When you have no choice but to go for it and throw the ball down the field...
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Pub date: 2021
How I read it: Audiobook
Narrator: Ray Porter. He nailed it. From the nerdy science guy hero to the no-nonsense project manager, the characters and the story come brilliantly to life through his voice and talent. (He also narrated The Terminal List series.)
Tags: Sci-fi, space, aliens, heroes
In a nutshell: There is no nutshell with this epic, wonder-full tale of disaster, sacrifice, resilience, redemption, friendship, and loyalty… but I’ll give it a try.
The story: The sun is dimming and this is bad because it’s going to result in an ice age that will kill millions. Junior High science teacher Ryland Grace is tapped to help save the world. Why him? Well, he’s a PhD who wrote a dissertation that could actually be helpful. He’s smart and curious, he just couldn’t handle academia. Grace gets involved in the global effort to figure out what’s happening and what to do about it.
Isn’t it ironic: They learn that it’s an alien microbe called astrophage that’s eating the sun’s energy (Grace gets to name it!), but the thing is, it’s also a remarkable source of energy. The plan is to build a spaceship powered by the stuff, send it to a nearby sun that isn’t affected, learn why, and bring the solution back to earth before it’s too late.
The novel opens with Grace waking up on a spaceship and from there we go back and forth in time between his ‘awakening’ and earth time. Along the way he encounters another life form who’s on a similar quest – his sun is dying, too.
The characters: First and foremost, there’s Ryland Grace. He’s super smart, equally snarky, and rated PG 13, saying things like what the fudge?, holy moly, and heavy as heck. It’s endearing but as time goes by and things go wrong he definitely expands his vocab to include a few other choice words.
Grace names the alien Rocky and they develop a deep friendship. They’re both sarcastic problem solvers which is a good thing because their planets are depending on their success. If they didn’t have a sense of humor they’d be doomed…
Eva Stratt is the project’s orchestrator, and she’s ruthlessly focused on one thing: saving humanity. Her tone is clipped and she rarely shows emotion. Made me think of these lyrics from Cake’s Short Skirt/Long Jacket:
She is fast, and thorough, and sharp as a tack.
She’s touring the facility and picking up slack.
I want a girl with a short skirt and a long, long jacket.
The astronauts are a unique group and I loved their scenes in the novel. I wonder if Weir did some research and if their personalities are based on real people because they are intense.
Writing: Weir came up with a genius space thriller formula and had the talent to craft it into a blockbuster. He’s great at dialog and inner thoughts. PHM is an entertaining and readable novel with twists, well-formed characters, and accessible science.
Can I do this? Will I be rendered completely worthless from this point on, will humanity die because I can’t handle zero Gs? No! I clench my teeth, I clench my fists, I clench my butt. I clench every part of me that I know how to clench.
And another thing: Project Hail Mary is a complete delight. It kinda restores one’s faith in humanity. The ending is perfection.
Bottom line: Project Hail Mary is one of the best books I’ve read in a while. It’s wholesome, fun, dramatic and laugh out loud funny. You’ve gotta read it.
bookthrasher 