I was a huge fan of The Martian—even purchased several class sets of the YA edition for all of our 8th graders to read in a novel study—so I was excited to receive an advance copy of Weir’s newest book. The premise was fascinating, and I enjoyed the main character’s personality, but I got too bogged down in all of the science technicalities. At chapter eight, about 30% in, I lost interest and abandoned the book at chapter 8. I’m glad to see by so many five-star reviews that I’m in the minority here. Wishing the author and publisher much success on Project Hail Mary! Thank you for the invitation to read this ARC. I won’t be sharing my review outside of NetGalley, as I don’t want my opinion to negatively impact readership.

I started reading Weir with The Martian and enjoyed the ARC for his second book. But Project Hail Mary blows them out of the water! I could not stop grinning while reading it, and it kept me up way past my bedtime because I just had to know what would happen next. I don't want to spoil a thing about it for new readers because so much of the plot is so inventive and fun that to describe it might ruin some of the joy of discovering more about our hero and his mission. That said, if you liked the Martian but thought it was heavy on the potatoes- you will find this very much the same only better (no potatoes, but there's definitely some time spent farming... of a sort). The premise you figure out right away- we start the story with one man. He doesn't know who he is, or why he is there, or what is happening. But the slow reveal makes all the confusion worth it. The hero/narrator has a lot in common with Weir's hero from The Martian, but I will allow it. His particular (fictitious) background makes him pretty fun to listen to for the duration. And really, a plucky hero is a plucky hero. Good enough for me.

I am not a scientist, and my grasp of basically everything in the book (other than linguistics, shout out to the other language educators out there) was nonexistent. But without making it grindingly gritty, Weir leads us through every improbable but well-researched piece of the science to understand what is happening, why, and how eventually science can solve it. It was like being lead through the most fun class on molecular biology I could ever imagine. You get the picture- I loved this book. I bet you will, too! Five stars of fun, adventure, intrigue, and just plain old space-y science fiction (heavy on the science) good fun. My favorite book of the past year, or very close to it! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book early- and write this unbiased but GLOWING review. Because it was awesome, and I want my friends to read it so we can talk about it!

This story was super intriguing - the idea that someone had amnesia but was on an important trip in outer space. It took a weird turn with the introduction of a certain character... that I eventually grew to really like, and I thought he did a good job fleshing that all out. The plot got a bit too technical for me and I’ll admit, a lot of the details were lost on me but I enjoyed the ride. I would’ve like a little more from the ending though... just a little more closure and maybe one more reveal showing a different memory... trying to stay spoiler free. Otherwise it was a fun ride and I was sad when the book was over.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Project Hail Mary is my third book by Andy Weir. After looking at my ratings/reviews for The Martian and Artemis, well, I was a bit hesitant to dive into this one. Luckily I did because it was actually very interesting. Honestly, anything with aliens will somehow be a likable book for me. Plus Rocky was kind of hilarious at certain points in the book.

Other than Rocky, you will meet Ryland Grace. After diving into the beginning of this book, I will admit that I was kind of hooked. I probably had endless questions to begin with because we don't really know what happened to Ryland and why he was where he was (ya know?). Now while Ryland is trying to put pieces together, I just kind of sat back and enjoyed the wild ride.

I feel like with each little flashback, the twists and turns were starting to reveal the bigger picture. Or maybe after reading a mystery thriller novel I was just still in detective mode. Either way, I liked putting this little scientific puzzle together - even though I was probably going to be completely wrong before the last page came my way.

In the end, I'm pretty Rocky was my favorite part of the book.

Fist my bump.
Fist-bump. It's just 'fist-bump'.
Understand.

Project Hail Mary HAS to be made into a movie!! OMG!! I loved this story!! Weir put together one helluva spectacular touchdown win! From beginning to end, AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWsome!! The story is about a man who wakes up in a spaceship. He can't even remember his own name. It's bad. Not to mention the two dead bodies that lay on the other two beds. Apparently, this man is royally screwed and that's about the only thing he knows.

The story flows so easily... it sucks you in from the get go... and so many unexpected twists and turns... the reader is left needing a shot of oxygen too! lol. I wish I could make all of the items I highlighted visible to others. I'll never write a spoiler... but, DAYUM! Weir!! You got me.

