4.5 stars!
I really enjoyed Artemis, so I was excited when I heard about this book...and I was not disappointed!

We get thrust into the action pretty much immediately, with approximately as much information as the main character, who wakes up on a spaceship with no memory of how he got there (or even where "there" is). As the story unfolds, we get the flashbacks of his memory returning to tell us about what led us to this spaceship, while also getting a great space adventure!

As per usual with Andy Weir, the science in this book is fascinating and feels grounded in reality, even if the technology being discussed definitely does not exist yet. The story is very engaging and moves at a good pace. This is a great sci-fi novel, and I encourage everyone to read it!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an advanced copy of this book!

This was my first Weir novel and I was not disappointed. I realize most people open a book with a general awareness of the book's plot, but I went in rather blindly. Which is why I gasped at one point when the plot I thought I was working with became something else entirely. It's excellent science fiction;. while you don't have to fully understand the complex science involved, I'm sure it's an extra treat for those who do. There is also plenty of heart which I especially appreciated. I've recommended it to several people already.

Ryland Grace is a brilliant scientist who left a career in academia to be a middle school science teacher. Except he has just woken up alone on a spaceship millions of miles from Earth and he can't remember his name or why he is there. As his memories slowly return he realizes he is in a race against time to save humanity from extinction... no pressure!

Project Hail Mary is in Andy Weir's trademark style - lots of hard science that is conveyed in an understandable way. It is a more similar vibe to The Martian than to Artemis, so if you loved The Martian but weren't as keen on Artemis definitely give this one a chance. I enjoyed both the story and the characters. A good read for when you want to put the science in science fiction!

Don't bother.
Really, don't waste your money or time.
I read it. It's ridiculously implausible. One deus ex machina after another.
It's all been downhill after The Martian.

Once you get past all the science-y and math-y stuff, which I am sure people more intelligent than I will have issues with, you find yourself in the middle of people-y stuff. The good, the bad, and the ugly people -- as only those trying to save the world can be. Then there is the humor. I know you don’t think nerdy scientists facing world annihilation can be funny, but they are. They so very are. To the point that the dialogue has you putting the book down to continue laughing and sending out messages to your friends and co-workers, telling them they need to stop what they are doing and get their hands on this book. With the laughter, there are also tears and gasping moments. This is what makes the book appealing to a larger audience. There is something for everyone.

Project Hail Mary
By. Andy Weir
P. 496
Format: eArc
Rating: *****
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I received an e-arc from @Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Then I bought the book..
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Andy Weir took the science fiction world by storm with his release of The Martian. It was gritty hard science fiction. His second novel, Artemis, was not quite as revered. Although I personally loved it, it had a lot of similarities as The Martian. The main character just seemed to be a gender bent version of Mark.

Project Hail Mary is different, and is my favorite Andy Weir book to date. Firstly, I must say there is not a single swear word in the entire book. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it was disappointing, but it was an obvious choice.

The first part of the novel may be a bit slow. You are disjointed and have no idea what is going on, because the main character, Ryland, is disjointed and has no idea of what is going on. He has lost his memory and he seems to be alone in space.

The novel is a combination of real time events as well as memory flash backs. It makes for a very thrilling narrative. Then pops in my favorite character ever of any book - Rocky. I won’t tell you much about him because it would spoil everything. But I love him. I will buy action figures of him. . . When someone decides to make them.

If you love science fiction at all then read this book.

Another wonderfully imaginative space adventure from Weir about scientist Ryland Grace who is on a space mission to save the Earth. The format of the book worked well, alternating between past and present to fill in the backstory little by little and keep the adventure moving. The more you find out about the past, the more the questionable events in the present make sense. As with all of Weir's books, I find my eyes glazing over at times with the detailed scientific and technical descriptions--but he has again created such a likeable main character--flawed and sarcastic but smart and noble deep down. As much as I enjoyed the main character, the Eridian Rocky steals the show. Weir did an amazing job bringing him to life and making him so endearing. I just loved the whole story and how it resolves. Great read!

