So. Much. SCIENCE. Seriously, there’s an overwhelming amount of science in Project Hail Mary. While I have a tendency to zone out during any intensively science-heavy sections, I couldn’t put this book down. I just adore the snarky tone of Weir’s writing. And while the protagonist in this novel bears an uncanny resemblance to Mark Watney in terms of inner monologue style and aggressive optimism in the face of impossible odds, I didn’t care. The delight that is Watney’s personality is what drew me to and kept me invested in The Martian in the first place. That type of character was exactly what I was hoping to find in Project Hail Mary, so I wasn’t disappointed in the least by their similarities. I was deeply invested, and my emotions while reading fell into mirroring those of our protagonist. He demanded an incredibly amount of empathy.

I desperately want to discuss another character, but doing so would spoil a major twist in the story. I’ll settle for saying that there was a lot to love about the characterizations Weir wove into the narrative, and said characterizations more than made up for him drowning me in science. Reading about such hope and optimism in the face of impossible odds made me feel better about the world in which we’re living, and can we honestly ask anything more of our art and artists? Project Hail Mary is oddly encouraging for a novel about the potential end of the world, and I think it was exactly what I needed.

I was so happy to receive an advanced NetGalley copy of Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. I’ve read both of his other books and enjoyed them but I think this one has become my favorite! The premise is exciting: Scientist Ryland Grace wakes up in a strange lab with no memory of where he is or how he got there. While recovering from what appears to be a medically-induced coma he observes his surroundings and slowly realizes he is in outer space, working on a mission to save earth from a new species of space algae that is rapidly absorbing the sun’s energy and threatening our planet with extinction. The stakes are high and the story is told with alternating sections of Ryland’s current situation, with past memories slowly coming back to him.
Like Weir’s other novels, there is A LOT of science and calculations in this book. But just like those other books, I didn’t mind it! I’ll admit there were parts I didn’t fully understand or care to follow along the exact computations of, but readers can easily skim those parts and still follow along with the story. I will say this book seemed to have even more of those passages than his other works so if that bothered you in The Martian then you probably won’t enjoy this either. But this story is so compelling and heroic and exciting. Ryland is such a likable guy and without giving too much away a huge part of the enjoyment of the story for me was his relationship with a “friend” he makes along the way. The book was truly nail-biting and funny and I thought the ending was just fantastic.

Excellent read with heart, humor, and heroism. I thoroughly enjoyed this Armageddon scaled read, while still be transported to another reality. Weir has done it again with his scientific cleverness while still engaging his reader to push their own boundaries of reality.

I don't even like/understand science and I like this book. That says something. This is the best kind of sci-fi.

This was my first Andy Weir book. Having never read The Martian nor seen the movie, I really didn’t know what to expect. I also have no idea if they are at all similar. But, considering all the hype from the movie, I decided to give this book a try. I’m glad I did. This was a fun book and I enjoyed most of it.

Our main character wakes up alone on a spaceship with no memory of why he’s there. His only two companions are dead. As his memories slowly return, we learn why the ship was launched. This pre-launch story is fascinating. In the present, it is a wild ride! Soon after awakening, our hero makes a friend and things really get interesting. To say more would spoil the fun for anyone who hasn’t read the book yet, but this interaction is what makes this book so delightful.

Unfortunately, I felt the book was slowed down by all the math and science. There was so much of it! And so many explanations that just seemed to go on and on and on. Just say I figured out the math. Don’t show me your work! For me, all the detailed information about chemistry, physics and engineering soon became a major annoyance that distracted from an otherwise enjoyable experience.

My copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to the the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review it.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book. I haven't read anything from the author before and went into this with no expectations. I was elated to find a compelling storyline with humor, emotion, and edge of your seat action. I was drawn in from the first page, needing to know what was happening and how everything would unfold.

The book opens with Ryland Grace waking up in a strange place with no memory of where or who he is. As Ryland explores his environment, he begins to have flashbacks that tell him Earth is in trouble and he's on a space mission to save their dying sun. The story alternates between now and then, giving us the full picture of what happened and how Ryland came to be humanity's last hope. I thought this was an excellent way of telling the story without making it drag.

The plot is emotional and exciting and I really enjoyed the book. The only downside for me was the excessive amounts of math and science. I struggled to understand what Ryland was talking about half the time and ended up skimming those paragraphs. It's clear the author spent a lot of time making this as realistic as possible, but I think it could have been scaled back to help those not well versed in the topic.

After reading this, I will definitely be jumping into the author's other works. This was a delightful read!