In a nutshell, the Earth is royally screwed... something is depleting all of our Sun. And, it's built a highway to Venus. Our scientists also notice that all of our nearest stars are also losing brightness. Whatever is devouring our Sun... is doing the same thing to all of our neighboring stars. With the exception of ONE! One star. That's it. We must find a way to figure out WHY the little beasts aren't touching it. Because... they sure as heck are touching our star. Earth has less than thirty years to get this figured out before it becomes a ball of ice. We already know that close to half of our current population is going to die from famine, pestilence, and war over resources. Food has become man's biggest problem again.

Ryland Grace wakes up from a coma with absolutely no memory of who he is, where he is, or what's happening to him. What happens next is an incredibly smart, interesting, fun and emotional adventure. Project Hail Mary is the perfect follow up to Andy Weir's The Martian. Much more similar to that novel than the middle one which we won't talk about, this one includes lots of smart science-y concepts while managing to stay entirely entertaining the whole while. Ryland Grace and Mark Watney would DEF be friends. Project Hail Mary includes less cursing and ABBA, but instead layers in much higher stakes while still managing to be FUN. I really really enjoyed this one - in fact I read it in only 2 days. Highly recommend!

I received an e-ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I was very excited for this book, as I loved The Martian. Overall the book was an interesting concept; however I felt like they spent most of the time discussing scientific topics, instead of developing the personal plot line.

When I saw there was an ARC for Andy Weir's newest book, I grabbed it without reading the book's description. I loved The Martian and Artemis, and I'm so happy to say that Weir's newest book DID NOT DISAPPOINT.

If you can go into the book blind with very few spoilers, you should. It will make the twists and turns of the plot so much more fun. The book is about a man who wakes up in space and can't remember how he got there or why he's there. As his memories return to him, he must complete the task he was sent to space to do. AND THAT IS ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW.

For those who loved The Martian, you will love Project Hail Mary. The main character is a funny, self-deprecating, science guy in space. The story has tense moments of action, laugh out loud humor, surprising plot twists, and substantial character growth.

Like The Martian, this book is heavy on science. In the beginning (first 10%), there were a few spots where the science explanations slowed the plot down. Thankfully, that did not last long, and the majority of the book was just enough science to be interesting but not too much to bore the average reader.

Overall, I highly recommend this book to fans of The Martian and fans of science fiction books.

I loved both of the books I’ve read by Andy Weir (The Martian and Artemis) so I jumped at the chance to get a peek at his newest book. Luckily, it was better than I could have dreamed.

The book starts with a man waking up on a spaceship with two corpses. The man doesn’t know who he is or where he is. As his memories return, he realizes he’s part of a crew on a last-ditch suicide mission to save Earth. Flashbacks serve to inform the reader (and the main character) about the events leading to his involvement in this mission. As Grace figures out his mission and tries desperately to figure out how to harness space microbes to save the Earth from extinction, he finds more in the far reaches of space than he ever expected. I don’t know a ton about science, but Weir manages to explain highly scientific terms in a way that the reader can follow along without too much difficult. As a mystery lover, I loved the many mysteries in this book that Grace had to solve. I enjoyed the goofiness of the main character, and his ingenious and unconventional ways of problem-solving. All in all, this was a dense book with a lot of information and action that took me several days to get through, but it was very difficult to put down because I had to know what happened next. I especially appreciated the lack of f-bombs compared to The Martian, which means I’m happy to introduce this to my 13-year-old reader. I loved it.

Andy Weir has a distinct style and with this book, his third, has really honed in on what made his debut novel, The Martian, such a massive success.
A long time space and science enthusiast, Weir now as a trilogy of books mostly set outside the atmosphere of our little blue ball and they all are led by a sole protagonist. In The Martian, Mark Watney is left on Mars to survive when the rest of his crew believes him dead. In Artemis, Jazz Bashara is somewhat of a loner working in a full fledged city on the moon. Project Hail Mary follows suit with our hero waking up onboard a space craft unable to remember his name, where he is or why he’s there, but he is very much alone.

This amnesia doesn’t last forever though and as the protagonist, whose name I purposefully am leaving out of this to avoid any spoilers at all, begins to remember aspects of his life and mission we learn it along with him in the form of flashbacks.
It’s through these scenes we find out that the scale of this story is the grandest yet for the author.
If Watney failed to grow potatoes on Mars, he’d die and we’d be sad but earth would keep spinning. If Jazz hadn’t stopped getting into trouble with gangsters and authorities on Luna, not many people would have been hurt.
If the titular Project Hail Mary fails, well, that’s lights out for everybody.

