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A review by iam
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
This was surprisingly wholesome.
It's my first book by Andy Weird, and I haven't had any interactions with any of his work before, other than vaguely having heard of The Martian existing - which, based on what little I knew, didn't interest me that much. But some of my friends recommended Project Hail Mary to me specifically, so I gave it a go, and I am pretty happy I did!
It's a book about a mysterious space phenomenon that threatens all life on earth, and a science teacher is roped into helping to prevent death of humanity. I won't say much more because the book starts with the main character waking up on a spaceship, alone, not remembering himself or even what he is doing there, and him recovering his memories is a big part of the plot.
What I will add is that there is other life in space, and that's a big part of the appeal of the book for me.
This is SciFi that very heavily leans on the science part of the genre. There's lots of calculations, theories, experiments, very old school science stuff you could say, that at least to me felt very grounded in today's reality despite clearly being fictional. My suspension of disbelief was never broken - at least not with the science.
The "social" aspect of the plot was much more questionable. Something about a science teacher being so pivotal to the rescue of humanity was just a bit off to me. It did make for a good story though!
And this "good story" vibe kind of dominated everything. Despite it being such a high risk, high stakes central plot and thought... this almost had a "cozy" vibe to it. It's just about a guy in space doing his lil experiments and geeking out of what he finds out there. It genuinely gave me lighthearted, feel-good wholesome vibes. Sure, there are some tense moments, but it's not an action heavy book at all. A lot of the scenes that I thought would he very tense went by smoothly. There were a couple of adrenaline heavy moments, but overall it was a very feel-good, no-worries-it's-gonna-end-well book all throughout.
My favourite part of the book may or may not be considered a spoiler, even though it get revealed pretty early, so I'll add a spoiler warning.
My favourite part was Rocky, the alien our human protagonist finds. Rocky's planet is having the same issue as our protagonist's, so they team up to try and find a solutions. And their interactions were delightful. The way they learn to interact, to communicate and work together despite the fundamental differences in physiology, living conditions (there's are not just colourful humanoids, but genuinely completely alien), culture, science, etc, was so lovely to read about. It hit all the boxes that I want from a SciFi book featuring aliens.
I also loved the friendship (and arguably, more than that) that the two develop. How much they care for each other, and what they do to save the other when push comes to shove. Genuinely a beautiful relationship.
I also really enjoyed the ending. It was very happy and just made me feel giddy, but it also brought tears to my eyes.
Really enjoyable read! While the very grounded science stuff wasn't what I usually prefer, it fit the book and was a curious change for me personally, and the rest made up for it. I had a great time with the book the entire way through.
It's my first book by Andy Weird, and I haven't had any interactions with any of his work before, other than vaguely having heard of The Martian existing - which, based on what little I knew, didn't interest me that much. But some of my friends recommended Project Hail Mary to me specifically, so I gave it a go, and I am pretty happy I did!
It's a book about a mysterious space phenomenon that threatens all life on earth, and a science teacher is roped into helping to prevent death of humanity. I won't say much more because the book starts with the main character waking up on a spaceship, alone, not remembering himself or even what he is doing there, and him recovering his memories is a big part of the plot.
What I will add is that there is other life in space, and that's a big part of the appeal of the book for me.
This is SciFi that very heavily leans on the science part of the genre. There's lots of calculations, theories, experiments, very old school science stuff you could say, that at least to me felt very grounded in today's reality despite clearly being fictional. My suspension of disbelief was never broken - at least not with the science.
The "social" aspect of the plot was much more questionable. Something about a science teacher being so pivotal to the rescue of humanity was just a bit off to me. It did make for a good story though!
And this "good story" vibe kind of dominated everything. Despite it being such a high risk, high stakes central plot and thought... this almost had a "cozy" vibe to it. It's just about a guy in space doing his lil experiments and geeking out of what he finds out there. It genuinely gave me lighthearted, feel-good wholesome vibes. Sure, there are some tense moments, but it's not an action heavy book at all. A lot of the scenes that I thought would he very tense went by smoothly. There were a couple of adrenaline heavy moments, but overall it was a very feel-good, no-worries-it's-gonna-end-well book all throughout.
My favourite part of the book may or may not be considered a spoiler, even though it get revealed pretty early, so I'll add a spoiler warning.
I also loved the friendship (and arguably, more than that) that the two develop. How much they care for each other, and what they do to save the other when push comes to shove. Genuinely a beautiful relationship.
I also really enjoyed the ending. It was very happy and just made me feel giddy, but it also brought tears to my eyes.
Really enjoyable read! While the very grounded science stuff wasn't what I usually prefer, it fit the book and was a curious change for me personally, and the rest made up for it. I had a great time with the book the entire way through.