"Thirty years. I looked out at their little faces. In thirty years they’d all be in their early forties. They would bear the brunt of it all. And it wouldn’t be easy. These kids were going to grow up in an idyllic world and be thrown into an apocalyptic nightmare.
They were the generation that would experience the Sixth Extinction Event."

--------------------------------------

"Knock-knock-knock.
No, that’s not creepy at all. Being in a spaceship twelve light-years from home and having someone knock on the door is totally normal."

At least Mark Watney was in the same solar system. At least Mark Watney had a rescue ship that might, at least, have been on the way. At least the sun that was shining down on Watney’s potato garden was not being nibbled to bits by some intergalactic pestilence. At least life on Mark Watney’s home planet was not looking at an expiration date measured in decades. Pretty cushy situation next to the one in which our astronaut finds himself in this story. At least Mark Watney knew who he was.

"I slide one leg off over the edge of my bed, which makes it wobble. The robot arms rush toward me. I flinch, but they stop short and hover nearby. I think they’re ready to grab me if I fall.
'Full-body motion detected,' the computer says. 'What’s your name?'
'Pfft, seriously?' I ask.
'Incorrect. Attempt number two: What’s your name?'
I open my mouth to answer.
'Uh…'
'Incorrect. Attempt number three: What’s your name?'
Only now does it occur to me: I don’t know who I am. I don’t know what I do. I don’t remember anything at all.
'Um,' I say.
'Incorrect.'
A wave of fatigue grips me. It’s kind of pleasant, actually. The computer must have sedated me through the IV line.
'…waaaait…”'I mumble.
The robot arms lay me gently back down to the bed."

The astronaut struggles to find out not only who he is, but where he is, and how he got there. Part of that is a running joke in which he makes up names to tell the computer. It’s pretty adorable. After working on a pendulum to help with an experiment, for example, he answers the computer with I am Pendulus the philosopher. Incorrect. He does, eventually, remember his name.

The title of the book may seem opaque to some folks outside the US. Weir is referring, of course, to a last-ditch play to win or tie American football games. It is called the Hail Mary pass. Keep enough blockers back to protect the quarterback while all available receivers head for the end zone as the quarterback lofts a pass, usually of considerable distance, in the hope that one of the receivers can haul it in through an act of divine intercession. The play is named for the prayer of course.

"It’s caused a lot of headaches with the translators. Nobody outside the U.S. knows this phrase. Even English-speaking countries like the U.K. don't have that expression. In most of the language translations, they're changing the title. In one of them it’s just called The Astronaut or something like that." - from the GR interview

In Andy Weir’s latest novel, the survival of life on planet Earth, and whatever other life might be swimming, flying, creeping, or otherwise meandering about in our solar system, is imperiled by an invasive species. (Not really a spoiler, more of an aside. (view spoiler) The nasty little buggers have a talent for converting energy to mass and mass to energy. Their little eyes (if they had eyes) light up in the presence of an active power source the way some of us feel compelled by the sight of pastries in a shop window. Which would make our sun a doughnut shop with a few quadrillion hungry customers beating down the door. Not a wonderful situation for the shop. A more apt, if somewhat less entertaining image, is that of a vast swarm of locusts denuding a landscape.

Hoping for an act of god might be worth a shot. His ship, and the project that spawned it, are named for the prayer, even though by way of a sport. Hail Mary full of…um…Ryland? Well, Ryland Grace. It remains to be seen whether or not the Lord is with him, or his ship. But he is not alone, although, after finding that his crew-mates did not travel well, it seems like he would be.

Luckily for Ry, Earth is not the only populated planet imperiled by this galactic pain in the neck. He encounters another, and thus begins a beautiful friendship. I won’t bother with describing Rocky, other than to say that Rocky is not at all humanoid. Through engineering ingenuity and commonality of purpose the two find a way to communicate with and help each other in their mission to save their respective planets. There is a child-like quality to Rocky, as well as a very creative brain, and a universal decency, that will make you care about him/her/it/whatever. There is no one better than Weir at writing adorable.

