Imagine waking up alone with no recollection of who you are or how you got there. It’s a terrifying situation to find yourself in. Now picture waking up alone with no memory in a spaceship light years away from Earth surrounded by two dead bodies. In “Project Hail Mary,” it’s panic-inducing for protagonist Ryland Grace, but absolutely gripping for the reader.
“Project Hail Mary” by Andy Weir is a thrilling science fiction novel following amnesiac astronaut Ryland Grace as he slowly recoups his memories and discovers that he is humanity’s sole hope for solving a scientific mystery threatening to bring all of planet Earth to extinction.
With his vast array of scientific knowledge, unorthodox ingenuity and sheer desperation, Grace must do whatever it takes to save humanity before time runs out. However, a surprising friendship found deep in space may mean that he doesn’t have to do it alone.
This Book Is a Page-Turner
School, work and extracurriculars mean that I rarely have time to sit down for a few hours and get lost in a good book. Nevertheless, “Project Hail Mary” seized me in an iron fist with suspense, humor and scientific jargon that appealed greatly to my biology-inclined self. I picked up this 500-page book on a Thursday night and by Friday evening, I had finished.
Andy Weir’s writing allows for “Project Hail Mary” to effortlessly incorporate dense science into an engaging narrative that remains accessible to a general audience. The story is told in two timelines, Grace’s current experiences in space paralleled with flashbacks to the years leading up to his mission. This alternation between the past and present allows for amazing worldbuilding and some of the most heartbreaking plot twists I have ever seen.
I greatly enjoyed this book and considered it both excellent fiction and phenomenal—and accurate—science. The characters are complex and memorable, the setting is fascinating, and the narrative is heartwarming and tragic simultaneously. Since “Project Hail Mary” is a science book, the sometimes lengthy explanations of Grace’s problem-solving hypotheses could prove unpopular for some readers. However, I would definitely recommend this book to any fans of science fiction and space.
Soon to be a Major Motion Picture
Starring Ryan Gosling as Ryland Grace, the “Project Hail Mary” movie will be released in theaters on March 20. Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, this will be the second book by Andy Weir to get a film adaptation: his first movie adaptation, “The Martian,” was released in 2015. Weir himself is a producer for the movie and has seen several cuts of the film already; he feels that the directors captured what he was after in the book.
I am extremely excited for this movie. If it is anywhere near the book’s brilliance, it will most certainly cement itself as an enjoyable science fiction and space film. For anyone who is interested in “Project Hail Mary,” I encourage you to read it in preparation for the movie’s release.
