Thank you Netgalley and Random House for access to this arc.


Oooh, the science and space porn. Ryland does dry humor with a soupçon of snark. I thought it was a clever way to explain all the science by having Ryland have to slowly remember it after his coma. But as interesting as the science is to read about, there came a point when I started to skim read it, too. Why? Because a little bit went a long way and it usually only served to slow down the action. Something interesting is about to happen and BAM – Ryland has to explain yet another scientific thing then describe how he comes up with a way to test a hypothesis or determine some data he needs to know or wants to check. Zzzzzz. I also got really tired of the description “back of the napkin math.”

So many things made me question – why doesn’t he do this or use that rather than reinventing the damn wheel? He’s supposedly got SO MUCH tech in his space lab (despite how small it seems to be) and every damn thing ever written by a human on his computer drive so (1) why does he have to invent ways to check data and (2) double yes – why didn’t the program directors make sure that the user directions manual for the Hail Mary were loaded! Oh yeah, because we need to see him being clever and inventive, that’s why. Uuuuggghhhh!

And where is all Ryland’s food stored? He mentions the medical “hands” retrieving his food packets and parcels from above his head which would then have needed to be in some compartment between the sleeping area and the lab but this was never truly discussed. It might have been the only thing that Ryland didn’t mentally jabber me to sleep about.

Rocky is initially doing all the work. But then Rocky quickly became my favorite character. I did like Stratt because – woman in charge of steamrolling everyone in order to figure out how to try and save the world – but Rocky was wonderful. Rocky is also the brilliant engineer character who can build practically anything which is handy as Ryland needs so much stuff built.

A big problem for me is that the bro relationship between Rocky and Ryland was by far my favorite part of the book yet so much time was spent with them figuring each other and language out then doing more science over-explaining that I often found myself mentally urging the book to get back to, you know, saving their planets. Except they were trying to figure out how to save their planets but still I was bored with it taking three pages to explain something to a half page to actually do it! I’ve thought this some more and though it still bothers me, I can see that compared to the number of years it took Ryland to get to Tau Ceti and the number of years it will take any information he finds to travel back to Earth, this time spent language learning in order to work together to solve the problem was actually probably time well spent.

There is so much time spent inside Ryland’s head and when we’re not privy to his thought processes, then we get to hear him talking to himself. I get that since for a lot of the book he’s the only character on page this is the only way to know what’s going on but it gets old fast. There is some diversity to the characters—gender, ethnicity, nationality—but mainly these people are seen during Ryland’s flashback / memory sections and often there is little to these people beyond these descriptions and stereotypes. I did like Rocky and his sense of humor and I did keep reading. I did want to know how astrophage was going to be tamed and (hopefully) Sol saved. Because if it hadn’t, this book would have ended on a downer. The way it does end is actually … nice and heartwarming. Fist bump.

A man wakes up on a spaceship. Alone, he has no idea why he’s there, what is happening or even who he is. 👩🏻‍🚀🚀
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When the sun begins losing power, scientists scramble to find the source of this mystery. And it’s worse than anyone feared. Earth’s fate hangs in the balance.
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So begins the new book from Andy Weir, Project Hail Mary. I was hooked from the beginning chapters and I don’t want to say too much about this book because I went into it without knowing anything about it and I think that’s the way to go. There are some similarities to The Martian, but PHM is also quite different. This is a sci-fi mystery/thriller grounded in science (lots of science!) and a scary reality.
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Even with all the science that was sometimes hard to understand, this was such a fun book. I love the main character and he takes us on an incredible journey through dual timelines. The fact that part of the book takes place on Earth makes it more grounded and accessible for those than don’t normally read sci-fi.
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Project Hail Mary is filled with action, adventure, humor, friendship, courage, and the science isn’t too overwhelming. It was an unexpected treat for me and I just loved reading it. Thank you so much to Ballantine Books for my copy via NetGalley. I used to read a lot of sci-fi when I was a kid, and this book took me back to that time. 5 ⭐️ from me.

Project Hail Mary is an action-packed sci-fi novel with a unique theme: The sun is getting weaker and all the countries on Earth band together to build and send a spaceship to Tau Ceti, a (relatively) nearby star that is also getting weaker. However, there is one planet in the Tau Ceti system that does not appear to be susceptible to the life-form that has been taking energy from the sun. What follows is a fascinating (and humorous) narration by Ryland Grace, a scientist on the spaceship Hail Mary whose task is to find out why that planet has managed to fight off the energy-guzzling organism. In the course of his flight there, Grace encounters all sorts of problems: problems with equipment; problems with his research; problems with his fellow scientists. However, there is one positive note in all of this: He crosses paths with another spaceship from a planet within the Tau Ceti solar system that is also looking for solutions to the same problem. This is a fortuitous alien-encounter as both “Rocky” and Grace possess different skill sets that help them figure out ways to control the harmful organism.