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the copy.

Andy Weir has a knack for making complicated science palatable. And this was no exception.

I think it's time we stop comparing his works to the Martian. This book is AMAZING. It's complex, but in the Weir way, totally believable, witty, humorous, beautiful.

The story is fun, in that not only are you learning who the main character is along the way, but so is he!

Saying more may spoil things so I will end here. Another 5-star gem from Andy Weir.

A wonderfully entertaining read that will have you laughing, learning and perhaps your face will be leaking too!!

For fans of The Martian, you will definitely want to pick this book up, it's just a delightful story. I don't want to give too much detail here as I so enjoyed how you learn the events of the story right alongside the main character, Ryland Grace. Ryland is the sole survivor of a space mission that will save the human race......or not, because he really can't remember anything. Bummer. And here begins Ryland's journey of discovery and remembering, it's hilarious, touching and full of the amazing science that Andy Weir is known for. I really love how much science you probably don't realize you are learning as the story progresses, and how incredibly plausible so much of what is written actually is. How would the world come together in a situation like this, what would be acceptable to do to save our species? So many wonderful themes in the story, once again a man alone who only has his wits to not only save himself, but he also has the weight of saving EVERYONE on his shoulders as well. Duty, grief, loss and the universal power of friendship all are threaded throughout this marvelous tale. If you love a rollicking good science fiction story, then Project Hail Mary should absolutely been on your reading list!!

The author is stuck in a rut. This is his third book and like the second it is a variation on the original Martian theme. I found the main human character annoying with his whining about things. The alien character was much more interesting. I also found how the main character got involved more than a bit of a stretch and his understanding of many different facets of science and math. Other reviewers enjoyed this book. I found it to be a bit of a slog to read.

I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my nonfiction book review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook page.

Weir's third novel is a story of climate-change apocalypse. With climate-change constantly on our minds and televisions, the book is timely in subject matter, but also hopeful in finding a solution to a problem that plagues Earth. We begin with the main character, Dr. Ryland Grace, waking up in a strange surrounding with no memory of who he is or why he is there. The story bounces back and forth in time using Grace's slowly recollected memories as the medium in which we learn who he is and what he is doing.

Earth is facing extinction as a new species, named "Astrophage" slowly absorb the Sun's energy which in result is cooling the atmosphere. As we learn through painful jargon-filled paragraphs, the cooling of the earth will lead to extinctions of different wildlife and ultimately to mankind resulting in an ice-age. How the Astrophage works and why it is here is what Grace has to determine. A mission is assembled for spaceflight to the nearest star system that is not being affected by the Astrophage in order to determine how to save Earth. The problem is, though, he is the only survivor of the flight to Tau Ceti (the unaffected star system). He alone must determine how to save mankind, that is, until an unlikely ally comes along.

*SPOILERS AHEAD* What I really enjoyed in this book was the way Weir wrote about first contact. It was immensely exciting just reading about it and I really enjoyed the interaction between Rocky and Grace. To me, Rocky was the best part of the book and the whole interaction of them working together redeemed the book and made it 3 star worthy in my opinion.

What I didn't like...it's been a few years since I read The Martian, and I haven't read Artemis, but Ryland Grace is the SAME EXACT character as Mark Watney. Not to mention, his character was not consistent to me with his station in life AT ALL. It was irritating at times and to an extent I wondered how much of the voice was actually just Weir.

Also, I realize this is Science Fiction, but the painstakingly intricate descriptions of his "back of the napkin" math was so tedious and brain numbingly boring to me that I found myself re-reading passages several times or just accepting that I was going to zone out for a paragraph or two. This may be really interesting to math and science buffs though, so I'm not taking this into consideration for my review. I appreciate the math and science but I didn't need THAT much detail. Which leads me to my other issue: he over-explains everything. He makes comments or references and doesn't trust that the reader will just accept them or understand. I remember one passage where he mentions something acting like a Nintendo Power Glove or something like that and then immediately after he says "man, I'm old." NOT NECESSARY. You have to trust the reader will get the picture without you spelling out every last reference. The phrase "show, not tell" could definitely be beneficial for Weir.

HOWEVER, even though these things annoyed me, I enjoyed the story and would definitely recommend it to someone who really loves Science Fiction and can look past the mediocre character development and plot devices.