Fans of The Martian rejoice — Andy Weir is back! Project Hail Mary has upped the ante: Ryland Grace isn’t just trying to save himself — he’s trying to save the entire planet.

Told in two timelines, Project Hail Mary goes just as in depth on the scientific elements of the story as one would expect from Weir. Although the character development is a little sparse (one could really plug any of Weir’s heroes into this story and end up with the same result), this book is so much fun that it almost doesn’t matter. This one is a little more alien than The Martian or Artemis, leaning more heavily towards the speculative end of science fiction.

Fans of Weir’s previous work are unlikely to find anything to complain about with his latest. All in all it is a rollicking, science-packed adventure — just what Weir does best.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the ARC!

In 2011, Andy Weir published his first novel, The Martian, and it was one of the best science fiction adventure yarns I’d read in years -- and certainly one of the nerdiest. Because of the way he researched every problem the protagonist encountered and every decision he made to solve them, the science was all completely credible. No hand-waving pseudo-stuff. Heinlein and Asimov and Clark would have loved it., and a lot of us Old Timey science fiction fans absolutely did, Unfortunately, Andy’s second book, Artemis, wasn’t nearly as good, in my opinion (for all that it won a Goodreads award), There was far less science to it and far more cops and robbers. I began to wonder if maybe he was just one of those authors with only one really good book in him. But never fear! The original Andy Weir is back! His latest adventure, Project Hail Mary, is a riveting story, and the nerd-geek quotient is right off the charts. In fact, it’s basically a “Nerds Must Save the World!” plot -- and not all the nerds are even human.
The set-up is pretty simply: Something appears to be slowly draining our sun’s energy, and that’s going to result in catastrophic climate changes on Earth within the next couple of decades. Ryland Grace is a junior high school science teacher, so he’s been following the story pretty closely. And then observers discover that some unknown organism is actually eating Sol. Ryland is much better educated than most public school teachers, with a doctorate in microbiology (what happened to his career as a university professor is part of the backstory), so now he’s really interested. And then he’s approached -- well, drafted, actually -- by the head of the new global effort to figure out how to reverse things and save humanity from becoming the victim of the approaching Sixth Extinction Event. And that’s going to take him a long, long way from Earth in search of answers. And it’s going to test every bit of his ingenuity and personality -- especially when he discovers that our solar system isn’t the only one in danger and that he isn’t the only intelligent life form searching desperately for an answer.
Basically, anything I might say beyond that would be a serious spoiler, so I won’t. But if you enjoyed The Martian, you’ll love the similar non-stop problem-solving in this one, I guarantee it. I don’t often award five stars, but I would give this one six.

Science fiction meets Bill Nye the Science Guy. I thoroughly enjoyed this what-if-our-sun-is-threatened adventure where only science can save us. The unlikely heroes, the world needing to pull together, the understandable scientific explanations of all the inventions and discoveries needed for the mission make for a great read. If some of the science is off or the speculations too wild, I don’t care. It’s fiction! It was fun!

"Thirty years. I looked out at their little faces. In thirty years they’d all be in their early forties. They would bear the brunt of it all. And it wouldn’t be easy. These kids were going to grow up in an idyllic world and be thrown into an apocalyptic nightmare.
They were the generation that would experience the Sixth Extinction Event."

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"Knock-knock-knock.
No, that’s not creepy at all. Being in a spaceship twelve light-years from home and having someone knock on the door is totally normal."

At least Mark Watney was in the same solar system. At least Mark Watney had a rescue ship that might, at least, have been on the way. At least the sun that was shining down on Watney’s potato garden was not being nibbled to bits by some intergalactic pestilence. At least life on Mark Watney’s home planet was not looking at an expiration date measured in decades. Pretty cushy situation next to the one in which our astronaut finds himself in this story. At least Mark Watney knew who he was.

