Book Review – Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

This is my first real excursion into Andy Weir. I have listened to the reading of Artemis on Mike Nelson’s 372 Pages We’ll Never Get Back podcast and found that woke garbage to be nothing I want to subject myself to without the MST3K treatment. I did enjoy the movie The Martian. That and a recommendation from a friend, I made the choice to dive in, and I was glad that I did.

Weir writes on the “hard” sci-fi spectrum so the science will be explained and “real” (i.e., known for the worldview and the science known at the time). This adds a big sense of realism to Weir’s story and if you don’t happen to follow it all, he does a good job of having the main character explain himself at times. If you still don’t get that, there’s enough in the plot and characters to allow for enjoyment of the book; but if you picked up the book without being a fan of the genre, I’m not sure why you would have picked up the book in the first place.

It was interesting to get a first-person POV in a sci-fi novel as the exposition tends to be best suited for a 3rd person omniscient narrator and first-person usually isn’t written the best. Here, it makes sense as the main character is a sole survivor of a last ditch mission (hence the name of “Hail Mary”). Weir gives the main character amnesia from the need of travel. I usually don’t like this plot device and the story does “flashbacks” of the character remembering aspects of the reason he’s where he is; again, usually a little too convenient. However, I have to give credit as this storytelling choice is a plot point and that was the best use of the trope.

This was a book that I was excited to lose sleep or pick back up instead of doing the work I needed to do and finished it in three days. I found the plot to be well paced and offer enough tension and release throughout which made for a quick read. The humor is onpar with other authors I like, the Bobiverse series by Dennis E. Taylor has a similar style where it makes the character likeable without it resolrting to be a Marvel movie of laughing in the face of death when it doesn’t make sense. The science fits, and even with the evolution and climate change aspects, it fit in a world where those items happened.

This was a great recommendation for sci-fi fans, modern sci-fi readers, and even regular science enjoyers. A main character you actually like, a few twists and turns that make the story enjoyable from page one to the last page, and a satisfying conclusion that makes sense from the author’s perspective; almost like he had a plan the whole time! Amazing!