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.

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

Another great read from Weir that will be gobbled up by sci-fi fans. Weir has a distinct talent for balancing serious life or death scenarios with just the right amount of humor, and I loved the hero's unexpected ally in outer space!

You guys, I literally gasped when I got offered an advance copy of Andy Weir's new book, Project Hail Mary. I was so excited to read it and I'm happy to report it exceeded my lofty expectations in every way. I absolutely loved it. The story pulls you in right away. It's similar to The Martian in that you have a person in space fighting for their own survival, but in this case they are also fighting for the survival of Earth. The main character is battling amnesia, and we find out more about him & his past through flashbacks. I'm not typically a big fan of flashbacks, because I feel like they slow down the plot. But the construct works here to relay important information to the reader in a way that may have been cumbersome otherwise.
Where The Martian was basically a story about a guy trying to survive and get home, and Artemis was a heist story set on the moon, this new story gets a little more....ambitious and has a much broader scope. That's all I'll say.
It's very science heavy of course, but that's one of the things I love about Weir's books - he makes very complicated science fun and easily digestible.
Here's the pitch: Dr. Ryland Grace wakes up in space with amnesia and slowly learns that he's on a spaceship headed for the Sun. Scientists have discovered the Sun is losing energy at an alarming pace due to something they call Astrophage, which is like space mold or space algae that is dimming the Sun - and we only have a few years before life on Earth will be done. Ryland is sent on a mission to find a solution.
This one hits shelves on May 4th.
A massive thank you to Ballantine Books, Penguin Random House and Netgalley for the advance copy.

If you really liked The Martian, but didn’t care for Artemis, you will love Project Hail Mary.
If you really liked Artemis, but didn’t care for The Martian, you will love Project Hail Mary.
If you did care for The Martian or Artemis, you will love Project Hail Mary.
And if you don’t like Project Hail Mary, you are wrong. Simply incorrect. Cannot process. Dead ass wrong.

Seriously though! Project Hail Mary! This book has easily climbed its way onto my favorites shelf. It was everything I could have hoped for and more. This book goes beyond expectations. And expectation can be the root of all evil. But Andy Weir literally punches readers expectation in the face and then round house kicked us in the gut. And it was awesome. I feel like this book was his love letter to all those fans who hated Artemis for how different it was from The Martian. He really just blew The Martian out of the water and the new Weir standard is Project Hail Mary.

Next topic, Andy Weir is a freaking genius. The amount of intelligence that goes into this book is so impressive. The whole time while reading this book, I couldn’t help but think what Andy Weir’s IQ must be. Authors are clearly intelligent people, but books like Project Hail Mary boggle my baby brain. This man know intricate math, science like physics, and writes like he created the English language. What is he bad at? I serious want to know. Like for real! But overall, I am just trying to point out that this book just shines with wit and humor on another level. I really applaud the amount of smarts it takes to write a book like this one. Simply brilliant and creative.

So I am obviously not going into detail on the plot or happenings. And that is because I don’t want to ruin anything. I loved that I knew nothing about it. It really made the whole experience so much better. And this is one where small details could give away too much. And I will not be responsible for ruining someone’s reading experience. That being said though, I cannot wait for more people to experience Project Hail Mary. It is literally all I can think about since finishing it and I just want to talk someone’s ear right off. Like I want it to put up an out-off-office sign, get up, and walk away for a while. And it will be a well deserve break.

One of the very best parts of reading is finishing a book that was so immensely good that you can’t stop thinking about it. Not to make it sound too much like a great first date. But there are few books out there, where your mind wanders to the brilliance and rewinds the events that occurred. Where you are just in awe and struck. But seriously, it is the best type of reader hang over especially because so few books do that after 600+ reads. I’m really taken by Project Hail Mary.

I want to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group a million times for this ARC. I said it once and I’ll say it again. In no way do I deserve an advanced copy of this book. But you totally granted my wish. And my little readers heart grew about 2.5 sizes. Honestly, it is the little things!

But read this book as soon as it comes out. And get started on the Project Hail Mary the movie, Hollywood. I need more, more, more.

Andy Weir writes like he is his own and only audience, leading to moments of cringeworthy sexism, racism, and ableism in his work. Which is too bad because if someone just told him to stop/rewrite those particular lines/scenes, he'd be one of my favorite writers. Instead, I can only make it through the books where his characters are literally alone or interacting with non-human things and creatures to enjoy myself.

When this book comes out, I feel like Weir is going to get hit hard for reducing a character who is coded autistic to a walking sex joke who gets horribly killed soon after. But he brought that upon himself.

Otherwise, this book is hard science & Man With No Social Life and One Special Interest* Meets Wall-E-esque alien. Which is heartwarming and funny.

*and yet not the coded autistic character I was referring to

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir is at first mysterious, later an Indiana Jones-style adventure, and finally both heartbreaking and heartwarming. Project Hail Mary follows Ryland Grace, who wakes up and eventually figures out that he’s on a spaceship, that the rest of the crew is dead, and that his mission is to find a way to save Earth from a lifeform called Astrophage. Along the way he meets a brittle star-like alien who contributes greatly to his mission, and it is here that most of the fun occurs as the two beings work together, melding technologies, cultures, and languages. As Grace regains his memory he remembers that his mission was meant to be a one-way trip, and that, although he was uniquely well-prepared to complete the mission, his inclusion in the spaceship involved a stark, perhaps unforgivable betrayal.