"I slide one leg off over the edge of my bed, which makes it wobble. The robot arms rush toward me. I flinch, but they stop short and hover nearby. I think they’re ready to grab me if I fall.
'Full-body motion detected,' the computer says. 'What’s your name?'
'Pfft, seriously?' I ask.
'Incorrect. Attempt number two: What’s your name?'
I open my mouth to answer.
'Uh…'
'Incorrect. Attempt number three: What’s your name?'
Only now does it occur to me: I don’t know who I am. I don’t know what I do. I don’t remember anything at all.
'Um,' I say.
'Incorrect.'
A wave of fatigue grips me. It’s kind of pleasant, actually. The computer must have sedated me through the IV line.
'…waaaait…”'I mumble.
The robot arms lay me gently back down to the bed."

The astronaut struggles to find out not only who he is, but where he is, and how he got there. Part of that is a running joke in which he makes up names to tell the computer. It’s pretty adorable. After working on a pendulum to help with an experiment, for example, he answers the computer with I am Pendulus the philosopher. Incorrect. He does, eventually, remember his name.

The title of the book may seem opaque to some folks outside the US. Weir is referring, of course, to a last-ditch play to win or tie American football games. It is called the Hail Mary pass. Keep enough blockers back to protect the quarterback while all available receivers head for the end zone as the quarterback lofts a pass, usually of considerable distance, in the hope that one of the receivers can haul it in through an act of divine intercession. The play is named for the prayer of course.

"It’s caused a lot of headaches with the translators. Nobody outside the U.S. knows this phrase. Even English-speaking countries like the U.K. don't have that expression. In most of the language translations, they're changing the title. In one of them it’s just called The Astronaut or something like that." - from the GR interview

In Andy Weir’s latest novel, the survival of life on planet Earth, and whatever other life might be swimming, flying, creeping, or otherwise meandering about in our solar system, is imperiled by an invasive species. (Not really a spoiler, more of an aside. (view spoiler) The nasty little buggers have a talent for converting energy to mass and mass to energy. Their little eyes (if they had eyes) light up in the presence of an active power source the way some of us feel compelled by the sight of pastries in a shop window. Which would make our sun a doughnut shop with a few quadrillion hungry customers beating down the door. Not a wonderful situation for the shop. A more apt, if somewhat less entertaining image, is that of a vast swarm of locusts denuding a landscape.

Hoping for an act of god might be worth a shot. His ship, and the project that spawned it, are named for the prayer, even though by way of a sport. Hail Mary full of…um…Ryland? Well, Ryland Grace. It remains to be seen whether or not the Lord is with him, or his ship. But he is not alone, although, after finding that his crew-mates did not travel well, it seems like he would be.

Luckily for Ry, Earth is not the only populated planet imperiled by this galactic pain in the neck. He encounters another, and thus begins a beautiful friendship. I won’t bother with describing Rocky, other than to say that Rocky is not at all humanoid. Through engineering ingenuity and commonality of purpose the two find a way to communicate with and help each other in their mission to save their respective planets. There is a child-like quality to Rocky, as well as a very creative brain, and a universal decency, that will make you care about him/her/it/whatever. There is no one better than Weir at writing adorable.

Weir has been trying to work on his character-writing skillset. He is amazed that so many people loved The Martian, despite the fact that his hero goes through absolutely no change during his ordeal. He had given Watney his best personal characteristics, on steroids. Then had a go at a less idealistic character in his novel, Artemis, using what he saw as some of his lesser personal characteristics to inform his lead.