Andy Weir delivered a masterpiece in “Hail Mary”. As he did with the Martian, his use of a central main character that really dominated the whole book was excellent. What I didn’t expect was how he really made you feel real feelings about some of the other characters we meet through flashbacks. From the beginning of the book, Weir took us on an interstellar journey, filled with mystery, excitement, sadness, worry, and unexpectedly, friendship. The aspect of the story I liked most involved the development of Grace, and how his journey to Tau Ceti may not have happened as we expected, but ultimately his decision making, opposite of his original choice, ended up making all the difference. We saw the development of Grace come full circle, with the story ending in a way I would have never expected. 5/5.

This is the story of Ryland Grace, who is a scientist who wakes up alone on a spaceship bound for Tau Ceti. He has no memory of anything, and his two crewmates did not survive the medically induced coma that they were put in for the long trip, and so it’s up to him to remember why the Earth sent him here so desperately. He does eventually remember… there is a sort of alien algae that is infecting Earth’s sun… and if it continues to multiply, it’s going to dim the sun enough that humans won’t survive it. It’s up to Ryland to figure out why exactly Tau Ceti isn’t infected with the organism, and why.

I went into this one hoping that the ‘nerdy scientist is alone in space doing science to stuff’ wouldn’t come off as too samey. I am happy to say that Ryland Grace and Mark Watney seem quite different, despite somewhat similar circumstances at times. This one goes an entirely different direction than The Martian does, and blasts right off.

Where this one starts with a man alone in space having to do science to save the day, he doesn’t stay alone for long. Enter Rocky. That’s what Ryland calls him, anyway. Rocky is a small, intelligent alien creature that just so happens to be in the exact same place at the same time, and most importantly, for the exact same reason. Rocky’s sun is also infected with the organism and they were sent with a crew to find out the very same thing. Rocky and Ryland team up and do science at things while learning to understand each other, and what makes them both different and the same.

I didn’t love this one quite as much as I loved The Martian, but I did like it more than Artemis. It does have all the sciencey stuff that is fairly easily explained so I can understand it, just like I was expecting. It also gave me a good poke in the feels sometimes, which I did not expect, but here we are. Rocky is a great character, and I think that the relationship between Ryland and Rocky and how their communication evolved from pantomime to legitimate language-sharing was amazing, and kept me reading well past bedtime.

The first and foremost difference I noticed between Ryland Grace and Jazz Bashara or Mark Watney is that he doesn’t swear as much. It was a very noticeable decrease in f-bombs, lol. And as much as I love the f-bomb, it didn’t seem like it was done to make the book seem ‘cleaner’ or anything like that. Ryland is a middle school science teacher and spent his time around 12-year-olds. He just doesn’t swear as much. I can appreciate that, f-bomb lover that I am. Some people just don’t swear as much (I am not one of them).

So, all told, I really liked this one. Sciencey and nerdy and yet feels-jostling and edge-of-my-seat reading from time to time. I would recommend this book to anyone that liked The Martian, or really to anyone that likes space or extra sciencey science fiction. I can’t wait to see what Andy Weir brings to the table next!

I don’t know how to write this review because it would be a pity to give anything away. Ryland Grace wakes up and can’t remember anything, not even his name. He’s in a strange environment, alone. As the story progresses he quickly finds out that he’s in space. He can remember the science, but nothing about his personal history. Little by little he learns more about his mission: saving the world, no pressure, and himself. Then, really magnificent twists keep coming one after the other. Some parts were really shocking, but Weir explains the science and it makes sense. The problem, the solutions that he comes up with and how he works everything out is so well planned that it couldn’t have been any other way. That said, the scientific concepts and explanations went over my head most of the time. I loved the ending, but the part just before was a little too long. I have to add how Ryland’s friend Rocky is such a great character, that I absolutely fell in love.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine!

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir is a powerhouse novel and another great novel by Andy Weir and is just a great story.

Andy Weir doesn't believe in letting his characters have an easy time. Imagine waking up in an unfamiliar environment, hooked up to more things than you can count, with no memory of how you got there or why. Yep, that is exactly what happens to Ryland Grace, and I don't know about you, but I would be a basket case. His mission, oh just to save the earth and all its inhabitants. Easy peasy, am I right? He is the only survivor on this ship, and he must dig deep to figure out who he is and what exactly he is supposed to be doing.
Ryland isn't someone who just gives up when things are tough. That part of his character shines through, even though initially, I had my doubts that he could figure everything out. A lot of scientific concepts went right over my head, but as the story progressed and I learned more about Ryland and his mission, guess what, it didn't matter.
At times, I personally felt worse off than Ryland. I would start to imagine myself being on a spaceship somewhere in the universe with no idea what to do, and major panic ensued. Luckily, it was Ryland on board and not me, because he never loses his ability to think clearly and reason things out. I won't go into heavy details about this journey, because, well spoilers, and I also think it works better going in blind. I will say that a character by the name of Rocky stole my heart.
I loved The Martian and really enjoyed Artemis. By about the midpoint of Project Hail Mary, I was furiously flipping pages and cheering for Ryland to complete his mission. The ending made me a little bit sad at first, but when I thought about it, it really seemed to work and I am not sure it could have ended any other way.4.5 stars.