Weir has been trying to work on his character-writing skillset. He is amazed that so many people loved The Martian, despite the fact that his hero goes through absolutely no change during his ordeal. He had given Watney his best personal characteristics, on steroids. Then had a go at a less idealistic character in his novel, Artemis, using what he saw as some of his lesser personal characteristics to inform his lead.

"Ryland Grace was my first attempt to make a protagonist not to be based on me. He's a unique character I'm creating from whole cloth, and so I'm not limited by my own personality or experiences." - from the GR interview

I am not sure he has succeeded. The special energy that powered astronaut Watney was a combination of superior technical skills, a wonderful, wise-ass sense of humor, a can-do attitude, and a deeply ingrained optimism. Mark Watney could have been on the Hail Mary in place of Ryland Grace and I am not sure most of us would have noticed, well, except for a couple of personal downsides. The sense of humor is pretty much the same. Ditto for the technical talent and scientific problem-solving predisposition. He may be a tick down from Watney on the optimism chart, but you will get the same satisfaction from watching Grace as you did his Martian predecessor. But while Weir’s character development skills might still be…um…under development, his story-telling skills remain excellent.

The stakes are high, global extermination, multiple global exterminations actually, and the future of life as we know it, and some life we know very little about at all, is dependent on two creatures working together to solve the biggest problem of all time. No pressure. So, a buddy story. A tale of friendship far from home.

The narration alternates between two time-frames. In the contemporary one, Ry uses his special scientific-method powers plus base of knowledge to figure out the situation he is in, and come up with serial solutions to serial challenges. This is totally like The Martian, although this guy is maybe a bit less funny.

"I’m a smart-ass myself, so smart-ass comments come naturally to me. For me, humor is like the secret weapon of exposition. If you make exposition funny, the reader will forgive any amount of it. And in science fiction—especially with my self-imposed restriction that I want to be as scientifically accurate as possible—you end up spending a lot of time doing exposition." - from the Publishers Weekly interview

The other is the history of how he came to be there. This will also remind one of the back and forth of the on-Mars and Earth-politics alternating streams of Weir’s mega best seller.

Although his writing is out of this world, Weir’s process ain’t exactly rocket science. Like his characters, he uses available parts, plus a base of knowledge, to build what needs to be built. He had a few lying about in his shop.

"After The Martian, I had this idea for this massive space epic—a traditional sci-fi pilot with aliens, faster-than-light travel, and telepathy and a war and, yeah, a ten-book series and everything. I worked on it for about a year; it was going to be called Zhek. I got 70,000 words in, and…I realized that it sucked…But there are a few nuggets in Zhek that were solid. There was one interesting character who was this absolutely no-nonsense woman with a ruthless drive to get what she needs to get done and a tremendous amount of secret authority. And she became Stratt in Project Hail Mary. The other thing is, in Zhek there was this substance called black matter, which was a technology invented by aliens that would absorb all electromagnetic waves, all light, and turn it into mass and then turn it back into light…if humanity got ahold of some of that, it would be neat, but it would suck if we accidentally let any of that get into the sun—that would be a disaster. I'm like, 'Wait a minute, that would be a disaster! That's where books come from!'" - from the Goodreads interview

And divorce lawyer billables. Love his evident excitement at this EUREKA moment. There is a decided innocence to it, and a natural-born optimist’s way of seeing the bright side of life, a characteristic with which Weir very successfully endows his leads, well, some of them anyway.

I quite enjoyed The Martian, despite Watney’s immutable self. And I liked Artemis as well, with its more nuanced lead. This one feels like more of a throwback to his earlier work. If you loved The Martian you are gonna love this one. Tough situation, far from home, charming, brilliant, smartass lead, with an adorable, brilliant, very non-human mensch of a pal, lots of mostly accessible science, and some fabulously interesting concepts. For a book that is pretty down to earth in many ways, Project Hail Mary is absolutely out of this world.

Science teachers know a lot of random facts.


Review posted – May 7, 2021

Publication date – May 4, 2021


Thanks to Ballantine books for an early look at Project Hail Mary and to MC (you know who you are) for interceding on my behalf to make that happen. You have been an answer to my prayers. And thanks to Net Galley.

