thoroughly enjoyed this! 4.5 stars! This is my first Andy Weir book but I have seen The Martian, and Andy just comes up with such a vast and unique world/circumstances let alone all the science information that he researched! *Clap Clap* I was so impressed! (Though I will admit when it was intense I tended to skip some the explained science... oops). Those who love science fiction will love this!

Ryland Grace isn't your average science teacher, his students don't know that he is much much more. So much that when the earth starts to get colder the governments of the world turn their heads towards Ryland Grace. He finds himself on a suicidal space mission to try to figure out why the sunlight is being blocked, and just when Ryland thinks he's alone an unlikely friend with the same goal joins him!

Thank you to Ballantine Books and Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

If there was a book made for Science geek, this book was the perfect example. In Project Hail Mary, we’re introduced to a character named Ryland Grace, an astronaut, who woke up without an idea where he is or what happened to him. As the story unravel, it takes us to this interesting discoveries and we learn that his mission is larger than life.

This book is heavy on Physics, Chemistry and a bit of Biology sprinkled into it. I love Science but this book wasn’t gripping enough to keep me glued to the story. However, it was well written and I can appreciate how the author mixed a little bit of humor into it. It was a long book but majority of the book made me feel confused as to what is going on. I love a book that keeps me guessing but I also want the book to make me think of possible theories that could be happening. I don’t have a vivid imagination so it was difficult for me to decipher what was happening. Personally, I would have loved to see this story made into a movie rather than a book.

Thank you Random House Publishing Group and Netgalley for this ARC.

For more reviews and bookish posts please visit: https://www.ManOfLaBook.com

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir is a science-fiction story and scientific mystery. Mr. Weir is a published author, known for his book The Martian.

Dr. Ryland Grace woke up on a space-ship with generally no idea why he’s there. Equally important, his crew-mates are dead and the spaceship is millions of miles from home.

Slowly, Dr. Grace’s memory starts coming back, specifically he realizes his task is nothing less than saving humanity. An unexpected ally helps him on his mission, although Dr. Grace now knows he’ll never see home again.

I have enjoyed Mr. Weir’s novels in the past and henceforth am always on the lookout for a new one. I was undeniably happy to see this book and was looking forward to reading it. The problem is, as many know, that when you have a high expectations for something, you’re likely to be disappointed.
I wasn’t!

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir is easily addictive, the mystery about Dr. Grace’s mission, or why he’s even there builds up. Mr. Weir uses a “memory wipe” technique to build up the narrative. Slowly Grace remembers who he is, and his mission.

In the true fashion of Mr. Weir’s novels, the readers spends a lot of time in Dr. Grace’s mind. We course we get to know his quirks, likes, dislikes and the geeky/pop-culture/scientific sense of humor which, on the positive side, I always appreciate.

One of the things I enjoyed in these books is that science is, unquestionably, the real hero. Yes, chiefly there are people implementing the science, but the author takes great care to introduce concepts though an exciting adventure. I admit that the description sounds like The Martian, and surely the book is very similar in tone and structure. Nevertheless, it is not a copy, but a different story with a somewhat similar premise.

Although I didn’t understand every scientific detail, the novel is still very much enjoyable. Regardless of my limitations, the author did a fantastic job balancing the narrative, plot, characters, and yes… science as well.

This is an intellectual, quirky, thriller which, undeniably, met my expectations. In particular, the space journey the reader takes with Dr. Grace is fascinating and worth their time.

One thing is for sure, Andy Weir definitely knows how to write a funny character.

The story fluctuates within a certain percentile for me. The first 15% of the book invoked a strong sense of curiosity towards the story. After that, a couple pages bored me to death. Although, to be fair, it is a plot that relies heavily on scientific basis so those parts are highly relevant despite coming off as tiring to read.

I love how Andy Weir paced the story. As said earlier, there were boring parts in the book, but he gave us sequences that are really quirky that distracts us and makes the reading more fun and entertaining.

I believe Andy Weir will be a part of the list of authors that I automatically support.

For as long as I can remember, scientists, politicians, and large corporations have gone back and forth about how to best respond to climate change. The scientific community is at a consensus that Earth's temperature is rising at an alarming rate due in a large part to human-induced emissions and greenhouse gasses. Despite most agreeing that this is a problem, no one seems to be able to agree on how to resolve it. In Project Hail Mary, Andy Weir imagines a climate catastrophe that makes our struggle with global warming pale in comparison. In his signature style, Weir writes of the last-ditch attempt to reverse the extinction of the human race, an effort that will take all of mankind coming together to save themselves.

