Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
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?
For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 Audiobook Challenge
The Reason
I’ve read this book in print but people keep saying how good it is on audio and FOMO got me, so I signed up for Audible just to get the audiobook.
The Quotes
“Human beings have a remarkable ability to accept the abnormal and make it normal.”
“Fist my bump.”
“Grumpy. Angry. Stupid. How long since last sleep, question?”
“Good. Proud. I am scary space monster. You are leaky space blob.”
The Narrator(s)
Ray Porter. He has been praised so much as a narrator and I can certainly see what the fuss is about. He’s great!
My Thoughts
It hasn’t been that long since I read this book the first time, but I am blessed/cursed with a short-term memory when it comes to book details so I had forgotten a lot of what happens and how. I did remember some of the big details though, and as I was reading I kept looking forward to them, and was still very delighted to be reminded of how it all happens.
Since I’ve read this before I’ll also add my initial thoughts here for reference, written July 2021:
I loved this book so much! I loved The Martian, but this one completely surpasses it in so many ways. I feel like I cannot write a review that adequately describes my feelings right now. The Martian was a really smart book, and hilarious, and it appealed to me because of all the problems Mark Watney faced and the innovative solutions he came up with – and Andy Weir is also such a great writer in the way he makes it easy to understand all the science-y stuff.
But this book. This book has got all of that – the science-y stuff, the life-threatening problems, the innovative solutions, the humor… but it has also got feels! So much feels. ALL the feels! How do I even start?
The mystery he woke up with, the confusion of how everything worked, the loneliness, the excitement, the frustration, the friendship, the camaraderie, the anguish, the acceptance, the bittersweetness, the determination, the trust, the betrayal, the love, the fear, the choices… (no spoilers – it’s just how good the book is!)
I love this book so F**KING much!
My Feels
I will never not love Rocky and Ryland’s relationship. I love seeing how their relationship develops, how they learn from each other, how they communicate about cultural stuff, laugh with each other, respect each other.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars. Of course 5 stars, and yes, the audiobook was such a great way to experience the book the second time around!
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
Good to know you think this one surpasses The Martian. I liked the Martian but I never got to this one. I can’t decide between the print and the audio version … but I think I might need the print copy for all the geeky science stuff. Apparently it’s being made into a movie due out 2026 with Ryan Gosling. Wow ha.
I hope you like this book whichever format you end up going with. I’m so excited for the movie too, I’ve been anticipating one since reading the book and I wish they’d hurry it up! (But not too much because I don’t want them to lose out on quality!)
I loved Project Hail Mary, too, and I’m really glad to hear the audiobook works well. Listening to a book I’ve read and loved before is always a risk; it it’s done well, it’s a great way to experience the book, but if it’s not done well, or the narrator’s voice or accent don’t fit what I imagined when I read it, it can be really annoying. So thank you for the reassurance; I’m putting the audiobook on my TBL list!
Yay, I’m so glad! I agree, the right/wrong narrator can absolutely make or break a book. I didn’t used to be very particular with narrators but there are a couple that I will absolutely avoid!