For the complete review, including links to the mentioned interviews, please head to https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3677991149

LOVED this book!! I loved how much actual science was in it. I felt like I was learning so much, but it never felt like the science info was making the plot drag. I’ve never read an alien encounter story that felt so legitimately plausible! I loved the level of detail Weir used throughout the whole book. It reminded me a lot of his first novel, but I actually think I liked this one a little bit better! I especially loved the twist! I never saw it coming that Grace didn’t actually volunteer. My jaw was on the floor when that twist came! So well executed. Overall, I absolutely loved it. 4.5 stars but rounding up!

The publishing company provided me with an e-book version of this novel, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review. You can check out my Youtube video full review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8McpjO69tsU

Project Hail Mary, which I would give more than 5 stars to if possible, is one of those rare books you only come across maybe once in a decade; it’s science-fiction with a heavy dose of science and plenty of moral dilemmas/philosophical concerns. I absolutely loved reading this book.

Since I don’t want to give away spoilers, and much of the material in the book would require spoilers to cover, I will just say that fans of The Martian should be happy to see the author back at that same quality of writing in this novel. It’s a ton of fun and you may want to have a box of tissues ready for scenes that may cause you to tear up (whether it’s from tears of joy or sadness, you’ll have to read to find out).

Absolutely loved this book! It was beyond what I was hoping for! This book gives you hope that humankind isn’t at all doomed. I find myself constantly thinking about this book. I think it will always stay with me! I’ve already bought several copies as gifts for some friends. We all need an unexpected friend!

My Rating - 4.5 Stars

Project Hail Mary is a return to form for author Andy Weir that maintains all the things readers loved in The Martian while introducing new galaxies to explore and new problems to solve.

On page one, Ryland Grace wakes up as the lone survivor on a spaceship somewhere out in space. Only problem is, he doesn't know why he's there, what his mission is, and he doesn't even remember his name. The Sun has been gradually losing its energy and this has apocalyptic consequences for life on Earth. As Ryland's memory slowly returns, he discovers that it is now his sole responsibility to save all of Earth from impending disaster. And, oh yeah, Ryland is a middle school science teacher. So... What?

It should be no surprise by now that Andy Weir knows what he's doing. He knows how to write a relatable lead character that is both approachable and eons smarter than me. He knows how to teach interesting (and not so interesting) science lessons in a non-lessony kind of way. And he knows how to create dozens of insurmountable problems and then come up with equally exciting solutions. I read Artemis when it came out, and while I don't remember much about it (and for some reason I didn't write a review for it), it appears that I didn't really like it. But it is clear to me, by now, that Weir wrote Mark Whatney as Mark Whatney, then wrote Mark Whatney as Jazz Bashara, and now he has written Mark Whatney as Ryland Grace. If you hate Mark Whatney, you'll probably hate Ryland Grace. But if you, like me and many others, really enjoyed the protagonist stuck on Mars, then you'll find a lot of things to like about this protagonist stuck in space.

While there are a lot of similar traits between Project Hail Mary and The Martian, there are enough differences that make it a new and interesting read. I was SO engaged the first half of the book as I was discovering along with Ryland who he is and what his mission was. Things did start to slow down for me in the second half as Weir (and Ryland) did A LOT of science-ing. A LOT! For a lot of the book I was able to follow along even if I didn't understand all of the intricate details. But near the end, I was just ready for the science to stop so that I could get back to the story at hand. If it wasn't for this fact alone, this would have been a 5-star book for me.

I am not an emotional reader. This book, however, brought out many emotions in me. There were times were I was smiling ear-to-ear. Other times I was cheering as something Ryland attempted worked. And then there was that time or two where the words on the page became blurry because something was stuck in my eye. I absolutely love how the book ends. This is a precious story and is now among my favorites.

