Derek
I didn't feel like I was reading a five-star King novel for most of my time spent with It, even up to the 80% mark. Sure, It is a horror novel, and a damn effective one at that. But to call it just a horror novel would be a disservice. At its core, It is a story about friendship, and that truth doesn't fully hit until the final stretch.
The last 10% absolutely wrecked me. I was sobbing. If you'd told me I'd be crying my eyes out over It, especially after having seen the films and knowing pretty much exactly what was going to happen, I would've laughed in your face. But when this book hits, it really hits. The ridiculous length finally feels worth it by the end. The emotional payoff is huge, and the heart of the story, something no adaptation has truly managed to capture, hits you hard.
In that moment, like the characters, you forget about the monsters. You forget about the weird stuff (yes, that scene, awkward, maybe unnecessary, probably a mistake, but I don't believe King wrote it with any twisted intent). What you're left with is a reflection of your own life: the friendships you've made, the ones you've lost, and the realization that while friends may fade from memory, they're never truly gone.
Project Hail Mary is an absolute joy to read—possibly the most fun I've ever had with a book and without question my favorite novel I've read over the course 2024 (so far). Seriously, it's the very definition of a “page turner.” I devoured it over four evenings, doing my best to limit myself to 25% each night; I had to force myself to put it down and get some sleep, which was no easy task.
The story is packed with all sorts of science jargon of various levels of complexity, but Andy Weir makes it all accessible and fun, no matter how much (or how little) I knew about the concepts. It felt like I was right there, figuring things out alongside the main character, without ever feeling lost or overwhelmed.
I laughed out loud so many times while reading this—Weir's humor really comes alive in the interactions between the main characters. But it's not all laughs; there are moments that hit so hard they had me on the verge of tears. It's the kind of story that sticks with you, a truly unforgettable adventure. If I had to describe it, I'd say it's like a mix of The Three-Body Problem trilogy, Interstellar, and E.T.—packed with wonder, mystery, and so much heart.
It's hardly a groundbreaking opinion to say that Project Hail Mary is already a modern classic in the realm of science fiction. But if Hollywood gets the film adaptation right, this story has all the makings of a worldwide cultural phenomenon. The characters, the stakes, the sheer sense of adventure—it has the potential to become the next E.T., a feat no story has truly achieved since, well, E.T..
This book was exhilarating, heartfelt, and absolutely impossible to put down. Project Hail Mary is the kind of story that reignites your love for reading, reminding you of the magic a truly great book can bring.
