Book Review - Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Title: Project Hail Mary
Author: Andy Weir
Genre: Science Fiction
Published: 2021
 
Description: 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, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.
 
All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a 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 and 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?
 
Review: Let me just start with telling you that I don’t get the hype. I understand why people may like this book, but I don’t think it’s one of the best science fiction books ever written. Because that’s how this book is being marketed.
 
We meet Ryland Grace, who is the only survivor on a space mission. Waking up, remembering nothing, he is trying to figure out what the mission is all about and finding his way back.
 
I really enjoy science fiction, but “Project Hail Mary” was not it for me. I don’t mind complex stories, but there is so much scientific information that it started feeling like a text book, more than a novel. I listened to the audiobook, and I’m glad I did. Because I don’t think I would be able to get through a physical copy. I think that this kind of sci-fi is better in movie form for me, because I would love to see this being turned into one. But if was a bit dry and dragging for my liking as a novel.
 
I still really liked the story, it was interesting. But I never felt fully invested in the story and the main character. And that’s mainly why I struggled with this book.
 
Rating: 3/ 5