To say the situation that Ryland Grace finds himself in is completely alien to him would be both an understatement and about as accurate as you can get. As we first meet him, the public school science teacher is as in the dark about his predicament as we are. Grace has just awakened from a deep sleep. He's connected to various tubes and wires, each leading to machines that hum and beep quietly in the background. Moving his body is a chore. Dr. Grace aches with each attempt to lift himself from his bed and take in his surroundings. He sees two other beds that appear similar to his own, though neither of the others is connected to any monitoring devices.

As his physical strength grows, so does his mental capacity. He can see now that the two other beds contain the lifeless bodies of two people, though Grace doesn't recognize either of them. More alarming is what lies outside of this room, a vast blackness that both mystifies and startles him. You see, Dr. Ryland Grace is in outer space. The only problem is that he has no idea how he got here or what he is supposed to do next.

After enjoying Andy Wier's previous novel Artemis, I was excited to accept an offer from his publisher to review Project Hail Mary. Weir is best known for his breakout hit The Martian, and this novel sees him continue to combine his scientific expertise with a compelling story and witty dialogue. The main character's amnesia adds to the mystery of his situation. Weir alternates chapters of the past on earth with the present in space, allowing us to discover the motivations of his character without sacrificing any of the suspense of his current predicament.

Both of Weir's previous works were the kind of sci-fi that is rooted firmly in a plausible reality. Project Hail Mary asks us to suspend disbelief a bit too much for my taste, taking the story into several eye roll-inducing moments. As the story progressed, things got more and more far-fetched, taking me out of the reality that the first portion of the novel so successfully built. By that point, however, I was so invested in seeing the story of this character through that I couldn't help but keep reading. To that end then, Project Hail Mary is ultimately a story of one man tasked with carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. It is through the power of this one character that everything else filters through, ultimately making the novel an endearing, if a bit uneven, read.

I was so excited to receive a copy of Andy Weir's newest novel, which is being published today, from @netgalley

Ryland Grace wakes up as the sole survivor on a mission in space, with no memory of who he is or what mission he's on. It's a crazy ride and goes back and forth between his mission and the flashes of memories he has about the event leading up to it.

I love all of Weir's novels. He has such a unique style and I love the situations he creates. If you're a fan of The Martian, you will love this book. If I remember correctly, it seems like this book has a lot more science in it than The Martian. It was a little too much for me, but Weir does a fantastic job of explaining complex topics. I loved Grace's adventure and the questions that the book raises. I already can't wait for the movie to come out!

So obviously I liked this one. Y’all haven’t heard from me in who knows how long and it’s not like I didn’t read anything. I found Project Hail Mary to be one of those special kinds of books that only comes around once in a while. Is an emotional rollercoaster that has left me missing the protagonists and wondering how many years will need to go by before I can really enjoy a reread.

Finding yourself on a spaceship remembering nothing would be a trip…literally :-P. And that’s the exact situation Ryland Grace, an ex research biologist turned middle school science teacher, wakes up to. We are there right along with him as he remembers humanity’s plight and carries out a mission that is way bigger than anything he has ever dreamed of accomplishing.

If you ever sat in any part of a science class and found yourself more intrigued than bored this book is for you. As I read, I couldn’t always tell where real science ended and the scifi magic would begin, but perhaps that was the point. Intended or not, I was shouting eureka right along with all our heroes every step of the way. Weir takes complex scientific concepts and makes them easily digestible, fascinating, and it all contributes to the progression of the story. Very rarely do I make it through a book once the author starts sacrificing plot so they can hear themselves sound smart for a few thousand extra words.

I was hooked from beginning to end. Weir had the ability of continueing to surprise me. It’s a journey through space. We all know the story is going to be about all the stuff that goes wrong, but he had a way of pacing the mayhem so the moments of security didn’t turn into boredom nor did I get desensitized and miss out on a pit in my stomach with each fresh new hell the characters were called to endure/overcome. Honestly if there is one negative thing to be said it’s by the end I was so emotionally exhausted I’m still having a hard time getting invested in another book.

My favorite part of this book, though, is when I read it. Project Hail Mary is about how mankind comes together in the face of a global threat. After spending the last year living through a global pandemic, I NEEDED this story about the best in humanity. It’s easy to be cynical and see all the ways people are a bunch of savages that won’t endure inconvenience to save themselves, let alone anyone else. But a beautiful story like Project Hail Mary leaves me looking a little harder to see the best in people and all the ways we do come together. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

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I don’t want to add too much more to what my husband said above. This ultimately hopeful novel is probably my favorite of Weir’s. I enjoyed The Martian, but I LOVED Project Hail Mary. I especially loved the first half where Grace was trying to figure out who he was and how he ended up on a space ship hurling through space. I was on the edge of my seat with each new revelation.

