I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir Published by Ballantine Books on May 4 2021
Genres: Adult, Science fiction
Pages: 496
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Thrilling, emotional and very funny, Project Hail Mary is a winner!
*Spoiler free review
This is a tricky book to review, because as you might have heard, there is a spoilerific element to the story that should be kept under wraps at all costs. I have to admit I went into Project Hail Mary completely clueless (I don’t think I even read the blurb on Goodreads) and it made the experience all the more wonderful. So this review will be on the short side, as I don’t want to give anything away! I loved this book as much as I loved The Martian, and I really loved The Martian. Kudos to Weir for writing something new and not rehashing his bestseller, even though the basic concept—a man gets stuck in space by himself and has to figure out a way to survive—is similar.
The story opens with a mystery. A man wakes up in a strange hospital bed with no memories of why he’s there and who he is. He’s alone except for two dead bodies, and he doesn’t recognize them either. Little by little, his memories float to the surface, and he remembers that his name is Ryland Grace and he is on a spaceship. Ryland soon realizes that he understands all the technical equipment on board and that he’s very good at math and science, but he still doesn’t understand the why part of the equation: he eventually remembers that he is a junior high school science teacher, but what the heck is he doing on a spaceship, alone and—another startling realization—in another solar system? And why did he lose his memory?
In an alternating timeline, we learn the answers to all those questions as Ryland’s memories slowly return. It turns out that Earth is on the path to an extinction event and the crew and spaceship—the Hail Mary—have been launched into space in order to find a solution to the problem. Scientists predict that another ice age is imminent in the next twenty-six years or so, unless the Hail Mary and crew can save the day.
So that’s the set-up, and it’s up to you lucky readers to experience the rest of the story for yourselves. Weir does a great job of utilizing a dual timeline in Project Hail Mary, and it works perfectly for keeping us in suspense as he slowly doles out the answers to all of the story’s burning questions. Back on Earth, we meet the team of scientists who not only discovered the life altering event that’s about to happen, but those who can solve the problem and save the planet. I loved these sections as well, and it was fascinating to watch the process of all the top scientists in the world come together to help solve an insurmountable problem.
Weir is simply full of surprises, and I was delighted by the creative and unusual ideas in this story. It’s almost like The Martian was a warm-up for Project Hail Mary. We get a lot of the same elements, but Weir takes things up several notches, uses even more science, and comes up with some truly mind-blowing scenarios. And yes, there is a lot of technical information and info-dumping in places. But hey, building a spaceship and figuring out how to get a crew into deep space is technical stuff, and I wasn’t really bothered that most of it went over my head. As for tension and thrills, I was on the edge of my seat for a lot of the story, worried sick about Ryland and the Hail Mary. I’ll admit some of the situations were way over the top, and it’s hard to imagine that anything like this would ever happen, but you have to just go with it. I’m quite sure Weir did his homework, and even if parts of the story feel like speculation, it’s all based on science and physics, especially the scenes back on Earth and the extreme measures the team has to take to save the planet.
Ryland Grace is a fantastic character, a man who loves to teach and gets very excited when confronted with new ideas and problems. He’s on par with Mark Watney when it comes to problem solving, and the crazy ideas he comes up with were some of my favorite parts of the story. I also loved the way he refused to swear, using phrases like “what the fudge” and “motherfluffer” in lieu of swear words, although eventually when the shit hits the fan he does swear, lol. There are so many laugh-out-loud moments in the story, and I’d love to mention a few choice quotes, but I’m afraid they would spoil things for you. And did anyone else pick up on the name of the ship and the main character and think “Hail Mary full of grace”?? Ha ha.
The villain of the tale—of course there has to be one—is Eva Stratt, the all-powerful, driven woman who facilitates the entire operation. At first I cheered the fact that Weir gave us a strong woman who can literally command the President of the United States and every other world leader in order to get what she needs for the project, but it doesn’t take long before you start to realize just what a horrible person she is. There is one reveal in particular near the end that nearly made me throw my Kindle against the wall, I was so enraged by her choices! However, on the surface she’s annoying as hell, but she has mankind’s best interests at heart, so you have to give her credit for that.
And I wouldn’t have given this book five stars if it hadn’t resonated with me emotionally. Unfortunately I can’t talk about the emotional parts because of huge spoilers! But let me just say that I didn’t see that ending coming and I sobbed like a baby.
Andy Weir has another winner on his hands, one that takes all the best parts of The Martian and spins them off in different and surprising directions. The book isn’t perfect—it’s pretty long and there are many many paragraphs and pages full of technical information—but honestly, I’d put up with those things all over again if I could read this again for the first time.
Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.
Fun! Great review. I’ll look forward to this.
