Another tightly crafted narrative - though we had a hard time engaging with the dad-jokiness of the narrator this time.

Andy Weir hits it out of the park again! This was one of my favorite books of 2021--it recaptured The Martian's unputdownable quality and kept me hooked from the start. The narrative structure, with flashbacks slowly revealing critical information, worked really well for me. Can't recommend it enough!

Project Hail Mary rivals the Martian -- one of my favorite books -- in quality, suspense, and entertainment. I couldn't put this down and have recommended it to multiple others, including my serious-sci-fi loving father, all who read and loved it.

From the first sentence I was riveted. A man wakes up and doesn't know where or who he is or how he came to be in a very very strange place. The book unfolds and goes places you wouldn't imagine. Definitely true sci fi with quite a bit of the science part, maybe just a tad too much for my personal taste, but oh what a creative mind this writer has.

- i absolutely ADORED this book
- i would 1000000% die for rocky
- made me giggle so many times
- talk about character development
- lots of science but it’s accessible and digestible
- alternates timelines but does the flashbacks PERFECTLY, it fits into the story and reveals things at the right time
- if i HAD to have one complaint it’d be slightly long chapters 🤣
- but seriously i loved this book

If you enjoyed reading The Martian by Andy Weir, I think you will really like Project Hail Mary. Ryland Grace is all alone in space and he has no idea how he got there, where he's going, or even his own name. Slowly the memories return and he realizes he has a mission vital to the survival of the human race. Alternating between his current situation and the brief clips of memories, we learn all about this project at which the whole Earth has thrown everything they have. Light years from home, and completely on his own, Grace has to solve the possibly unsolvable.

I really enjoyed the adventure in this book. The storyline was great, but I thought some of the science could have been edited down a bit. I'm not suggesting removing it all, but it felt like unnecessary exposition that was left in purely to prove the calculations had been done. I love science and I am fascinated by all the things I don't know, but I will admit to skimming a fair few pages of this book.

I liked the way the story was told with flashbacks to the leadup to outer space. If it had been told linearly, it may have gotten boring, but not so with the alternating timeline. I am reluctant to say more about what I loved in this book for fear of spoilers, so I'll just recommend you read it on your own. Also, I am so excited that a film version is already in the works and starring Ryan Gosling. That is a movie I'll definitely want to see. I really hope they do a good job with it!

Generally speaking, aliens aren’t of much interest to me as a reader, but Weir did a fine job of hooking me anyway with his latest space adventure, Project Hail Mary.

While I prefer the hard science of The Martian to the alien encounter/pretend science of this book, Weir managed to keep the alien stuff in a realm that is palatable for those who liked the potential reality of The Martian. Is this less believable? Yes, but Weir isn’t trying to write as though it isn’t. The story is meant to be a lighthearted adventure, with little enough interpersonal conflict such as to keep it out of Space Opera territory.

I do struggle with junk science in books that aren’t just straight fantasy (especially knowing what Weir is capable of having read The Martian), but if you can get away from comparing the two books (as you can see, I have *sort of* succeeded at this), this proves to be a fun read.

Did I wish it was more like The Martian? Sure. Was I also thankful that it’s an infinitely better book than Artemis and a fun story in its own right? Also yes.

*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

While I didn't love this one as much as The Martian I enjoyed it significantly more than Andy Weir's second book. Looking forward to more books in the future from this author.

Project Hail Mary is about a man named Ryland Grace. He wakes up from a coma and finds himself in space, with his apparent crewmates dead. He has no memory of what happened and at first doesn't even remember his own name. As he learns and remembers more, he finds out that he was part of a mission to save Earth from an extinction-level threat. Thanks to an unexpected ally, he might have a chance.

My dude yikes. It's like this book took everything I liked about the Martian and was like okay I'm going to do everything opposite that while also doubling the science rambling. This is a book of space survival with everything I should have liked and yet ??? I simply did not.

There was so much science, it just went on and on. I don't know shit about science or physics and even though this didn't bother me in his other books, it just felt like so much nonsense to me. It felt pointless and he was just rambling about science to sound smart. I don't know if the science was legit, he could just be making up shit at this point and I wouldn't tell the difference besides how boring it was to listen to this dude go off the entire book about physics. He wasn't even funny and the humor was just, you tried. Ryland was discount Mark Watney.

Then the plot was just, yeah sounds cool but was it? I liked that Ryland had no idea wtf was going on and the mystery of how he ended up here was interesting but at one point I was like, that's it? It felt like there wasn't much going on, just this dude and his new alien friend just chatting science and watching each other sleep and that was it. There was no flavor for me, no excitement. It was just boring. I listened to the audiobook and had to listen to a man drone on for 16 hrs 10 mins, it was painful for me.

The main thing I liked about the Martian is that it felt realistic in how far it went. While that's good the author decided to go ass wild in here, it just went too far for me to ever believe. While I'm not going to say oh yeah we are alone and there are no other living beings out in the vast expanse of space but in this lifetime we aren't going to be meeting any. If we were, the US would instantly try to kill it and then lie about it ever happening.

One of the best books I’ve read. I did take a bit for me to get through. It’s not The Martian… and that’s ok! After several people telling me to pick it back up, I did. And I’m glad I did! Keep going! It’s worth it!

It is very easy to see why this was one of the top books of the year. I really enjoyed Andy Weir's The Martian and, to be honest, I had lower expectations for Project Hail Mary. I just didn't think Andy Weir could strike lightning twice. Boy was I wrong. Not only did lightning strike twice, a whole storm came rumbling. My expectations were blown away and I enjoyed this novel way more than The Martian. It is born from the same source but there are so many more layers and complexities to this story and I loved every bit of it. I loved the chemistry between Ryland and Rocky.