Very rarely does a book make me stop whatever I’m doing and just listen to it, allowing myself to be immersed in the story, but Project Hail Mary did it for me. There were numerous times where my husband and I would sink into profound text message chains about some deeper aspects of the novel and I always love when a book can do that for us.

If you love Weir’s comedic tone, his accessible but complex scientific jargon, and a high tension plot, then you want to pick this one up! Overall, we both gave this one 5🌟 and recommend it to anyone who loves the works of Blake Crouch and Sylvain Neuvel. I’m

This story begins when Ryland Grace wakes up, as the sole survivor of a crew. He doesn't know where he is and why. As his memory comes back, he quickly begins to realize that he has been given an impossible task and the fates of humanity and earth are in his hands. As he is confronted by new variables and some confusing unexpected help, he just might be able to accomplish it.

I loved, loooved, this book so much! This story is told from Ryland Grace's perspective in present time with flashbacks to the past before the mission was started. I don't wait to go too into the story and give anything away. But all in all,, I think the trope of amnesia is well done and isn't annoying after the story takes off. I was quickly drawn into the story of why and how the main character came to be on the ship. The story takes so many fun turns - it's properly snarky, science-y, nerve-wracking, and in the end it's all hopeful and beautiful. Can't wait to talk to people about it! Highly, highly recommend!

Thank you Randomhouse and Netgalley for gifting me with an e-arc!!!

An apocalyptic giggle-fest. Sure the earth is potentially dealing with a mass extinction event, but that doesn't mean that trying to solve it can be filled with laughs. Everything about this book is a delight. The writing runs fast, smooth, and generally enjoyable. There are jokes scattered throughout, but Weir is deft enough to keep them as well portioned moments of levity around a plot that could be horrific. But in Weir's hands, well, just strap in to the rocket on a one way trip to save the world.

A high school science teacher on a mission to save the world. The sun is cooling. Fast. Earth will die if Ryland Grace can’t find a solution.

In a star system, light-years away, there is a similar problem, but that world is not dying. Why? And can Ryland figure it out fast enough to tell Earth how to fix their problem? The scientific mystery proves to be Grace’s greatest challenge. Well, second greatest. The first challenge is figuring out how he ended up in a spaceship, light-years from home with no memory of who he is, how he got there and why he got there. That is a pretty major handicap for tackling the science problem….which he doesn’t remember.

(Note: the rest of this review includes an element some might consider to be a spoiler, but since it was a major part of the story I felt I had to include it. )

You can see that this is going to be a major drama unfolding. Throughout the story, Grace slowly regains his memories, revealing the problem, the proposed solution and why Grace is there. It takes 90% if the book to get all that information. In the meantime, Grace begins to work the problem which he approaches with humor, logic and lots of determination. He finds Earth is not the only planet that is in trouble and finds an ally in Rocky. Grace and Rocky solve many problems, including how to communicate between the species and work together even though they need totally different living environments. Both characters are depicted with a sense of humor, heart and perseverance.

There is a lot of science. The author tries to make it relateable. I found some of the scientific descriptions tedious and could not help thinking that the movie would be better (not something I’ve said before.) But all around the science was the drama, the friendship, the heartbreak and the triumph. The hopeful ending may have made my eyes water.

Through NetGalley, the publisher provided a copy of this book so that I could bring you this review.

This is my favorite read of 2021 so far. If you were a fan of The Martian then I guarantee that you are going to love the journey Ryland Grace takes.
Ryland Grace, unsure of why he was the only one to wake up on in a crew of three, has to figure out how to save Earth by himself and without his memories. The more time passes, Ryland starts getting snippets of incomplete memories back. He begins to understand the purpose of being so far away from Earth and what that truly meant for his life.
What he didn’t expect was to run into an intelligent life form that was trying to do the exact same thing for their planet.
Experiment after experiment, they keep trying to find an answer.
Things I loved about this book? Ryland Grace and Rocky. There was so much personality in the two main characters I could hear their voices in my head, see them gesticulating and feel their energy in on every page.
As Ryland remembered things, that’s how the events were presented to us. We were just in invested in Ryland getting his memories back as he was.
This was such a fun read, it reminded me why I enjoy Weir’s work.

Just to be clear. I loved The Martian. I got wind of a little while before it got really popular (thank you, Writing Excuses podcast!), got my book club to read and discuss it and devoured it in no time. I also liked Artemis (not as much as The Martian; but apparently more than many other readers).

When I heard about Project Hail Mary and Peter Weir's return to gritty, science-based storytelling and interstellar setting, I knew I had to read it. It had to be my kind of book. Then, I started reading and felt very let down. A first-person account of waking up out of a coma, confused and in a closed room didn't pull me in. I almost gave up before the main character finally started having flashes of memory about who he was and what he was supposed to do. His recollections of Earth and the other characters brought some actual life, albeit stick-figured, cliché-ridden life, to the stage. I stuck with it.