Also, just started Eye of the Sh*t Storm and, holy cats, the first couple of chapters lol! Highly entertaining. And I won a copy of Becky Chambers’ latest, The Galaxy and the Ground Within, which I’m also liking.
Ha ha I know! Those first few chapters of Eye of the Sh*t Storm were so crazy, my jaw hit the floor.
Since I had not read the book’s synopsis yet, I was certain – give the cover art – that the story would be focused on a stranded astronaut alone in space… Never mind, the core concept sounds intriguing and I’m eager to compare Hail Mary to The Martian and see if I will react to this new book as I did to The Martian or to Artemis…
Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…WYRD & WONDER 2021: Once More Unto the Fantastic Breach! – #Wyrdandwonder
I’m very curious to see what you think. In some ways it’s very similar to The Martian, but it’s very different too.
I will keep my focus on the differences, then… 😉
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…TOP TEN TUESDAY: Wyrd & Wonder Edition – #Wyrdandwonder
Awesome review! I have no doubt I’ll be reading this one.:-)
Priscilla Bettis recently posted…The Odd Writer
Hope you enjoy!
I’m glad I’m not the only one who cried at that ending! This was a 5 star read for me too. I really like how he’s able to write in such a way that all of that technical science talk doesn’t put me off even a little bit.
There were a couple of parts that really hit me emotionally, I was surprised when I just started crying, lol.
I’m so excited to read this book! It’ll be the first book by the author I’ll be reading!
I hope you love it!
Damn! This sounds like a super thrilling read. I’ve never read a book by this author before but I feel like this could be a great start. Either this one or The Martian, I don’t know yet. 😛
Stephanie @ Bookfever recently posted…Monthly Wrap-Up: April 2021
Both are excellent!
Yay! So glad you loved it! You did a great job describing why it’s so amazing without giving too much away. I didn’t really see Stratt as a villain though — yes, from Grace’s perspective, in terms of what she ended up doing, but from the perspective of saving humanity, she had to be heartless to achieve her goal. The book was so fascinating, and this is just one reason why — so much to think about in terms of sacrifice and the ultimate goal and the value of individual lives vs saving the world!
It really does make you think. I just plain HATED Stratt, ha ha, even though on some level I knew she was doing the right thing.
I’m very eager to read this book and had better hurry before I run into a spoiler! I’m thrilled that you liked it as well as The Martian! Thank you.
Ha ha it’s a great experience to discover all the surprises on your own. Thanks for stopping by!
I need to start reading this author! Excellent review.
Anne – Books of My Heart recently posted…Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
He’s so good, I think you’d love him:-)
Wonderful to hear that this was good!
Mervi recently posted…Wyrd & Wonder 2021
I hope you get the chance to check it out:-)
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks Stormi, so good!
I just finished this – I can see how this one would be hard to review without spoilers, lol. I loved that he wrote a more “out there” sci-fi this time around 🙂
I agree, I feel like he tried hard to go beyond what he did with The Martian.
I just read your first paragraph and then skipped the rest in avoidance of any spoilers. It’s sufficient to me that you loved it and I don’t need to hear anything more to want this in my life. Thanks Tammy!
Yes, best thing if you don’t want to know anything! Have fun Will!
I loved The Martian, as well, so I’m really pleased to see how much you enjoyed this one. Can’t wait to try it myself. And I definately know what you mean about giong into something blind and how that can sometimes really add to the experience.
It really made it so much more fun for me, not knowing much about the story.
This was so good! It was a great story with some total what on Earth moments by our lady “villain”!
I can’t wait to read this one. I’ve only skimmed this for now because I want to know as little as possible. In the immortal words of Arnie ‘I’ll be back”
Lynn 😀
I can’t wait to pick this one up! You absolutely have me sold on needing to read it sooner rather than later. I’m super curious about this emotional part that hit you hard. That opening alone, though, sounds so creepy and good! Definitely bumping this up the TBR list.
I’m still waiting for the library copy, but I’m super happy to see you enjoyed it! I wasn’t a bit fan of Artemis, so I was a little nervous about this one.
I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was fantastic. If you ever consider rereading, consider the audiobook. I, too, cried in a couple of places. So good!! Great job on the review without spoilers.
I have to say, Stratt was one of the most interesting parts of the whole book for me. I LOVED the exploration of “the ends justify the means” and was fascinated by her entire character. A villain for Grace personally, ultimately, but I’m not convinced she’s objectively a villain at the end of the day, and I love that kind of complication. I get the sense this is an unpopular opinion, but I would have loved to see more of her!
I loved this book. I listened to the Audiobook narrated by the fabulous Ray Porter. It made me laugh & cry several times.
Ray Porter needs to read whatever Andy Weir writes next: he did an amazing job with this book.
10 out of 5 stars!