Project Hail Mary
Project Hail Mary By Andy Weir
After reading The Martian I was excited to get stuck into Project Hail Mary, and once again Andy Weir massively delivered. He might be one of my favourite modern author at this point. All the humour and charm of The Martian is once again there, but if possible, this is a story that felt even more my kind of thing.
Project Hail Mary is about a lone astronaut’s (Ryland Grace) journey to a nearby (relatively speaking) star where he must work out why it’s not dying like our own after a spacial parasite know as Astrophage began to infect our solar system. The Earth has less than thirty years to live, and after the rest of the crew died during the journey, he’s humanities only hope.
Project Hail Mary is a great mixture of Hard Sci-Fi and speculative concepts. It doesn’t let science get in the way of some wacky ideas, but approaches everything with a mathematical seriousness too, which is what I love about Andy Weir’s work.
Ryland is massively likeable, yet the more we learn about him the more flawed he seems, which in my opinion makes him even more human and likeable. He is doing the best he can under insane circumstances. Equally likeable (spoiler alert) is Rocky, the space rock spider alien thing. He’s just adorable. While the book is primarily about survival, it’s also a fantastic story of friendship, made even more so by the unlikely nature of it.
Grace and Rocky’s relationship is the heart of this book. Saving their planets almost becomes background noise as we just want them to be mates and have each other during such dire and trying times. I loved the evolution of their communications. Their reliance on each others skill set. Two different species working together to solve a collective problem while also forming the basis of a wonderful friendship makes for such an enjoyable read.
Rocky’s command of the English language brings a smile to my face every time I read it. The earnest of him watching Grace sleep. Grace’s awe of Rocky’s skill and determination. The subject of working together to solve a major global problem is obviously not subtle, but clearly in this day and age it needs to be said aloud because that subtly has been repeatedly overlooked. Weir has written a book about saving humanity, while reminding us it needs to be a joint effort.
Also have to say that Stratt is a fantastic character. While not strictly her story, she plays a major role in everything and I love the complexity of both her job, and personality. She’s the person you need in a crisis, while also accepting that maybe she will have to pay an unfair price for that. Her scene in the courtroom regarding copyright was easily one of the funniest things i’ve read in a while.
I absolutely loved everything about Project Hail Mary. It made me laugh. Brought several lumps to my throat. Had me rapidly turning the pages hoping that everything would be okay, and ultimately, delivered everything I wanted from the story. The formatting is once again interesting, and the prose delightful. He’s a master of his work at the moment, and i’m already looking forward to whatever he brings out next… and I can’t wait for the movie. Amaze!