Lesson learned. Don't doubt Andy Weir! I don't think I ever will. I will, however, pick up his next creation with excitement and enthusiasm as I strap myself in for an epic journey.

I want to thank Andy Weir, Random House Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I know nothing about science past what I learned in like, middle school, but I just loved this. It was exciting and kept me on the edge of my seat. The way the science is explained actually made me feel like I understood what was going on even though half the words and processes and experiments meant literally nothing to me. Also, I love Rocky and I would die for Rocky.

I never thought a giant space spider alien would be my favorite character, but that's how good Andy Weir is. This book was wonderful in so many ways. I felt every emotion and I loved the way the narrative switched back and forth from the past and present. Excellent for anyone who enjoys science fiction.

I really enjoyed this and couldn't put it down. This is Weir's third book and he is really starting to dial it in. The Martian (his first) was a fun and easy read with a great premise and details. Artemis (his second) was rough in almost everyway. Improving on those two books brings us to Project Hail Mary. There are times that it feels a little similar to The Martian but those are minimal.

The story is compelling and you can't help but root and hope for Ryland Grace the main character. With no spoilers, the best part of the book is a character introduced during Grace's journey named Rocky. Their interactions and relationship are the most powerful part of the story.

Weir seems to fall into extremes with characters, in this story Ryland does not swear but instead uses filler words that are nonsensical. It's hard not to see this as a foil to Mark Watson in The Martian. People are complex and this writing doesn't feel realistic.

Overall, this is a great sci-fi story with a great emotional element. It's worth a read.

What a amazing book! I feel in love with this one. The story is spectacular, all the characters are super vivid. I recommend with my heart.

Project Hail Mary // by Andy Weir

I loved it. That's it.

Just kidding, but honestly pretty much. I don't have a whole lot to say about this one. There was SO MUCH HYPE about this book and I honestly went in feeling very skeptical because most of the time when my expectations are that high after all the hype, I end up being let down a lot. That definitely did not happen this time. Despite my reluctance, I was quickly pulled into this story and was glued to the story almost the entire way through. I'm not a scientist so I can't comment on the truth of the sciency things but I found the info that was included about all kinds of things incredibly interesting and it never really felt like a simple and boring info dump to me. I loved the main character and thought it was really nice to learn about his life and journey to becoming an astronaut as well as his experiences in space. I don't want to give too much away because I thought it was great going in blind and knowing nothing about it (aside from everyone loving it) so I definitely recommend that approach to other readers. Also, if you can, listen to the audiobook. The narrator did an incredible job with it.

Thank you for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I have all of Andy Weir's books in my school library; and Project Hail Mary is my favorite. The story feels very authentic on many levels. It feels like a lot of research has been done on the science side of things; and, even though there is a LOT of science talk, everything is explained in a carefully planned, efficient manner so that it does not interfere with the flow of the story.. On another level, this is a true human-interest story -- you will understand when you get to a surprise further into the book. (It was a big surprise to me which I thoroughly enjoyed. I do not want to give anything away so you can experience the pleasure yourself.). I highly recommend this book to everyone --, even people who do not like science or science-fiction..A real winner.

This was a great science book but not something I would read for leisure. It felt more like a science lit review for fun I was reading. It was very sciency which was great for someone in the science field but not something just for fun reading. I was a little bored at times and felt like if I didn't have a science background, I would be lost.

I had enjoyed reading Martian by Weir. Project Hail Mary is true to the format of Martian (even in the feel of the ending). Project Hail Mary was a book I could not stop reading once I started. It was visually vivid in my head, and I was engaged from the first sentence. My journey with the book enhanced my love for science by making complex scientific concepts that were hard to understand in school and college accessible. Understanding and learning chemistry, physics, biology around a story that is plausible and through the approach of problem solving was so incredible. I wish I was taught science through the lens of such stories. As we run into a problem in the story, we all could all come together to research solutions and recommend options, and the science behind each of those. Its simple – the why helps us understand better. I especially recommend all teachers read this book and see how we can approach education through problem solving.
I kept imaging this story as how Star Trek would have started. How Earth was able to go beyond our solar system and how our survival was the catalyst and not space tourism. The story reminded me of parts of the movie Arrival as well. My favorite aspect of the story was that empathy was ultimately fundamental in human survival. The only part that felt unbelievable to me was humans from all over the world coming together and making such a mission happen. But that is my pessimistic lens based on our current reality.
I highly recommend this book. It will be hard to stop. 5/5

I was so excited to read this one & I’m happy I finally got around to it because the hype is REAL for this book, guys!! Even if you’re not a fan of sci-fi, I’m sure there’s something in here for you (spoiler alert: it’s Rocky).

Grace wakes up alone in the middle of an entirely different solar system with no idea who he is or how he got there. Throughout his journey, bits & pieces slowly but surely come back to put together how he got there… & it’s not looking good. Earth’s sun is losing heat, which will bring an Ice Age & the imminent demise of the human species. It’s up to Grace to figure out how to save the Sun. Along the way, he finds an interesting crew mate. 🪨

I typically don’t really go for sci-fi unless I know it’s something I’ll enjoy. And space freaks me out so I was skeptical. But I read & enjoyed Weir’s first book, The Martian, so I figured I’d probably like this one too. So I found myself really geeking out over the math calculations & microbiology in this one 🤓 as a bioengineer, it was really great to understand the MC’s thought process on a more technical level. The writing was excellent & I loved that we got the full story in flashbacks. And, like all sci-fi, the underlying message regarding climate change & the human effect on the planet was apt for what we’re facing right now. Overall, excellent book!!