Audio Enjoyer reviewed Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Awesome Science Fiction
5 stars
Great Science Fiction book and a great story of friendship!
English language
Published Nov. 12, 2021 by Penguin Random House.
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, he realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Alone on this tiny ship that’s been cobbled together by every government and space agency on the planet and hurled into the depths of space, it’s up to him to conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.
And thanks to an unexpected ally, he just might have a chance.
Part scientific mystery, part …
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, he realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Alone on this tiny ship that’s been cobbled together by every government and space agency on the planet and hurled into the depths of space, it’s up to him to conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.
And thanks to an unexpected ally, he just might have a chance.
Part scientific mystery, part dazzling interstellar journey, 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.
Great Science Fiction book and a great story of friendship!
After reading The Mote in God’s Eye, I realized that Garrit Franke, a fellow Fosstodon member, finished reading this book, so I decided to give it a try too.
I have to admit that at first I was a little bit hesitant about this book, because it is a written in first person, and it also starts out with ammnesia and also flashbacks. But after that I got used to the writing style pretty quickly and started to really get into the main story and the mystery behind everything happening around our protagonist.
The story follows a lone astronaut that finds himself facing impossible odds every step of the way. The way the plot is revealed and how it moves forward every chapter is great. The scientific elements are pretty accurate and that was something I found really interesting. It reminded me a lot of Jules Verne’s novels that usually …
After reading The Mote in God’s Eye, I realized that Garrit Franke, a fellow Fosstodon member, finished reading this book, so I decided to give it a try too.
I have to admit that at first I was a little bit hesitant about this book, because it is a written in first person, and it also starts out with ammnesia and also flashbacks. But after that I got used to the writing style pretty quickly and started to really get into the main story and the mystery behind everything happening around our protagonist.
The story follows a lone astronaut that finds himself facing impossible odds every step of the way. The way the plot is revealed and how it moves forward every chapter is great. The scientific elements are pretty accurate and that was something I found really interesting. It reminded me a lot of Jules Verne’s novels that usually felt like something that could be possible to do.
In this case of course the protagonist uses his scientific knowledge (as well as his memory slowly coming back) to figure out how handle his mission, which is pretty much to save the planet from certain demise.
I liked the setting and the characters that show up, there’s quite a bit of science tidbits I learned through this, and the moments of action and uncertainty are quite great. I could not stop reading many times because I just wanted to know what in the world would our protagonist do even just to stay alive to live another day.
I didn’t feel like the book was as long as it was, honestly. It was definitely worth it. I do think that it feels a little like a movie waiting to happen, the prose wasn’t as interesting and the plot ended up kind of predictable, and there’s a very wholesome twist at the end which is nice. Just a very fun read.
This book instantly became one of my top 10 favorites.
The humor and the science is a big draw for me. Everything is so thuroughly explained to the point where you learn while you're sucked into the world and environment. The chemistry is the most interesting that I have ever read.
Right around the half-way mark I started to fall into the world more. I was sucked in and couldnt get out. Once I finished I just stared at the page hoping that once I blinked more pages would appear; I just wanted more even though the ending was quite succinct.
This is absolutely a great read, another banger by Andy Weir~!
The hype over The Martian passed me by. If it hadn't, then I wouldn't have read this. Having read this, I shan't be reading any other Andy Weir books in the immediate future. There is the kernel of a good book in here, but it's ruined - for me - by firstly, excessive attention to detail. It's the textual equivalent of one of those less interesting Star Trek TNG episodes where the crew encounter a Problem which is eventually solved by the appliance of science. Sadly, the Enterprise crew were far more engaging than the underdeveloped protagonist here who is merely seems a frame on which to hang calculations. Secondly, Weir's problem solving is at his strongest when examining physical & engineering problems, but the biological nature of the Problem I found a bit silly. Thirdly and this is a problem that extends to a lot of science fiction, Weir's …
The hype over The Martian passed me by. If it hadn't, then I wouldn't have read this. Having read this, I shan't be reading any other Andy Weir books in the immediate future. There is the kernel of a good book in here, but it's ruined - for me - by firstly, excessive attention to detail. It's the textual equivalent of one of those less interesting Star Trek TNG episodes where the crew encounter a Problem which is eventually solved by the appliance of science. Sadly, the Enterprise crew were far more engaging than the underdeveloped protagonist here who is merely seems a frame on which to hang calculations. Secondly, Weir's problem solving is at his strongest when examining physical & engineering problems, but the biological nature of the Problem I found a bit silly. Thirdly and this is a problem that extends to a lot of science fiction, Weir's aliens are not particularly alien and the shared techbro sense of humour is risible. Not my cup of tea, but I can appreciate how other readers might find this very enjoyable.
Eng: Pretty much a sequel to The Martian - and that's not a bad thing.
Nor: Eg likte veldig godt "The Martian" då eg las ho, det er noko med problemløysing og det å tilpasse seg det ein har, som er tilfredsstillande å lese. Det er truleg det same som eg likte med MacGyver. Denne boka handlar om ein annan kar i ein annan situasjon, men opplegget er det same: ein mann med litt nerdete humor og mykje vitskapleg kompetanse må kjempe om å overleves i verdsrommet. Men her går ein steget vidare inn i science fiction, noko som fungerer bra. Samtidig så følest det av og til litt intimt å lese bøker som dette, då hovudpersonen utan tvil er ei forlenging av Weir sjølv. Ein slags dagdraum.
Project Hail Mary is a very science focused sci-fi novel, which resonates with the science geek in me. But despite having a lot of science, that never takes over from the real story. The scenario is interesting from a philosophical perspective, and the story is interesting and fun from the beginning to the end. This was the book of the year for me, and I can highly recommend it if you like sci-fi.
My usual science fiction reads don't cleave quite as strongly to 'reality' as this one - which is part of the reason I found it so interesting.
The writer has created a set of scientifically plausible scenarios and then builds the narrative around whether or not they can be resolved - while throwing in a bunch of twists along the way.
I have a very scientific/technical background, but I think that there would be wider appeal; although the general scientific concepts in here are frequent (including physics, biology, astronomy etc) they don't extend to making it feel like a text book.
I enjoyed the characters and the plot. Thumbs up for a recommendation.
Gave up. The amnesia/ suddenly remembering stuff as required really bugged me.
I think this will be the book I recommend the most this year. It is entertaining from beginning to end. If you like sci-fi or space stories, read it. If you don't, read it anyway because you will laugh. It is very rare that I tear through a book in the span of a day, but, and I apologise for the cliché, I could not put this book down.