Reader Rayna

Title: Project Hail Mary
Author: Andy Weir
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Publish Date: May 4, 2021
Genre: Adult Science Fiction
Pages: 476 pages / 16h 10m
Format Read: Audiobook
Narrator: Ray Porter

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 realises 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?

This book was such a breath of fresh air, especially in audiobook format, as it wove humor, heart, and actual science into the story at large. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I went into it, but I ended up loving falling in love with it, and I’m so glad I ended up reading it.

I had heard so many times to listen to the audiobook version of this book because it was worth it, but nobody really ever said why it was worth it, but let me tell you: it’s worth it. There’s a character in the book that makes an appearance that made me go, “Excuse me!?” and had me rewind it just so I could hear it again. It’s also a character I ended up falling in love with.

This book is told from the perspective of Ryland Grace, the sole survivor of the crew aboard the Hail Mary, who was sent to another solar system to be able to discover a way to save our sun because of a newly discovered life called “astrophage,” a near indestructible microorganism that is going along a line from the sun to Venus called the Petrova Line, taking energy from the sun and causing it to lose its luminosity. Eventually, the sun will lose so much of its energy that it will cause a mass extinction on the planet if something isn’t done to stop it.

Grace wakes on the Hail Mary with amnesia, not knowing where he is, how he got there, or anything like that, but knowing all of his skill sets and general abilities. For a while he doesn’t even remember his name. I found his character to be a fun one because oftentimes, while he is incredibly intelligent, he also seemed to be kind of bumbling and goofy. He definitely had my sense of humor, as I laughed out loud many times throughout the book, which was such a welcome surprise.

As the story progressed and he regained his memories, we got flashbacks of the times leading up to him being in space, and I found that those memories really showed him as such a good guy, a great teacher, as someone who strove to do the best with what he could do, but also as someone who ran away when things would get tough or go sideways. It was a good portrayal of showing all sides of him – the flaws and the positives – and it also showed the other people in his life who became important for a myriad of ways, but mostly because they directly affected him in being put onto Project Hail Mary.

Now, I really don’t want to give away much of the plot of this story, so I’m going to just say that I love another character that’s a major part of Grace’s life. He brings a whole new perspective to literally everything Grace has ever known, and I found that I couldn’t help but root for these two characters as they made strides in their progress toward figuring out how to save their worlds.

The science in this book was also incredible. I’m not a math person by any means, and though I enjoyed science while I was in school, some of the more difficult subjects were harder for me to grasp. However, I’ve always been fascinated by space and the theorizing, and how Andy Weir is able to weave together actual science into this novel with theoretical probabilities was immaculate. I know that scientists have read this book and have found accuracies (and inaccuracies) in his writing, which is inspiring, to say the least.

From a reader standpoint, the amount of science in the novel makes the story feel more real, more tangible. I found that even if I didn’t totally understand everything that was being said, that I knew that these smart people were figuring things out and creating solutions from almost nothing. It was such a fun and explorative way to experience a story!

The narrator, Ray Porter, did a great job with delivering this audiobook. The sound effects were great, too. I enjoyed the way he delivered the humorous lines, the way he portrayed emotion, and the way the story played out overall. I definitely recommend the audiobook if you’re going to give this book a try.

Overall, I highly enjoyed this story. I found myself at the edge of my seat, wanting to know more, ready for the next chapter, hoping beyond hope that a solution would be found. I laughed, I teared up, I smiled, I gasped! It was such a fun journey, and one I’m so glad I took.

5 stars