When Rocky showed up, I was as charmed as anyone. And I've got to hand it to Mr. Weir, he came up with some intriguing science-based mysteries to unravel during the second half of the book. The entire story gave me flashbacks to stories from the middle of the previous century, and not always in a good way. There were a few nice modern touches and genuine effort was made to avoid too much handwavium. But I still feel like there was plenty of that.

I give the first half of the book 2.5 stars and the latter 3.5 stars for an average of 3 stars and some hope that the next book from the author is more well rounded and modern.

Andy Weir has been hailed as a new shining star in the science-fiction universe.

The Martian was a character-driven, page-turner that burned quickly by and left you wanting more. Artemis was largely forgettable (so much so that I struggled to recall if I’d read it only a year or so after it was published).

Now, Weir is back with Project Hail Mary — and the result is somewhere in between. While not quite as compellingly page-turning as The Martian, Project Hail Mary has at least lingered with me after the final pages were turned, unlike a certain sophomore novel by Weir.

Ryland Grace is a middle-school science teacher, who wakes up in a stark white room with no memory of how he got there. Grace’s memory slowly starts to return (in convenient chunks at just the right time for the story’s dramatic purposes) and he recalls that Earth is facing an extinction-level event and that he was one of the three people chosen to be sent into deep space to save himself and our planet. Grace’s two colleagues have perished, leaving him to piece together not only where he’s been, how he got there, but also what he needs to do so hopefully save the planet. And he’s also got to make the first contact with a new alien race.

Grace may not seem like the most likely or likable choice to go on a mission to save humanity. And Weir does his best to make Grace a character we can sympathize with and root for. The problem is that I never quite developed the same investment in Grace that I did in Mark in The Martian. Mark was gifted in certain areas, but never came off as smarmy or overly smug, Grace does. I kept wanting to like Grace but I never found myself rooting for him in the same way as Mark.

Which is all well and good. I don’t expect an author to write the same book over and over again. But what I do hope is the author will find a way to engage me across each of his or her novels. Weir did that with The Martian but failed to do so in his last two books. The dilemma that Grace faces is intriguing enough. It’s just there are long stretches of the book when I feel like Weir is trying too hard to prove the science behind his science-fiction and not necessarily engaging the reader.

Project Hail Mary isn’t quite the triumphant return I’d hoped Weir would have. It’s good, it’s (for the most part) readable. But it never quite got its hooks into me in the way I’d hope it would. This one may drop Weir from my list of automatic reads.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book! Wonderful, exciting story and terrific characters! The main character, Ryland Grace, reminded me of Mark Watney from The Martian. Similar smart, witty, clever, caring personality and sense of humor. Same scenario as far as space travel with dire circumstances. Also, there is a lot of science and technology (pages of it!), but it doesn’t detract from the clever, moving tale. It doesn’t matter if you can’t follow all of the science (and just skim parts of it), you will still enjoy the tension, thrills, excitement, and emotional ending of this great adventure.

To me the most attractive quality a person — in real life or a book — can exhibit is competence. That may sound unimpressive at first thought, but in fact it is wonderfully satisfying to know you are witnessing some one at their best, especially in a field of knowledge you know little about. This could be a plumber, a doctor or a musician. It is downright fun to watch someone at the top of their game.
In Project Hail Mary we meet Dr. Ryland Grace, a university professor whose research has been ridiculed, now teaching. Science to Middle School students. The realization that the sun is growing dimmer at an alarming rate causes the world’s great science minds to join together to solve a problem that will otherwise inevitably lead to the end of human life.. Dr. Grace is drafted to the top tier of researchers based on his previous work. What follows is a remarkable story narrated by Grace himself as he helps to plan the solution and then becomes part of the interstellar team sent to fix the problem.
Grace is a scientist who understands the laws and principles to address the crisis, but he is also a teacher who can explain the science to his readers. You will find yourself following every aspect of his explanations and the step-by-step manner in which he lays out his plans. Speaking as someone who only took psychology in college to satisfy a science requirement, I found myself not only understanding his descriptions but enjoying them and even anticipating the next step.
Grace himself is a likable guy with a self-deprecating sense of humor. He is thoroughly decent and his problem solving always includes making a moral choice. There are plenty of times in the story when the reader sees disaster ahead but Grace, like MacGyver on steroids, pulls out a solution using his wits and a random assortment of tools.
This is a wonderful story right up to the very end. The end itself may surprise you but, trust me, with author Andy Weir, you are the hands of a very competent guy.