Project Hail Mary is a 2021 science fiction novel by American novelist Andy Weir. Set in the near future, it centers on junior high school-teacher-turned-astronaut Ryland Grace, who wakes up from a coma afflicted with amnesia. He gradually remembers that he was sent to the Tau Ceti solar system, 12 light-years from Earth, to find a means of reversing a solar dimming event that could cause the extinction of humanity.
It received generally positive reviews, and was a finalist for the 2022 Hugo Award for Best Novel.
I had previously read Weir's debut novel The Martian (see https://timsbestreads.blogspot.com/p/the-martian-by-andy-weir.html) and found it a superb read. So when I found myself in the city last week with the remnants of a Dymocks Bookshop voucher, what better way to spend it than to buy a copy of Weir's third and latest book Project Hail Mary.
Here's the synopsis
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, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.
And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone.
Or does he?
The book, like The Martian, is another "isolated scientist story". It’s clearly a winning formula - MGM has already picked up the movie rights, with Ryan Gosling to star.
The pace is on from the start, just like in The Martian, with an immovable deadline and so many complex issues to be solved (some known and some arising as emergencies). I read the book in 3 days!!! IE, I couldn't put it down once I started.
The two main characters bond an unlikely friendship, one of the really warm things obout the book. Definitely amongst my most enjoyable reads for 2023.
By the way, the ending is similar to that of the classic Enemy Mine. I say no more in that regard!
I haven't read his second novel Artemis yet but it's on my list!
