Blurb:

Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish.

Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.

All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.

His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.

And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone.

Or does he?

An irresistible interstellar adventure as only Andy Weir could deliver, Project Hail Mary is a tale of discovery, speculation, and survival to rival The Martian—while taking us to places it never dreamed of going.

Review:

My wife gifted me copies of The Martian and Project Hail Mary on my birthday last year. After having these two on my TBR for the longest time, I decided to finally read them. I only finished The Martian last year and absolutely loved it. However, I had watched the film before, so there weren’t as many surprises when reading it. 

Project Hail Mary, however, was full of surprises. For starters, all I knew about this book was that it was a kind of spiritual successor to The Martian and nothing else. Imagine my surprise—and delight—when I finally picked up the book!

What I liked:

Everything. I liked—pretty much 99.99% (might not be mathematically accurate)—everything in this book.

Ryland Grace felt very similar to Mark Watney, to the point that I couldn’t distinguish between the two voices. Not a problem, though, because Grace’s wit, craftiness and unapologetic persona make this book a really captivating read. A book like this depends on its protagonist, and Grace is a brilliant anchor to the story, one that never disappoints—even in his low moments. 

Speaking of the story—it’s actually quite a simple one. Earth faces potential extinction, the solution to which is a suicide mission. The story isn’t all that great, but the science that drives the story forward is! Just like in The Martian, the constant experiments with science are what build the drama in this tale. The successes push the story forward, while the failures add tension to the narrative. I’m not a science expert, but I did enjoy learning about microbiology and astronomy through this book. Mostly because they don’t come as lessons, but tidbits that add layers to the conflicts at hand. I don’t want to talk much about the story because the directions it goes is so unique and spectacular that I wouldn’t want to ruin it for anyone. Some surprises did push my suspension of disbelief, but not once did I feel like putting the book down and taking a break. 

The narrative was an interesting switch from The Martian. Unlike being spatially separated, in this, the two narratives are set in the present—where Grace is trying to survive and find a solution to humanity’s extinction—and the past which follows the ‘how did Grace end up here?’ narrative. I loved how Weir used amnesia to make Grace completely unaware of the past and learn of key events in flashes as the narrative required. Of course, it sometimes felt a little too convenient, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t fun to discover. I was equally invested in the past and the present, something that isn’t always the case in such splits. Side note: I genuinely loved Stratt’s character, and everything she does to push for humanity’s survival.

Lastly, the magnanimity of this book. Martian was a singular survival tale, where all of humanity labors towards rescuing one individual. The scale of efforts in that tale are a testament to what humans are capable of. With Project Hail Mary, Weir cranks the gears to 11, then 12, then keeps pushing until the shift breaks and we’re propelled towards unimaginable extremes. Flipping the Martian’s setting, Hail Mary has just one individual on a suicide mission that’ll save humanity. But, it is far from a singular effort. Like the Martian, the world comes together to find a solution. The petty politics and ego struggles that plague these efforts are mere garnishing on top of a rich and filling platter of mind-bending science and human perseverance. 

I only learned in my late 20s how intriguing science could be. I can’t vouch for the accuracy of its portrayal, but it certainly is thought-provoking, requiring you to do your own research if it so pleases you. Both the present and the past narratives stretch the science to a point that’s equal parts imaginative and fantastical. But, it always remains grounded in a realistic manner. No matter how much Weir pushes into the weird—I am not apologising for that phrasing—he makes sure to justify it with concepts that compel you to wonder. That, in my opinion, is the mark of a great science fiction writer. Almost all of Asimov’s writing that I have read has been concept and idea-focused, with the science forming a base on which he builds his stories. Weir takes it up quite a few notches, with the science forming a vast chunk of the building material of his masterpieces. 

If I had to pick one word to describe my feelings, it would be “AWE”. Project Hail Mary had me thinking, while sitting on the edge of my seat, grinding my teeth as I rooted for the protagonist, for humanity, with my mental backburners trying to make sense of the concepts this book threw my way. I can say without a doubt that this is one of the best reads of the year for me. 

What I didn’t like:

Like I said, I liked 99.99% of the book. But what of the 0.01%? Okay, it might be a little more than that, but I’m not mathematically inclined to make accurate calculations.

Some of the science was a drag. Maybe it’s because I’m not too big on science, but some parts were a little tedious to read. They weren’t bad, but on a personal level I would have preferred them to be shorter or crisper. This isn’t a big complaint, as they ultimately served to build my intrigue. Still, can’t write a review without being 100% honest, no? If you had trouble following the science-y bits in The Martian, you might feel the same about the science-y bits in Project Hail Mary.

The other things I had—infinitesimally small—issues with contain spoilers, so skip the next bit if you want. Check out the TL;DR, where I mention this in a non-spoiler-y way.

[SPOILERS]

The first few chapters with Rocky felt like a diversion. I understand why it was necessary. I also admit that I loved this exchange of language and ‘first contact’ segment. But, throughout that part, I felt like we were distracted from the main objective at hand. If this could’ve been condensed into a smaller segment, maybe I wouldn’t feel that way. However, realistically, it makes sense for Grace to take his time to establish contact and exchange information. Still, the distraction remains one point of contention for me. Not that I’m cutting points for it, but I have to mention it. 

Another issue, again stemming from Rocky, is that Rocky felt like the perfect deus ex machina. Grace can’t figure something out? Rocky has a solution. Grace is out of fuel? Rocky has excess fuel, he’ll lend it! So on, and so forth. Honestly, I loved Rocky. But to some extent, I felt like Rocky’s inclusion might’ve simplified some of the conflicts that arose during the final 100-150 pages. 

The ending—and this is 100% subjective—has me in two minds. Half of me loved the ending because we kinda got to see the Eridians’ planet. But, the other half of me genuinely thinks that seeing Earth 26 years after the Hail Mary’s launch would’ve been a better, more compelling and mind-blowing finale to this story. 

I guess this one is up for debate. If you’ve read the book, what did you think of the ending? Erid or Earth, what do you think would make the better closing chapter?  

Conclusion:

I don’t know how to describe my feelings about this book. Despite all my complaints, I can’t help but recommend it because it’s so damn good! I mean… it’s one of my top 10 reads of the year, do you need another reason to pick it up? 

One review that finally made me pick up this book was from pop-culture connoisseur Rohan Joshi, who described this book as a slump buster. I can say without a doubt that hell yeah, it is! 

TL;DR:

WHAT I LIKED: Pretty much everything

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE: Some science parts felt like a drag, one particular element in the book felt like a distraction from the main conflict and sometimes served as a convenient solution to some problems