An entertaining adventure! I like how the story immediately throws readers into the mix with Ryland, left to piece things together as the book progresses and revealing events simultaneously from both the present and past. An unexpected development pays off in wonderful dividends, there is a strong theme of redemption running throughout, and Ryland's status as the book ends is particularly fitting. The only negative is that the writing can be heavy on the technical details, but this doesn't happen too often. Overall, I found this to be not quite as good as The Martian, but much better than Artemis.

Sometimes you read a book and just know you’ve read a work that will become the standard for generations to come. Project Hail Mary is going to be that standard for hard science fiction. The upcoming movie (with Ryan Gosling!) will be that standard. I finished the book and cannot stop thinking about it. About Ryland. About Rocky. About humanity, survival, friendship. And most of all, how much I freaking love science!

Ryland Grace wakes up in a sick bay next to two deceased patients. He doesn’t know where he is or why he is there. He does, however, make observations and deductions and hypotheses about his situation. His memory comes back in spurts. This story is partially told in flashbacks which help unravel the mystery of what happened on Earth and why Ryland is in space.

Our sun is being drained of its energy. He is on a mission to save humanity. And his scientific knowledge is humanity’s only hope for survival. There is a lot of science in this book. Physics, chemistry, biology - it can take several times to read a passage while Ryland explains ideas. But because Ryland is a junior high teacher, he is very good at explaining things in a way to help the reader understand complex topics - such as time dilation or neutrinos.

As the book progresses, the reader meets Rocky, who may be one of my favorite science fiction characters ever. A brilliant engineer, brave, and determined - they develop a strong bond with Ryland that changes the trajectory of both their lives.

I cannot recommend this book enough and I cannot wait for the movie.

It's available now! So as mentioned above, when I first saw this through Netgalley I was so excited because I loved the Martian, and yet so sad because it wasn't an audiobook. I requested it anyways and figured if it took me forever to read it, it wouldn't matter because at least I could still try. What followed was an amazing and exciting story that had me up every night until 2 AM and reading as soon as I woke up. I blew through it in less than a week. I liked Andy's return to a story of a man surviving in space, if feel it plays to his strengths. He also does a really good job of putting enough science in there that the story seems plausible but not bogging down the plot with a lot of numbers and jargon.
After realizing I had never read Artemis after finishing this, I went back to read that, and realized this new one is a lot more like the Martian. There's the one character in space tackling a lot of random problems, and being frustrated with the many things you don't think will happen when the spaceship is built. Artemis just had a lot going on, and this one is a return to a focused problem.
I'm not going to say a lot about the plot because I don't want to spoil anything but there are many surprises that will make you want to keep reading just one more chapter!

Project Hail Mary sees Andy Weir come back to his roots in the most Martian way possible. Humanity is at stake via an invasive single-cell alien species gobbling up the sun’s light, and it’s only a suicide mission out to the stars that can possibly get the information needed for our planet to survive. And away! we! gooooo!

I can’t (and won’t) give away the main plot point here because it’s a big crux of the story, but it was compelling, fascinating, and totally what I want from an Andy Weir novel. A few tiny things kept me from 5-star-ing this story: it feels like Weir struggles to write more than his anchor character from the Martian, and just took out the potty mouth and replaced it with a Leave it to Beaver-esque vocabulary and called it a different character. This one was also entirely more fantastical than The Martian (more in line with the plot of Artemis in that way) which was fine by me, but could be disarming to some.

All in all, I flew through this one in a buddy read alongside my husband (my favorite thing!) and found it an un-put-downable race to save humanity that was surprisingly wholesome (?) and compulsively readable. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a chance to read the ARC!

Wow. I absolutely loved this book.
I picked up Hail Mary for a change of pace with my reading as I tend not to read a ton of science fiction and I’m so glad I did.
The characters just grew and grew throughout the book.

Dr. Grace, who wakes up from a coma to realize he is on a spaceship. Slowly pieces of memories start to come back and he realizes he is scientist, turned middle school teacher, turned Earth’s last hope. He is a character you can’t help but cheer for, and can even make you laugh once in a while.

I don’t want to give too much away, so I’ll just leave it as- read this one! It’s heartwarming, funny, interesting and entertaining.