The story goes back and forth in time, giving us the background on what efforts were being made prior to the launch of the spaceship, and what efforts are being made by Grace and “Rocky” while on their spaceships. And just when you think they have finally come up with a viable solution, there’s another fly-in-the-ointment, or in this case, one of those pesky Taumoebas.

I found this to be a fascinating and exciting tale. As in The Martian, also by this author, the protagonist is someone who is creative and good at improvising as needed. While there are frequent detailed scientific explanations provided about various issues and procedures, these can easily be skimmed without losing any momentum in the story.

It is long (496 pages) but I found it to be a fast read with a surprise ending! Well-worth reading for sci-fi fans and fans of space adventures.

I admit I wanted to read this book because I absolutely loved the movie The Martian, and a close friend has raved about that book for years so when I saw Project Hail Mary available on Netgalley I jumped at the chance.
I should first say, this was my first foray into reading science fiction. Love watching the movies, but we all know the movies can’t contain everything the books do. And particularly in this book, I loved getting into Ryland’s head. He has a sense of humor that seems to mirror my own personality to a tee.

Waking up on a ship, connected to a bunch of wires and tubes, not remembering much of anything, and seeing two dead people in beds next to you? I probably would have stroked out right then and there. But Ryland manages it to hold it together, all while trying to remember something, anything about why he is on this ship and where it’s going.

I’m not going to lie, the math and science data dump that occurs early on was pretty overwhelming to me but that leveled off and the second half was much better to read through. And I think what saved this book for me was Rocky. Yep. Rocky.

As I mentioned at the start, I loved the movie version of The Martian, and I could not help noticing while reading Project Hail Mary how similar the storylines seemed to be. One guy, out in the universe alone, having to figure out how to survive, how to get home, how to save the world? A lot of similarities.

Overall this was a really good read, for someone whose never read a book in this trope before. Once I got past all the math and science (my two worst subjects in school) I wholly enjoyed this story, especially Rocky. Did I already mention Rocky?

Many thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an advance review copy of this book in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Andy Weir has done it again! Wow, this science fiction novel is fantastic!

Dr. Grace Ryland is a science teacher who has been "tasked" with becoming an astronaut and saving the earth from sure extinction. I won't get anymore into the book because I don't want to ruin any of the twists and turns this book takes!

Somehow, this book managed to make me laugh, cry, and make me feel like I could be an astrophysicist all at the same time! Some of the more "sciency" parts get a little dry and can be slower to read, but overall, Andy's story is masterfully written. I would highly recommend this gem of a book!

Sincere thanks to Netgalley for providing me with this book in exchange for an honest review.
#ProjectHailMary #Netgalley

Andy Weir, famous for the book The Martian, has just released his third Novel. In this story, he goes back to his roots of writing about a person trapped in a dire situation with little hope of survival. Yet is willing to do whatever it takes to make it home.

The story takes place at about the current time, it might be the near future. Researchers have found that our Sun is going to die. We have just a few decades to save the Earth. Stars from nearby solar systems are showing the same issues as our sun. Except for one star. So humanity Builds a ship to reach that star in the hopes we can find out how to keep our Sun going.

Ryland Grace is a member of the crew on the ship. He wakes up when they arrive at the distant star only to find the rest of the crew dead. In addition, his memory is fuzzy. He can’t remember the details of the mission nor why he would be on it.

This story is fantastic. I don’t want to say anything that would spoil it for readers. Andy Weir took some risks in how this book is presented. Chapters that are on the ship with Ryland figuring something out, then alternating to chapters of Ryland having a flashback to events on Earth leading up to the spaceship leaving for the mission.

Overall this book was hard to put down. Andy Weir crafted a nice little mystery in this SciFi story. Who is Ryland and why was he on the mission? Even once these questions were answered more questions came up. Which kept going right till the last pages.

If you liked The Martian then you will want to read Project Hail Mary.

A free review copy of this book was provided via NetGalley For this Review.