"Ryland Grace was my first attempt to make a protagonist not to be based on me. He's a unique character I'm creating from whole cloth, and so I'm not limited by my own personality or experiences." - from the GR interview

I am not sure he has succeeded. The special energy that powered astronaut Watney was a combination of superior technical skills, a wonderful, wise-ass sense of humor, a can-do attitude, and a deeply ingrained optimism. Mark Watney could have been on the Hail Mary in place of Ryland Grace and I am not sure most of us would have noticed, well, except for a couple of personal downsides. The sense of humor is pretty much the same. Ditto for the technical talent and scientific problem-solving predisposition. He may be a tick down from Watney on the optimism chart, but you will get the same satisfaction from watching Grace as you did his Martian predecessor. But while Weir’s character development skills might still be…um…under development, his story-telling skills remain excellent.

The stakes are high, global extermination, multiple global exterminations actually, and the future of life as we know it, and some life we know very little about at all, is dependent on two creatures working together to solve the biggest problem of all time. No pressure. So, a buddy story. A tale of friendship far from home.

The narration alternates between two time-frames. In the contemporary one, Ry uses his special scientific-method powers plus base of knowledge to figure out the situation he is in, and come up with serial solutions to serial challenges. This is totally like The Martian, although this guy is maybe a bit less funny.

"I’m a smart-ass myself, so smart-ass comments come naturally to me. For me, humor is like the secret weapon of exposition. If you make exposition funny, the reader will forgive any amount of it. And in science fiction—especially with my self-imposed restriction that I want to be as scientifically accurate as possible—you end up spending a lot of time doing exposition." - from the Publishers Weekly interview

The other is the history of how he came to be there. This will also remind one of the back and forth of the on-Mars and Earth-politics alternating streams of Weir’s mega best seller.

Although his writing is out of this world, Weir’s process ain’t exactly rocket science. Like his characters, he uses available parts, plus a base of knowledge, to build what needs to be built. He had a few lying about in his shop.

"After The Martian, I had this idea for this massive space epic—a traditional sci-fi pilot with aliens, faster-than-light travel, and telepathy and a war and, yeah, a ten-book series and everything. I worked on it for about a year; it was going to be called Zhek. I got 70,000 words in, and…I realized that it sucked…But there are a few nuggets in Zhek that were solid. There was one interesting character who was this absolutely no-nonsense woman with a ruthless drive to get what she needs to get done and a tremendous amount of secret authority. And she became Stratt in Project Hail Mary. The other thing is, in Zhek there was this substance called black matter, which was a technology invented by aliens that would absorb all electromagnetic waves, all light, and turn it into mass and then turn it back into light…if humanity got ahold of some of that, it would be neat, but it would suck if we accidentally let any of that get into the sun—that would be a disaster. I'm like, 'Wait a minute, that would be a disaster! That's where books come from!'" - from the Goodreads interview

And divorce lawyer billables. Love his evident excitement at this EUREKA moment. There is a decided innocence to it, and a natural-born optimist’s way of seeing the bright side of life, a characteristic with which Weir very successfully endows his leads, well, some of them anyway.

I quite enjoyed The Martian, despite Watney’s immutable self. And I liked Artemis as well, with its more nuanced lead. This one feels like more of a throwback to his earlier work. If you loved The Martian you are gonna love this one. Tough situation, far from home, charming, brilliant, smartass lead, with an adorable, brilliant, very non-human mensch of a pal, lots of mostly accessible science, and some fabulously interesting concepts. For a book that is pretty down to earth in many ways, Project Hail Mary is absolutely out of this world.

Science teachers know a lot of random facts.


Review posted – May 7, 2021

Publication date – May 4, 2021


Thanks to Ballantine books for an early look at Project Hail Mary and to MC (you know who you are) for interceding on my behalf to make that happen. You have been an answer to my prayers. And thanks to Net Galley.

For the complete review, including links to the mentioned interviews, please head to https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3677991149

LOVED this book!! I loved how much actual science was in it. I felt like I was learning so much, but it never felt like the science info was making the plot drag. I’ve never read an alien encounter story that felt so legitimately plausible! I loved the level of detail Weir used throughout the whole book. It reminded me a lot of his first novel, but I actually think I liked this one a little bit better! I especially loved the twist! I never saw it coming that Grace didn’t actually volunteer. My jaw was on the floor when that twist came! So well executed. Overall, I absolutely loved it. 4.5 stars but rounding up!