Weir's latest ticks all the same boxes that made The Martian so enjoyable. It's perfectly plotted. It's laugh out loud funny. It's packed with clever problem solving.

This one benefits greatly, though, from turning Mark Watney's solo act into a duo. The relationship that builds over the course of the novel is sweet and charming. Readers will find themselves quickly invested in the fates of the characters here, possibly moreso than in the fate of the world at large.

Weir has a knack for making the outlandish seem fully plausible. He seems to have missed nothing in realizing the little world he's created in outer space or in thinking through the solutions to the myriad problems that arise. In spite of its length, many readers will find themselves wishing they could spend just a little more time in this world.

An outstanding story that is gripping, emotional, suspenseful, and one wild spaceship ride! I am a huge fan of Andy Weir's book, The Martian, so I was thrilled to get to read the ARC of this book for my honest review. Weir has outdone himself with this compelling story of astronaut/microbiologist Ryland Grace. The story had me hooked from the first few pages and it continued to obsession level for me to finish this book. I am still thinking about the twists and turns in this story. I became invested in Ryland Grace's character, trying to figure out his backstory, and I was impatient to finish the book to learn of his fate and the fate of his mission. While reading the book, I cycled from laughing, to shock, to tensely fearful, to even overcome by emotion, and I actually cannot wait to read this again to savor the story. I wish I could say more but I do not want to spoil some of the unexpected twists! It is an incredible, creative story and it is sure to be a huge bestseller and it is definitely a 100% must-read book.

Loved it! I think it's as good as or even better than The Martian. I feel like there's not enough done in the near-future setting for sci-fi/space exploration stories and this really hits the spot.

Once I got going on this book, I couldn't put it down. I used every spare minute I had to read it.

Ryland Grace wakes up on a spaceship with no idea how he got there. The story has a mystery element to it because his memory returns in increments and we learn more about the mission and other details as he begins to recall them. This is an incredible and gripping sci-fi novel - a must read for fans of the genre.

There was a lot of big science in the book, but I didn't find it off-putting enough to lose interest. Some of it was easy enough to skim through and in other parts, I found myself learning a thing or two. The core plot, pacing, and character arcs kept me hooked.

I thought it would be hard to top Mark Watney, but Andy Weir might have done it here! Highly recommend.

It's the last resort, a Hail Mary. And he bears the name Dr. Ryland Grace, a middle school science teacher. Earth is in danger and he's been launched into space and tasked with saving mankind. Yet he doesn't remember any of that. Or how he got to be on a spaceship. Or his own name.... A tale full of twists and turns in scientific experimentation, Grace needs to figure out who he is, and where he's going, or die trying.

Andy Weir's writing style is reminiscent of The Martian in his newest book. He incorporates science, humor, and relationships in a unique way. I did not find the jargon in the book to be too overwhelming, and yet there is a significant amount of it. I will be the first to admit that I am not the most knowledgeable when it comes to physics, engineering, or astronomy. I only understand basic ideas and some references due to taking some beginner classes (although being married to an engineer who likes to talk about things is probably also helpful). Instead, I believe there is enough context within the story to give every reader a basic understanding of what is happening.

I found the character of Ryland Grace very realistic. He experiences excitement, foreboding, embarrassment, sadness, happiness, and more in his journey through space. As the book progresses, you witness his growth as a scientist and a human being. It's Grace's growth as a human that absolutely made this book better. Without it, I think it would have fallen very short. As far as the plot goes, I was a little surprised at how many science fiction troupes were included. Fear of Earth's demise? Check. Spacecraft? Check. Aliens? Check. The plot seemed to take The Martian and add it to the plot of Arrival (yes, the movie). However, I will say that the last quarter of the book did take it a bit further. This final step is what redeemed the book for me, and as a result I would recommend it to those who like science fiction or have enjoyed Weir's previous novels.

CW: death, very brief discussion of sex, loneliness, suicide, stereotyping