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir 

Project Hail Mary gives us the story in several timelines. It starts with Ryland Grace waking up in a room, tubes and lines running from his body, mind groggy and memory slow to return. In fact, it's like he has amnesia. His two roommates died at some much earlier date, their bodies now mummified. He has no idea where he is, who the other people were, what he's supposed to do now. But there is a computerized voice urging him to "eat" slop from a tube and telling him he can't move forward without stating his name. Thankfully, as Grace looks around and performs small tasks, his memory slowly starts returning, in bits and pieces. 

Grace is on a mission to save Earth from the fact that it's sun's energy is waning. Life is dying, life will be completely wiped out unless energy consuming aliens can be eliminated. But why is a science teacher, whose students are 12-13 years old, on a spacecraft? Slowly, we learn everything and by the time Grace remembers it all, there is nothing to do but proceed with a mission that has fallen apart in many ways. 

Beware science and math! But no need to give it much thought if you are like me and are happy to let the character(s) take care of those pesky details. What I enjoyed so much about this story is something else but I don't want to spoil that something else. Grace's backstory is interesting and it's frightening to know what is probably happening back on Earth. Grace is it's only hope but can he do all that needs to be done to make this fractured mission a success?

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for this ARC.

Some of my earliest memories as a child were laying on the grass at the park or my grandmother’s house and looking up at the sky. Whether trying to find animal shapes in the clouds or wondering what was beyond those clouds, it seems I’ve always been interested in space.
As I got older, Close Encounters of the Third Kind came out and I was so stoked, insisting to go see it in theaters as often as my mom could afford to! Then all the talk of Area 51, for years and years, kept my curiosity about alien life growing.
When I was approved for the ARC of Project Hail Mary, I was soooo happy! I loved The Martian movie and we actually still watch it every year. So, I guess I can say I’m a big fan of Andy Weir’s work even though I hadn’t read his previous books.
In Project Hail Mary, Ryland Grace (the MC) reminds me so much of Mark Watney from The Martian. Funny, smart and easily likable. The book itself had several similarities with The Martian in that even though it was very ‘techy’, Weir made sure to explain science in easily digestible bites for the average reader. Serious, scary consequences were the backdrop of the story but relationships, troubleshooting problems with creativity, trusting and believing in one’s capabilities and looking at all situations through the lens of humor, were the focuses of this story. Again, similar to The Martian. So, if you were a fan of his previous work, you will likely love this one too!
There are several things in the book that I would LOVE to discuss and review, but I simply can’t as I don’t want to spoil things for others.
I think I can safely say that the unfolding of the story with both current and past timelines is a great way to allow the reader to experience the story along with the MC. At times I loved Ryland Grace, at times I was angry with him, at times I cried along with him. My emotions were all over the map with this book, which speaks highly to Weir’s writing style. But there were some majorly cool things that happened in this story! It was such an exciting read.

My only challenges for this book were that I was a bit frustrated with the lack of knowledge that the MC started the book with as that means that I, the reader, simply had no idea what was going on. I realized early on that I was very frustrated and had to take a step back. Additionally, there is a lot of Science in this book (I know – duh, right?) and Weir’s way of writing allows you to follow along pretty well, but when concepts are getting stacked one on top of the next, it became a bit much for me a couple of times. I had to step away a few times and just let my mind decompress and rest. 😊 But then I jumped right back in and was ready to go.

Overall, these slight drawbacks had no influence on my overall rating as those are just my personal reading habit issues and reflect more on me than the book.

This book is amazing! It made me smarter. It made me feel. It made me think about it when I was working or cooking or just living life. And it will stay in my thoughts for quite some time. I hope that this is adapted to a screenplay/movie, immediately!

Tommy and Dan enjoyed reading, Project Hail Mary, and we enjoyed having Andy as our guest on The Curiosity Hour Podcast! The episode is now available: https://soundcloud.com/thecuriosityhourpodcast/s09-e184-andy_weir

The episode is also available free on The Curiosity Hour Podcast channel on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Soundcloud, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Podbean, Overcast, PlayerFM, Castbox, and Pocket Casts.

Andy Weir has a way of sucking me into his worlds from the very first sentence. Project Hail Mary was no different.

Ryland Grace is trying to save the world. If only he could remember who he is, where he is, and why he's there! The hook, the voice, and the humor are sure to please Weir fans. The science can put people off because holy smokes are Weir and his characters smart, but he does a good job of explaining it in a way that I can follow him.

I can't recommend this book enough. I didn't shut up about The Martian for a good year and I imagine this book will be the same!