The publishing company provided me with an e-book version of this novel, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review. You can check out my Youtube video full review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8McpjO69tsU

Project Hail Mary, which I would give more than 5 stars to if possible, is one of those rare books you only come across maybe once in a decade; it’s science-fiction with a heavy dose of science and plenty of moral dilemmas/philosophical concerns. I absolutely loved reading this book.

Since I don’t want to give away spoilers, and much of the material in the book would require spoilers to cover, I will just say that fans of The Martian should be happy to see the author back at that same quality of writing in this novel. It’s a ton of fun and you may want to have a box of tissues ready for scenes that may cause you to tear up (whether it’s from tears of joy or sadness, you’ll have to read to find out).

Absolutely loved this book! It was beyond what I was hoping for! This book gives you hope that humankind isn’t at all doomed. I find myself constantly thinking about this book. I think it will always stay with me! I’ve already bought several copies as gifts for some friends. We all need an unexpected friend!

My Rating - 4.5 Stars

Project Hail Mary is a return to form for author Andy Weir that maintains all the things readers loved in The Martian while introducing new galaxies to explore and new problems to solve.

On page one, Ryland Grace wakes up as the lone survivor on a spaceship somewhere out in space. Only problem is, he doesn't know why he's there, what his mission is, and he doesn't even remember his name. The Sun has been gradually losing its energy and this has apocalyptic consequences for life on Earth. As Ryland's memory slowly returns, he discovers that it is now his sole responsibility to save all of Earth from impending disaster. And, oh yeah, Ryland is a middle school science teacher. So... What?

It should be no surprise by now that Andy Weir knows what he's doing. He knows how to write a relatable lead character that is both approachable and eons smarter than me. He knows how to teach interesting (and not so interesting) science lessons in a non-lessony kind of way. And he knows how to create dozens of insurmountable problems and then come up with equally exciting solutions. I read Artemis when it came out, and while I don't remember much about it (and for some reason I didn't write a review for it), it appears that I didn't really like it. But it is clear to me, by now, that Weir wrote Mark Whatney as Mark Whatney, then wrote Mark Whatney as Jazz Bashara, and now he has written Mark Whatney as Ryland Grace. If you hate Mark Whatney, you'll probably hate Ryland Grace. But if you, like me and many others, really enjoyed the protagonist stuck on Mars, then you'll find a lot of things to like about this protagonist stuck in space.

While there are a lot of similar traits between Project Hail Mary and The Martian, there are enough differences that make it a new and interesting read. I was SO engaged the first half of the book as I was discovering along with Ryland who he is and what his mission was. Things did start to slow down for me in the second half as Weir (and Ryland) did A LOT of science-ing. A LOT! For a lot of the book I was able to follow along even if I didn't understand all of the intricate details. But near the end, I was just ready for the science to stop so that I could get back to the story at hand. If it wasn't for this fact alone, this would have been a 5-star book for me.

I am not an emotional reader. This book, however, brought out many emotions in me. There were times were I was smiling ear-to-ear. Other times I was cheering as something Ryland attempted worked. And then there was that time or two where the words on the page became blurry because something was stuck in my eye. I absolutely love how the book ends. This is a precious story and is now among my favorites.

An entertaining adventure! I like how the story immediately throws readers into the mix with Ryland, left to piece things together as the book progresses and revealing events simultaneously from both the present and past. An unexpected development pays off in wonderful dividends, there is a strong theme of redemption running throughout, and Ryland's status as the book ends is particularly fitting. The only negative is that the writing can be heavy on the technical details, but this doesn't happen too often. Overall, I found this to be not quite as good as The Martian, but much better than Artemis.

