Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Amy  
Lynnie 

science fiction

Imagine that you wake up from a haze, you have no idea who or where you are, you are hooked up to tubes, you can’t speak clearly, and you can’t move. It is from this point that our protagonist begins to figure out who and where he is.

Amy's Review

The beginning of Project Hail Mary is just about as gripping as you can get. You are immediately on guard and HAVE to keep reading to find out what is going on. It only gets better when you realize that the main character, whose thoughts you are reading, is as confused as you are and he has a sense of humor!

I hesitated to read this one because, while I liked Andy Weir’s The Martian, I was really turned off by the overabundance of mathematical and scientific computations. The movie was actually better than the book (!) because it didn’t include all that needless detail. I was concerned that reading this novel would be a similar annoying experience. It was. But it was also a terrific story of a “sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission” (quoted from the book’s summary on Goodreads).

In spite of the sections of scientific mega-detail in which I totally zoned out, I was hooked and so impressed with Weir’s creativity with the storyline. If it weren’t for the excruciating detail, I would’ve rated this novel higher. It will be much tougher to make a movie of this one than The Martian but I hear that there is a movie in the works. I can’t say too much more about the story without giving things away. I liked it!

The narrator, Ray Porter, was amazing!  His acting was superior, relaying a range of emotions. His vocal repertoire was terrific—and there were a ton of accents he voiced with ease!  A+! I also must say that I really enjoyed the audio treat of sound engineering that was done (and about which I can say nothing without ruining some surprises for the reader).  I imagine this was an aspect where the audiobook was better than the book!

Lynnie's Review

Happy New Year! What an excellent way to begin a year of reading. Or to end a year of reading- your choice. Either way, I enjoyed Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary immensely. I believe that Weir is my favorite "stranded-astronaut-with-a-wonderful-sense-of-humor-and-need-to-save-himself" genre writer. It's hard not to compare Ryland Grace to The Martian's Mark Watney- as others have noted, they are sort of the same person (similar sense of humor, excellent inner monologue, similar enough circumstances), but that doesn't mean Project Hail Mary isn't wonderful from beginning to end- it absolutely is. Frankly, Weir could write a series of "snarky stranded astronaut" novels and I would read every one if they were as clever and entertaining as these two novels. (As I side note, I also read his novel Artemis and while I loved the storyline I hated the main character- make of that what you will.)

 

Anyway, Project Hail Mary grabs you from the moment you begin to read- a main character who has no idea who he is, where his is, or what is happening to him and why- and then continues to ratchet up the suspense as the stakes of the situation reveal themselves to him both as his memory returns and through flashbacks. It's hard to say too much without revealing major plot points, but this book was a RIDE and there was never a time when I didn't enjoy what happened next. 

 

Were things far-fetched and ridiculous? Often! But I loved every minute of it because I adore Weir's imagination and creativity and the fascinating characters he creates.There is also a hilarious shout out to the original Colossal Cave Adventure that had me chucking for a solid day after I read it. Mostly I laughed about how much it must have made Weir laugh to write it and how many people read it without blinking an eye. Nerd humor!

 

All that to say, if you enjoy sci-fi, or loved The Martian, you are very likely to enjoy Weir's latest adventure through space. I'm already looking forward to the next one, wherever it leads.