Are you like me and typically stay away from sci-fi? My family would say, if asked, that I “hate it”.

NOT SO anymore! I truly enjoyed this fun, interesting, sweet, humorous, creative, fast-paced novel! While some of the technical jargon tripped me up, I didn’t dwell on it probably due to the wonderful story that surrounded the science.

This would be a great book for anyone! Pick
It up and enjoy and share it - don’t read too much about the plot as the surprises are great.

Heartfelt thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for a copy of this book. I’m grateful.

I've been looking forward to reading Project Hail Mary since learning that it was being released. Now having read Project Hail Mary, I can say my excitement was well founded. This is one of my favorite books I've read in the past several years.

Reading the synopsis about Grace covers the first chapter of the book, approximately. Then things get wild. Turning each page, I never knew what to expect next! Project Hail Mary subverted my expectations at every turn. There's a lot of things I considered writing about in this review that I loved about the story, but realized that I couldn't, simply because the synopsis almost does the book a disservice by playing down what the book is about to what feels like an extreme degree. You certainly cannot judge this book by its cover!

I love Andy Weir's characters. They're always the underdog who isn't necessarily the highest on the chain of command among their colleagues, but by circumstances, end up having to fight tooth and nail to survive. Ryland Grace is no different, and I feel like it's very relatable. Who wants to read a book about someone who gets it right on the first try? That's boring. But someone who is incredibly smart, but gets it wrong sometimes, well, that's relatable!

Weir, as usual, does an incredible job of incorporating real and speculative science into his work in an approachable way. The science isn't dumbed down at all, but is approachable and doesn't sound like technobabble. Every time I read a book of Weir's, I enjoy not only the story, but also the education I get about science things. I really enjoyed how different things were in the places he experienced in space on his ship. Space can be so weird and unique and beautiful, and I feel like the book had a number of unique problems for our hero to solve based on that.

I'm so happy I got to read this book, Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Martian was one of my favorite books of 2012, which is saying a lot considering that was the year I had my first kid. While I skipped Artemis, the blurb of this book was too enticing and reminiscent of the original to pass up. But what’s even more frightening than being stranded on Mars? How about being stranded on a spaceship and responsible for the future of humanity! Since I think this is best experienced coming in with no knowledge of what’s going on, I’m going to keep this review as spoiler-free as possible.

“Wait a minute! Am I a guinea pig? I’m a guinea pig!”
“No, it’s not like that,” she said.
I stared at her.
She stared at me.
I stared at her.
“Okay, it’s exactly like that,” she said.”


Ryland is following in the footsteps of Mark Watney’s Martian Swiss-Family-Robinson-ism, though a good portion of the fun is that he initially has no clue what’s going on, let alone that he’s on a spaceship. The best he can figure is the amnesia is an unintended side effect of the medically induced coma. It’s not too much of a spoiler to say that one of the first things Ryland remembers is that he’s a junior high school science teacher, complete with an “aw shucks” vocubulary of swear words and a deep flare for silliness. He’s basically the Bill Nye of astronauts. This is a good thing, since we’re stuck in his head, quirky humor and all, for the entirety of the book. That’s especially true at the beginning of the book where there’s fewer flashbacks (and therefore fewer other characters) and more background info on why Ryland is on the ship. After all, how the heck does a science teacher end up on a mission to save the world? I liked Ryland for his optimism, his seemingly boundless knowledge of random science facts (range of visible spectrum of light? check! how often the sun rotates? check! thrust of your average jumbo jet engine? check!), and his “I can science this!” attitude.

“I’m a scientist! Now we’re getting somewhere! Time for me to use science. All right, genius brain: come up with something!
…I’m hungry.
You have failed me, brain.”


Much like The Martian, there’s lots of gee-whiz science that I found utterly fascinating. Ryland’s amnesia is used well here, as most of the science explanations are worked in as recovered memories, though there were points, especially at the beginning, where it got info dump clunky. The initial confusion over where he is and why he’s there drive the plot for the first chunk of the book. Once the problem is identified, there’s quite a bit of those info dumps, but then, then we finally get to the good part, complete with a few twists. The pacing itself was still a bit uneven at times, but between the side characters (Stratt was pretty amazing, and well, Rocky, enough said) and the continuous series of “how do I science this???” I found it hard to put the book down, all the way to the eminently satisfying conclusion.

“Human beings have a remarkable ability to accept the abnormal and make it normal.”


Overall, I think if you liked The Martian, you’ll like this higher stakes sibling.