Sometimes you read a book and just know you’ve read a work that will become the standard for generations to come. Project Hail Mary is going to be that standard for hard science fiction. The upcoming movie (with Ryan Gosling!) will be that standard. I finished the book and cannot stop thinking about it. About Ryland. About Rocky. About humanity, survival, friendship. And most of all, how much I freaking love science!

Ryland Grace wakes up in a sick bay next to two deceased patients. He doesn’t know where he is or why he is there. He does, however, make observations and deductions and hypotheses about his situation. His memory comes back in spurts. This story is partially told in flashbacks which help unravel the mystery of what happened on Earth and why Ryland is in space.

Our sun is being drained of its energy. He is on a mission to save humanity. And his scientific knowledge is humanity’s only hope for survival. There is a lot of science in this book. Physics, chemistry, biology - it can take several times to read a passage while Ryland explains ideas. But because Ryland is a junior high teacher, he is very good at explaining things in a way to help the reader understand complex topics - such as time dilation or neutrinos.

As the book progresses, the reader meets Rocky, who may be one of my favorite science fiction characters ever. A brilliant engineer, brave, and determined - they develop a strong bond with Ryland that changes the trajectory of both their lives.

I cannot recommend this book enough and I cannot wait for the movie.

It's available now! So as mentioned above, when I first saw this through Netgalley I was so excited because I loved the Martian, and yet so sad because it wasn't an audiobook. I requested it anyways and figured if it took me forever to read it, it wouldn't matter because at least I could still try. What followed was an amazing and exciting story that had me up every night until 2 AM and reading as soon as I woke up. I blew through it in less than a week. I liked Andy's return to a story of a man surviving in space, if feel it plays to his strengths. He also does a really good job of putting enough science in there that the story seems plausible but not bogging down the plot with a lot of numbers and jargon.
After realizing I had never read Artemis after finishing this, I went back to read that, and realized this new one is a lot more like the Martian. There's the one character in space tackling a lot of random problems, and being frustrated with the many things you don't think will happen when the spaceship is built. Artemis just had a lot going on, and this one is a return to a focused problem.
I'm not going to say a lot about the plot because I don't want to spoil anything but there are many surprises that will make you want to keep reading just one more chapter!

Project Hail Mary sees Andy Weir come back to his roots in the most Martian way possible. Humanity is at stake via an invasive single-cell alien species gobbling up the sun’s light, and it’s only a suicide mission out to the stars that can possibly get the information needed for our planet to survive. And away! we! gooooo!

I can’t (and won’t) give away the main plot point here because it’s a big crux of the story, but it was compelling, fascinating, and totally what I want from an Andy Weir novel. A few tiny things kept me from 5-star-ing this story: it feels like Weir struggles to write more than his anchor character from the Martian, and just took out the potty mouth and replaced it with a Leave it to Beaver-esque vocabulary and called it a different character. This one was also entirely more fantastical than The Martian (more in line with the plot of Artemis in that way) which was fine by me, but could be disarming to some.

All in all, I flew through this one in a buddy read alongside my husband (my favorite thing!) and found it an un-put-downable race to save humanity that was surprisingly wholesome (?) and compulsively readable. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a chance to read the ARC!

Wow. I absolutely loved this book.
I picked up Hail Mary for a change of pace with my reading as I tend not to read a ton of science fiction and I’m so glad I did.
The characters just grew and grew throughout the book.

Dr. Grace, who wakes up from a coma to realize he is on a spaceship. Slowly pieces of memories start to come back and he realizes he is scientist, turned middle school teacher, turned Earth’s last hope. He is a character you can’t help but cheer for, and can even make you laugh once in a while.

I don’t want to give too much away, so I’ll just leave it as- read this one! It’s heartwarming, funny, interesting and entertaining.

Thank you NetGalley, Andy Weir, and Ballantine books for an advanced copy. And thank you Rocky too- I love you Rocky!