Despite these high stakes Andy Weir still has a jovial sense of adventure with everything he writes. His characters are flawed, they get frustrated, they fail. Then they pick them selves up, get back to work and fix whatever just went wrong.
And things most certainly do go wrong.
I don’t think this book has the same trappings as The Martian did; use science to fix problem A, celebrate, feel good, last line of chapter sets up problem B, but that definitely does happen at least a couple of times.
This book takes its swings in slightly different directions though and while it feels like a spiritual successor to The Martian it is in no way a carbon copy.

Weir has established himself as one of the most accessible and commercially successful sci-fi authors of the last decade or so and, for me, it is because his type of science fiction follows the likes of Michael Crichton and leans into the science part of the genre.
His first two novels, while set off planet, relied almost entirely on technologies we either have at our disposal, are in active development or have already been theorised. This book reaches a little further into speculative fiction and I’m happy to say that it works.

If Crichton had an affinity for theme parks that wanted to kill you, Andy Weir has that with space. I am eager to see if he ever decides to tackle and story at a stable 1g, but if he chooses to float around in the atmosphere he has found himself most comfortable in going forward, I’m all in as well.

I’ll wrap this up by saying that if you enjoyed The Martian, this is a must read, but if you like something with a little more depth like, oh I don’t know, the movie Arrival, then don’t sleep on this either. At least without someone watching over you while you do...

I love Andy Weir and Project Hail Mary did not disappoint! The Martian is one of my favorite books of all time and this one is right there with it now. I loved the characterization, the science and the imagination!

Project Hail Mary further cements Andy Weir's position as the flagbearer for easily accessible hard science fiction. Much like his previous works, Weir's protagonist is equipped with the knowledge and pluck to be able to extricate themselves from certain danger and possible death time and time again by using their scientific knowledge.
Starting as a "white room" plot, Project Hail Mary sucks you in from the beginning as you try to determine who our hero is and why he is in such a predicament. Through non linear storytelling, Weir slowly reveals the stakes of the central problem and how our intrepid hero came to be where he is.
If you are familiar at all with Weir's earlier works, you will be used to the escalating scientific experimentations to resolve problems. I was amazed at the level of knowledge the protagonist had in such widespread scientific disciplines but it did come in handy.
I enjoyed this book quite a bit and it allowed me the feeling of suspense I had the first time I had read The Martian. It also demonstrated again that hard science fiction can teach you and thrill you at the same time.

I received an eARC of this book via Netgalley. All opinions in this review are my own.

This was the first novel I have read by Andy Weir and after reading this one I am going to read the rest of his works. This book was well written and had me wanting to see what happened next. The lead character Dr. Grace felt real albeit smarter then the average person but his emotional response to what was happening around him seemed authentic. The story goes back in forth of him on his current mission and memories from the past that led him to be on the space ship that had to sole goal to save the planet. There is so much I want to mention that makes this book so great but I would be robbing new readers from the chance to discover these scenes as they unfold. If you are a fan of Sci-Fi and human reactions to the end of the world this is the novel for you!

Fun science! I loved this book. (Until the end. Then, I'm not so sure, but what ride to get there.) Tons of science made interesting, and an ingenious way to tell the story.

I'm sure fans of Weir's The Martian will not be surprised at the level of science-based problem solving in this book. (I abandoned The Martian because I didn't want watch an astronaut starve on Mars. I quite enjoyed the movie, though.)

The structure of this book - of an astronaut who wakes up in space and doesn't know who or where he is - adds an element of mystery to the narrative, which might not have been so effective if it had been told in a linear fashion. We get the back story as his memories return.

[Small spoiler] I loved the alien life proposed in this book. I became quite attached to it, too. I would like to know how Weir chose his aliens, but I'm sure there is real scientific thinking behind.

My gripes are that the characters tend to be two-dimensional, and the ending doesn't quite stick the landing. Not to mention all the luck that makes the plot work, but that's fiction for you.

I am not a fan of hard science fiction, so I can't judge how Weir's work would sit with those readers. This book's style of plot-driven, science-laden storytelling is sure to have wide appeal and produce another hit for Weir.

I haven’t read Andy Weir before, but of course I have heard about The Martian. It is on my Want to Read list although I have already seen the movie. So I was intrigued when I saw a new book available by Weir.

Project Hail Mary starts off with Dr. Ryland Grace waking up from a coma on a spaceship. He doesn’t remember his own name let alone why he is in space. But eventually the details come back to him and he realizes he is Earth’s last chance for human survival.