I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I received a copy of this book for review from NetGalley. I picked up this book right before bed, which was a mistake. The protagonist waking up from a coma in space is a guaranteed attention grabber, and it worked really well. I only stopped reading seven chapters in when my eyes refused to stay open one second longer, and I was left on the (figurative) edge of my seat trying to figure out how he could possibly get through all of the problems.
Dr. Ryland Grace was a funny, smart, and engaging character, and I loved his interactions with Rocky. The action maintained a fairly constant pace, and trying to survive in space is an automatic tension builder. This was a really enjoyable read, and the only downside was that some of the science and math explanations seemed a little forced. Otherwise this was a great book, and it was incredibly addictive.

Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Andy Weir’s new novel has been highly anticipated since it was announced. I was very much looking forward to it. I really enjoyed the Martian, as did most people - it was a real crossover hit. Artemis, his second novel, less so. I enjoyed it, but his lunar heist novel showed some real deficiencies in plot and characterization. So I was excited when the publisher and NetGalley gave me an eARC, but a little trepidatious.

While clunky in parts and overly long, Hail Mary delivers. Mostly, it is enjoyable because it replicates the enjoyable parts of the Martin. Like the Martian, this book consists mainly of first person narration, science puzzles and too much exposition, ratcheting tension cause by solving one problem only for another to arise.

Weir also creates a realistic, believable first contact scenario. I don’t want to spoil anything but the alien/human interaction is one of the best parts of this book.

If you liked the Martian, you’ll probably enjoy the heck out of this book.

Aw man, what an emotional, amazing book this was! I am somewhat embarrassed to admit this is my first Andy Weir book, though I loved the movie adaptation of The Martian and bought the book so many years ago with plans to read it. This was a phenomenal introduction to his work - lots of sciency goodness, tons of heart, and humor. The whole saving Earth thing was also kind of a big deal too, but it’s really about the journey, ya know?

Now about that journey… It all starts when an astronomer notices a line of infrared light in space and also the sun appears to be dimming. Forgive me if I get any of the little details wrong - it was a lot to take in! A dimming sun spells cataclysm for humanity, resulting in mass starvation, an ice age, and other equally dreadful potential futures. Thus begins the work of finding out what's causing this catastrophe and stopping it. Enter Ryland Grace, teacher extraordinaire. Grace was a brilliant scientist until he got sick of the petty shit that goes on in academia and he peaced out with a final, flaming paper roasting his peers. He is recruited by the task force working on the problem and gets deeply involved in solving this problem.

With all that being said, you might wonder how he ultimately ended up on a spaceship with two dead astronauts in the compartment with him and no memory of who he is. Because that is exactly how this book begins. The timeline goes back and forth between the present on this strange ship and the past, where Ryland begins to gather his memories back and realizes that he’s humanity's last hope. Now it gets really fun! 

BIG SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

This isn’t just about saving the world - it’s also a first contact with aliens book!! Ryland arrives at Tau, the star where the astrophages (star eaters) that are dimming the sun originated. And lo, THERE IS ANOTHER SPACESHIP!!! I literally squealed with excitement! And the being aboard - a crablike fellow Ryland dubs Rocky - is friendly and he’s also trying to save his star Eridani, from the astrophage too. They team up and the book becomes equal parts learning about one another and finding a solution to the astrophage problem. It’s a delight to read about the developing friendship and inevitable foibles along the way. This book was somehow wholesome even though failure could mean the extinction of billions. And the ending. O man, that ending was so bittersweet. I just loved it! 

Project Hail Mary will be hands down one of my top 10 books this year. I think this one will leave a lasting impact and could very easily be translated to the big screen and become an amazing movie. It would probably make me cry in the theater (oh how long since I’ve been in a movie theater). The last book I read with such a well blended technical and emotional aspect was Seveneves, and we’re just going to ignore that last part of the book that either should not have existed or should have been a separate book. I just can’t say enough wonderful things about Project Hail Mary - go read it for yourself!

When I got offered a review copy of this book, I jumped right on it. But I got about 2/3 of the way through and stopped reading....

.....because I knew the audio book would be amazing and I didn't want to get to the end of the story. I wanted to start all over at the beginning and listen to the audiobook! I eagerly awaited Release Day....loaded it to my phone....and started this awesome story all over again so I could hear it! Talk about a binge listen!