The best parts of this novel center around the interactions between the human and alien who are stranded in the far corner of the universe, both trying to save their own worlds. While I found the book to be mostly enjoyable, there were a couple of situations that I found somewhat unbelievable. One was that Ryland Grace was a PhD scientist who became a 7th grade science teacher because of a failed dissertation. This plays into the “teach because they can’t” stereotype, and as a 7th grade science teacher, I didn’t appreciate it. The other thing I found hard to believe was that the alien society lacked certain scientific knowledge. Overall, if you’re looking for a good, fast ride and you can put a few things aside, this book is a lot of fun.

This is Andy Weir at his best! Project Hail Mary reminds me of his book The Martian in that it has this amazing main character that you fall for immediately and a sets of events that will have you on the edge of your seat. And did I mention, lots of great science. Folks… Weir is back!
Dr. Ryland Grace has been a junior high school teacher ever since he left the academic world over a controversial paper he wrote. In the paper he claimed that life does not need water to exist or evolve. Little did he know that this paper would lead him to be the expert on an alien life form and that would ultimately lead him to being part of a three person manned mission to another star to save humanity.
There is just one catch. He cannot remember any of this. He is awoken by an advanced medical robot protocol and at first he does not even know his name. All he knows is there are two corpses on beds next to him. Slowly his past comes back to him in bits and pieces as he works on finding a solution to Earth’s problem and avoiding the next mass extension event.
I know I am being obtuse here but I don’t want to spoil one minute of this excellent story. It is a mix of Space Opera and hard science. By the way, Weir does a beautiful job of marrying the two. The action is never ending. Just as Grace solves one problem another one arises. He also has a habit of plowing ahead while working on a problem and not thinking through all of the consequences. In other words, he is human.
Thinking of being human, Weir has created a character that is incredibly likeable. Grace is fallible in a believable way and this makes him relatable. A couple of times I wanted to shout to Grace, “What did you expect!” I love when I get so invested in a story that I want to talk to the character(s).
I know you can tell that I loved this one. However, If YOU loved The Martian as much as I did, you have to read this book. Even if you have never read a book by Weir be sure to pick this one up. I promise you it will be well worth it. Double kudos to Weir for writing such a wonderful book. I am looking forward to seeing this one on the big screen.
I received a free ARC from the publisher, via NetGalley, for my honest review.

**** NO SPOILERS ****

Notice: I received an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) for free in exchange for my thoughts and feedback.

Fans of Andy Weir--like myself--will find his voice, humor, style, and detailed scientific approach front-and-center in his latest work "Project Hail Mary". Yes, the math is still there, but this time with just the inputs and outputs and without the actual equations--a great improvement! If you like "The Martian" and "Artemis", there is nothing in particular that you will not like about this book. Although the setting and circumstances are different, it has the same type of feel as those two books.

That said, that same "feel" is also a detriment. Although Andy Weir has not (yet) fallen into the trap of creating multi-part series or extending those long beyond their first intentions that most sci-fi writers of today do, this book could be considered the third in the "space trilogy" (or however many parts there will be). Although Andy tries to make the main character in this novel different than his prior two adult books in very significant ways that will not be discussed due to their spoiler nature, the characters all share that same sarcastic humor and internal monologue style. Frankly, so does every other character. Even the most serious, straight-laced characters are played for sarcastic humor. At the end of the day, everyone is just a facet of the author's personality and no one is really counter or a challenge. Being his fourth book, I would have liked have seen the author push himself more and expand his depths of character development beyond his own perspective.

Overall, the pace was snappy and I got through the book quickly. There were a few drag points, including the ending where there just had to be "one more problem" to solve, but not enough to deter the enjoyment of the novel. I was surprised to find so many typos throughout. If the author were still a fully independent, I would be more forgiving, but with an actual publisher and editors I expected more. Speaking of independent authors, the setup reminded me a lot of "The Long Winter" trilogy by A.G. Riddle. It made the premise feel less "fresh" to me, but if you haven't read that than the ideas presented will feel more unique.

As a personal preference, I felt the (minor spoilers of the first page) amnesia gimmick was unnecessary, seemed a bit hackney, and lacked the creativity to get to the same goals in a different way. Again, I think the author took an easier way out than another more challenging/riskier approach, but it does pay off in the end and is more logical and planned out than it seems. It bothered me the entire time I read the book so that the payoff was less satisfactory for me. As such, I'm going to recommend you put it aside as well and just accept it at face value.

Despite my nit-picking and desire to push the author to new heights of storytelling ability, this book is an easy pick-up and is a satisfying read. I can already picture the 10-part limited television series (do not try to shove this into a 2 hours movie!) and it lends itself well to any medium. With a bit of clean up and maybe some minor tightening here and there (thankfully, there is already very little repetition, so the story keeps apace that way), this book will be ready for launch in just a couple of short months!

This sci fi novel from the author of The Martian starts out with a higher level of science than I'm capable of understanding, but as the book goes on, I became invested in Grace and his **spoiler alert** newly found alien friend, Rocky. As he races against time and the harsh environment of space, there are some truly terrifying moments, mixed in with sweet successes and the gradually revealed backstory of the astrophage. Great for sci fi fans, of course, but also for those who love a story of an unlikely friendship.