I absolutely loved this book. Grace is an extremely likable and humorous character which is good, considering he is mostly the only character. As a math nerd myself, I loved the math and physics problems that Grace would work out as well as the scientific problem solving that Earth went through creating the Project Hail Mary mission. Even though most of it was a hypothetical situation, I still felt like I increased my understanding on many subjects in addition to enjoying the story.

This was one of those rare books where I was overwhelmingly sad when it ended. I kept wanting to return to it and was always disappointed when I remembered I reached the end. I thought it had a perfect ending (even more rare!) and I honestly have no faults with the plot.

This book was entertaining and thought provoking without being overwhelming. I highly recommend to anyone especially if you have an interest in STEM or space in general. I definitely plan on going back to read more from Weir.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Project Hail Mary is incredible! Andy Weir is back with another sensational science fiction novel that you have to read if you were a Martian novel fan like I was.

It begins with a lost astronaut who wakes up and doesn’t know where he is or who he is. The book offers one scientific theory after another which Grace races to solve. I can’t even begin to tell you if the science is accurate, I don’t have a desire to look it all up, but it seems real and plausible! What I loved the most were the one-line sarcastic humor that Mark Watney was know for. This was such a great book!

Project Hail Mary is Andy Weir’s usual thrill ride of world-saving science and engineering with unintended consequences. It’s one of those books that you read twice, first to see what happens and then to appreciate how the author sets it up.

The best plot hook is that initially the main character can’t even remember his own name-- and his amnesia apparently kept him alive during suspended animation. From there the story unfolds in a series of flashbacks as the lone surviving astronaut figures out how to use the ship while he starts to remember why he’s on his mission. It's incredibly fortunate that he was such a good high-school science teacher before he switched to being an astronaut... if he could only remember why he made that career move in the first place.

Then the alien shows up.

Then our hero realizes that he can’t get back home... or maybe he can? But even if he can, then should he return?

The book lurches from one crisis to the next as the author explains time dilation, relativity, spaceship design, biology, and climate change. It’s his best book yet!

I had a major book hangover after finishing Project Hail Mary, and I do believe this took over as my favorite book of all time. That award went to Andy Weir’s The Martian these past few years... until now.

This book was definitely my most anticipated read for 2021, and not only was it every thing I hoped it would be, it seriously blew my socks off.

Ryland Grace wakes up on a spaceship to find out that his memory of who he is and why he’s there is gone. He also discovers that his two crewmates are dead and he’s alone. As bits and pieces of his memory return to him a little at a time, he discovers that he knows science and math. A lot of science and math. He also discovers that he’s been asleep for a VERY long time and is far far away from Earth.

I’ve been reading other reviews about how Ryland Grace is too much like Mark Watney in The Martian but without all the cussing, and that there’s too much science in this book. Well, my love of The Martian and Mark Watney as a character are extremely high. I adored Ryland Grace because he was a lot like Mark Watney, and I didn’t mind all the science. Yes it was a bit overwhelming, but... I just scanned the bits I didn’t get. Okay, I probably scanned most of the science. That’s what Andy Weir does though. He pours on the science. I, for one, am in awe of the science!

I experienced so many feels in the last part of the book, I’m still getting goosebumps thinking about it. I can’t wait for my preordered signed copy to come in so I can sit and pet this book. That’s how much I loved it. I’ll definitely be reading this one at least once a year like I do with Weir’s The Martian and Artemis.

*Thank you so very much to Ballantine Books, Random House, and NetGalley for the advance copy!*

ARC provided by Goodreads and the publisher—Ballantine Books—in exchange for an honest review.

3.5/5 stars

Andy Weir is back with a new novel suitable for fans of The Martian.

“Stupid humanity. Getting in the way of my hobbies.”

I’m sure I’m not the only that became a fan of Weir’s work because of The Martian. For years I’ve heard such amazing things about The Martian, and it’s not until three months ago that I caved in and finally read The Martian. I was blown away by how good it was. It’s an incredible thing, especially because I’ve watched the movie adaptation first, and I knew how the story will go already. And still, I was impressed, entertained, and felt satisfied from reading the novel. I know that Artemis has been mixed received; I haven’t read it yet, so I can’t say much on this novel. However, if you’re a fan of The Martian, I really don’t see how you’ll end up disliking this one.

“Sometimes, the stuff we all hate ends up being the only way to do things.”