I love sci-fi...especially stories like this one. Earth under theat. An unlikely hero trying to save humanity and facing rough odds. Alien life. The huge expanse of space. I was totally geeking out the entire time I listened (and read) this book. I kept pausing to look things up -- the physics involved, information on the sun, and whatever else popped into my head. I LOVE it when a book engages me like this -- nothing like some research tangents to really plug me into a story and characters!

Andy Weir never disappoints me! I thoroughly enjoyed this new book and can't wait to see what he comes up with next! And, I am hoping that they make this story into a movie! Please, please, please!

The audio book, narrated by Ray Porter, is a bit over 16 hours long. Ray Porter is an amazing narrator! He put the right emotion and humor into his voice acting and brought the story to life! I knew I recognized his voice from somewhere so I looked through my Audible Library -- he is also the narrator for the Bobiverse books! He's definitely near the tippy top of my favorite male narrators...Scott Brick beats him out by just a bit. Porter is sandwiched in-between Brick and Wil Wheaton...the trifecta of awesome narrators IMHO.

But I digress....

Back to Project Hail Mary!

This book is awesome to read! And awesome to listen to! Full stars from me!

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Random House - Ballentine. All opinions expressed are entirely my own. Including this one -- MAKE A MOVIE!**

Project Hail Mary is a book that you should plan time to read the entire book when you start because you won't be able to put it down. It is about a plague that threatens the earth from space and a Ph.D. turned Science teacher who hopes to help save the world. There are good and evil characters, but mostly the evil is a one-celled living being (called Astrophage) that threatens our sun. People of all countries and cultures are forced to come together to create a spaceship called "Hail Mary" to send out to find a fix. The astronauts travel in a state of sleep for 3 years (?), maybe 4 years (?). It is hard for Junior High teacher and Ph.D. Ryland Grace to know because the 3 astronauts have been traveling in suspended animation, or a coma, and Grace is the only one who wakes. Despite all this, it is humorous at times. And it is definitely suspenseful.
Andy Weir is an amazing science fiction thinker, and I am amazed at the amount of detail he puts into his writing. It is so believable because he backs up his writing with facts. I am truly amazed, he has convinced me this scenario could really happen. Also, he has convinced me that humans are up to the task of fixing and finding solutions.
His characters have enough morality and ethics to risk their lives in the interests of saving the planet, sometimes at the same time as being a little self-serving. Very human!

In this thoroughly satisfying third book by Andy Weir, the reader is taken on an adventure where a lone character can mean the survival or destruction of the entire human race. Dr. Grace wakes up in an unfamiliar place, with no memory of how he got there. After some experimentation, he comes to the realization that he is on a spacecraft, and nowhere near Earth. Through bits of returning memories, detailed side-by-side with the ongoing story, the reader learns that Dr. Grace is on a mission to save humanity from a strange infestation that is slowly tipping the planet into a new ice-age. As it turns out, however, he may not be the only one far away from home and seeking answers to this problem.

With an imaginative situation, plenty of emotional ups and downs, a fair bit of humor in places, and much less swearing than his other books, Weir has created an engaging and enjoyable story with a fair amount of theories and speculation interwoven with hard science. Some may find the amount of science and mathematics intimidating, but only a basic understanding of the concepts are really necessary to truly enjoy the plot.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who has enjoyed ‘The Martian’ or other hard science fiction.

"This star I’m looking at . . . it’s not the sun. I’m in a different solar system."

I started on this book expecting to like it. After all, I loved THE MARTIAN and I even loved ARTEMIS by this author. But as I read, and then finally finally finished this book, I had to change my rating system a bit. I found I liked Weir's previous two books and I absolutely LOVED this one. I loved everything about it.

It's hard for me to write a review about the things I loved the most about it because that would involve spoilers IMO, which I've noticed some other reviewers doing. Your best bet is to rely on Weir's past performance as a great author and go into this book blind, which is pretty much what I did.

You don't have to be a scientist to appreciate this book but having a little science background helps. I consider myself to be kind of a laidback science geek. I didn't understand all the science but I understood the concepts as presented and that helped me enjoy the story.

Ryland Grace is a middle school science teacher who wakes up from a coma and finds himself on a spacecraft in space with no memory of how he got there. The story continues from there, bouncing from the present to his past, and is full of humor and pathos and just darn good storytelling.

Just one short paragraph of the story:

"The computer finishes its boot process and brings up a screen I’ve never seen before. I can tell it means trouble, because the word “TROUBLE” is in large type across the top."

I highly recommend this book to readers that like science fiction, stories about space travel, or disaster scenarios.

I received this book from Random House through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.