Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir – Must Read Space Science Fiction!

Posted On July 24, 2022

Hi Readers! It’s almost the end of July and I am officially freaking out because I have read only 1 real book this month. Work is overwhelming so I am not able to read much or write reviews. I spent a significant amount of time writing two posts + clicking pictures for bookstagram this weekend and now in the blink of an eye it will be Monday.

Well, I read the best science fiction book ever! Okay, I say that about every science fiction book I am reading this year (Dark Matter, Recursion, Upgrade..), but this one was just mind blowing! Project Hail Mary was the first space science fiction book I read. I gave it all five stars because I was hooked from Page 1 to Page 475! And after reading this, I immediately bought The Martian and Artemis, also by Andy Weir.

I cannot write how amazing this book was for me without spoilers. So, if you plan on reading the book, DO NOT read this review. If you have already read and loved this book, then go right ahead and comment because I cannot stop thinking or talking or ranting about this masterpiece!

~~GOODREADS DESCRIPTION~~

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.

~~CHARACTERS~~

Ryland Grace is our lone protagonist. He is a super likable main character. Someone who is a science nerd academically. He used to be a molecular biologist who walked out on the whole academia world to become a junior high school science teacher. Though he has some fears that most of the humanity would have, I didn’t think he has any major flaws. I think because we are stuck with him for the whole book, it had to be a lovable character.

Rocky is our spider-like alien who becomes Grace’s BFF while they are both on a mission to save their respective planets. He is super intelligent at the engineering side of things, but he also understands science and has an amazing grasping power. He is an alien and it’s a space science fiction novel, so obviously he is lovable too! These two pretty much carry the book on their shoulders/slimy arms and it never feels like there is anything missing.

Eva Stratt is another badass character who I absolutely loved. She is in charge of the whole Project Hail Mary mission and she gets things done! Never have I ever seen such a no non-sense female character. I truly enjoyed her.

~~WRITING STYLE~~

The first thing that I loved about this novel is how fast-paced it was. It had me at the edge of my seat the entire time. I read it in about 3 days because I simply couldn’t put it down. Be it how the book starts with no context and starts to lead us to what’s happening or the numerous things that go wrong one after the other or how Grace finds a way to communicate with an alien or how they work together with no one backstabbing anyone. All of it was just amazing, amazing, amazing! At some places, I did think that there was too much intense math and science involved. This went over my head but when they finally reached the conclusion, I had the ‘Oh wow!’ moment.

~~TO READ OR NOT TO READ TI~~

Just read it. Even if you are not into science fiction or have never read science fiction, just give this one a try. If you loved watching Interstellar, read this. If you love watching anything sci-fi, then read this. If you have read anything by Blake Crouch, then you will like anything by Andy Weir too. I have rated Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir at 4.5/5 stars! Go and read it please.

Until next time,