If you haven’t heard of the premise of Project Hail Mary, I’m going to sum it up briefly now. Ryland Grace is a lone astronaut with a task to save Earth from disaster, but he’s alone, and he has no memories of what has happened before. He has to find a way to save Earth from disaster, and then come back home, all by himself. See? It’s practically the premise of The Martian with a new addition of saving the world. I won’t lie, there were times where the plot and the structure of the storyline felt too similar; I enjoyed it, but an extra distinction would’ve earned this book a better remembrance strength in my head. That being said, this isn’t a carbon copy of The Martian; Weir still managed to make Project Hail Mary a different book besides the incredibly similar premise and storytelling structure.

“I feel like Sherlock Holmes. All I saw was “nothing,” and I draw a bunch of conclusions! Conclusions that are wildly speculative and with nothing to prove them, but conclusions!”

Ryland Grace, as a character, felt pretty much like a non-foul-mouthed Mark Watney. Other than that, the voice of his narrative felt highly similar to Mark Watney; whether this is a good thing or not, it’s up to each reader to interpret. Personally, despite the similarity to Mark Watney, this was a good thing for me because I was indeed in a mood for reading a POV of a character that can act positively despite their harsh circumstances; I got what I wanted here. I did, however, found that the scientific details were too much.

“Human suffering is often an abstract concept to kids. But animal suffering is something else entirely.”

I’m not claiming that I understood every scientific detail in The Martian, but in my opinion, Weir did a superb job in balancing the science info-dump in The Martian along with the characterization, plotting, and humor. The Martian never stopped feeling super intriguing and captivating to me. That’s not the case in Project Hail Mary, not at first, anyway. The heavy discussions on mathematics and physics were simply over my head, and there were so many of them in the first half of the novel that it felt to me like I was transported back to high school to fail these two lessons again. Fortunately, the second half remedied the pacing; the balance between plot, characters, dialogues, and scientific info-dumps was handled significantly better. And similar to The Martian, the ending of Project Hail Mary was enormously satisfying.

“Maybe it’s just the childish optimist in me, but humanity can be pretty impressive when we put our minds to it.”

Filled with positivity, intellect, and thrill, to me Project Hail Mary was almost as good as The Martian. I will admit that my expectations towards this novel may be a bit too high, and I’m sure many readers who enjoy—plus understand—the intricate scientific details will have a more enjoyable reading experience. What’s the highlight of Project Hail Mary? Rocky. That’s all I’m going to say on this.

Official release date: 4th May 2021

You can pre-order the book from: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Book Depository (Free shipping) | Bookshop (Support Local Bookstores!)

The quotes in this review were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions

Threats to the survival of humanity lead to an unprecedented journey into space in a last-ditch effort to preserve life on Earth in Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary.

Junior high science teacher Ryland Grace is alone on a space ship, an unlikely but ultimately only remaining hope for humanity, on a mission to save the Earth from impending demise; however, he doesn’t quite know all of this when he wakes up. He takes stock of his surroundings, which includes robotic arms and a disembodied computer voice, and quickly comes to conclusion that he’s skilled in and has vast knowledge of science, and is likely American, but he’s not quite sure what he’s supposed to be doing. With his memories slowly and hazily returning to him as he goes about the ship and dealing with his two deceased crewmates, Ryland recalls that he’s on a mission to save Earth and everyone on it from an extinction event. In his quest to get answers to the gaps in his memory and save his plant, Ryland eagerly conducts experiments to gather data and makes one of the greatest discoveries that becomes his most valuable ally in this endeavor.

A captivating and generally optimistic tale of survival against the innumerable odds thrown against you (and humanity more broadly), this story contained plenty of endearing comments and asides from the protagonist, both in current time and in recollections, to keep you engaged and invested in the somewhat bleak origin and heavily scientific task Ryland was set to undertake, which bears the very familiar hallmarks of a Weir science adventure – The Martian in particular. Incorporating a manifestation of encountering alien life forms in space, and collaborating with them toward a mutual goal, was fascinating to watch unravel. The dynamic developed between Ryland and Rocky was, quite frankly, adorable; while I can appreciate that these are intelligent minds that can come up with workable solutions quickly, the pace at which that was portrayed was incredibly rapid, requiring a larger dose of suspension of disbelief to remain immersed in the narrative. The story’s resolving action, and particularly the ending, is an incredibly lovely aspiration, though it felt far too tidy and cheerful in contrast with the serious implications of the sacrifices made.

Overall, I’d give it a 4 out of 5 stars.

*I received a copy of this book from the Publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.