Thank you NetGalley, Andy Weir, and Ballantine books for an advanced copy. And thank you Rocky too- I love you Rocky!

Andy Weir has done it again. Project Hail Mary had me laughing, crying, and flipping pages at the speed of light because I couldn’t wait to see what would happen next. I loved the characters (especially Rocky) and their relationships. The timeline maintained mystery while also being clear and concise. A little science-y at times, but hey, it’s sci-fi. Highly recommend.

BOOK REVIEW // WOW has it been a minute since I posted here. This year has been hot and cold for me reading-wise — I watch all of Netflix, then read 5 books a week, then switch back to binging Criminal Minds. But I did get a chance to read Andy Weir’s new sci fi novel thanks to @netgalley, so I at least wanted to give it a #pubday shoutout!

TITLE: Project Hail Mary

GENRE: Science Fiction

SYNOPSIS: Ryland Grace is the world’s last hope. A middle school science teacher-turned-astronaut set adrift in space and tasked by every government and agency in the world with finding the solution to the pending extinction of the human race, he is the lone person able make a difference in this race against time. There’s only one problem: he doesn’t remember any of this. Waking up from a years-long coma, all Grace knows is that he is alone, he is not on Earth, and he’s here for a reason. If only he could remember what that reason is....

THOUGHTS: Andy Weir is a genius at writing HIGHLY readable but also very technical sci fi. To be very clear, I am not a science expert — I took one college science class, and it was intro to geology. But somehow I found myself nodding along as Grace conducted increasingly bizarre experiments, not entirely lost in the technicalities. It’s accessible science fiction for the general public, but detailed enough for hardcore fans. The humor and heart of the story and characters drive the plot — Grace is an unlikely but endearing hero, and without him being so engrossing, the action would fall a little short. But as it is, the book is captivating.

Side note — yes, I am going to try to get more than posting more on here! Thank you for bearing with me while I totally flaked out for a while there, but you should be seeing more of me! 😆😅

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

So. I’m a reader who often opts for lyrical writing, novels-in-verse, literary fiction — I gravitate toward fluffed-up or “romantic” writing styles, and rarely do I read sci-fi as a genre, let alone a 500-page, detailed space tale. I am not the primary audience for this book, but I’d heard good things from those with the early ARC and knew that people enjoyed the author, so I decided to try something new…and was shocked to fall in love with it.

Going into a book with the premise of a single guy operating a ship light-years away from Earth, I didn’t expect the dialogue and primary characters to be the holy grails of the story, but they certainly were for me. There’s also quite a bit of fairly dense science talk woven throughout, but as a definite non-scientist, I found it to be laid out in a way that was accessible without being condescending to the reader. I found the time jumps/flashbacks to be easy to follow, as well, and I was hooked into the plot far faster than I’d anticipated.

Like Susanne Clark’s “Piranesi”, Weir managed to create a very small cast of characters in an isolated environment that were capable of carrying the book and more, which is no easy feat. All in all, it’s one of the only “hard sci-fi” books to hook me and keep me invested until the end. It has heart, and I adore it for that.

There is a lot of math and science in this book, mostly over my head. But to me this book is really about friendship and working together. I love he Rocky and Grace connection.

"Time for science!"

Project Hail Mary is the third book by Andy Weir, and possibly my favorite (with The Martian in a close second, followed by Artemis). I really enjoyed all of these books, but in different ways: though they have similar themes, they tell vastly different stories.

Project Hail Mary follows Dr. Ryland Grace, a scientist who wakes up on a spaceship light-years from home with nothing but two corpses and a medical mechanical arm to keep him company. He doesn't initially know who he is nor how he got there, but as his memory starts coming back in pieces, he starts to remember this very important fact: he is where he is to stop an extinction-level event from happening back on Earth. He is humanity's last chance for survival, and if he fails, well, it's lights out for Earth (literally).

I feel like Andy Weir has a really unique voice for his characters. He doesn't try to hard to make himself sound smart (though he obviously is). His characters (Dr. Ryland Grace) are down-to-earth and nerdy; I also loved the little nods to pop culture (e.g. The Beatles, Rocky, etc.) -- it really feels like you are in someone's head following along with their internal monologue. This style of writing also really makes the science feel accessible. And, as a scientist myself, I really appreciate Weir's attention to detail about the different minutiae of what can go wrong...and thinking through how to fix it. It's a little bit of a departure from The Martian (and Artemis) in the sense that Project Hail Mary feels a little more *fantastical* (and maybe slightly less technical), but it was a really good read, and I highly recommend it.

4.5 stars, though I'll round up to 5 because I really enjoyed it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

Andy Weir has returned! Back to his ole geeky, science-y self, just like in his big hit 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯. I adored this book from start to finish! The premise is pretty straight forward: middle school teacher Ryland Grace wakes up on a space ship light years away from Earth. His mission? Save the planet. Yep. That’s all. Just a simple lil mission to save all of humankind. That alone should keep you reading. But Weir’s ability to go back and forth in time, to show us how Ryland, and Earth, got to this place, is fascinating, mysterious, humorous, and just so darn engaging. And the friendship between Ryland and his buddy, Rocky - well, if it doesn’t melt your heart, your’s is made of concrete. And NO, you do not need to be a sci-fi lover to love this book. I just rolled with my scientific ignorance when the story got into the geeky weeds a bit and it was all good. This book is just rollicking good fun!

Please find our interview with the author and podcast review on Genre Junkies. Available on most podcasting apps.

Andy Weir has truly outdone himself. This beautiful, exciting, and hilarious book poses age-old questions in new ways. What does it mean to be “human”? What does it mean to sacrifice? To love? To find community and family? Weir has the most remarkable ability to make science fact and fiction understandable and fun. We think audiences from all reading backgrounds and walks of life will fall head over heels in love with this moving story that stirs intellectual curiosity and brilliant creativity. This may just be his magnum opus.

Talking with Mr. Weir only made this experience more enjoyable. He is just as warm, smart, funny and well spoken as one would think.

Science fiction isn’t my favorite genre, but Andy Weir creates worlds that are highly accessible for the typical reader. This book is equal parts scientific exploration and exploration of human nature. There is a large amount of scientific context but Weir presents it for the layperson with a heavy dose of levity. If you loved The Martian, you will fall in love with Project Hail Mary. Remember your tissues.

Thank you to NetGalley, author, and publisher for the opportunity to review this book. The opinions in this review are entirely my own.

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Andy Weir definitely creates interesting Sci-Fi tales! This one is on par with his other work. I read this very quickly because I had to know what happens. Unfortunately, I wasn't thrilled with the ending. It felt very rushed and anti-climatic. The book was still enjoyable but felt a bit deflating.

Dr. Ryland Grace has been sent on a suicide mission to the Tau Ceti system to try to figure out why, of all the nearby systems, it remains unscathed in the face of an instellar infestation that's causing our sun to dim, which will result in another extinction event on Earth. His crewmates have died, and he's got coma-brain, so it takes him a while to remember where he is and why he's there. The reader follows along with Dr. Grace as he slowly regains his memory and sets to work. As a narrator, he has an extremely accessible voice. You can totally imagine yourself being friends with this wry, sardonic, and wickedly smart guy.

As engaging as Dr. Grace is, this book is not without its flaws. For one thing, there is a lot of math in this book. Like, a lot. And I'm sure it's all completely correct, though I confess that I kind of skimmed those parts. But as much as the author seems to think that we're all going to understand the math, he also seems to think that we need to be told that Venus is the 2nd planet in our solar system. Also, the Hail Mary is the most advanced piece of engineering and technology ever assembled, but its computer isn't even as smart as my home assistant. It doesn't help Dr. Grace do anything (except stay alive through his extended coma, which, ok, yes, is pretty important, but once he's awake, he's on his own).

Still, these are easily overlooked in favor of this compelling story, as we wait with baited breath as Dr. Grace holds the fate of humanity is in hands. Can he solve this seemingly insurmountable problem? You'll be rooting for him, and you'll find his experiences stay with long after you read the last page.