Project Hail Mary

Project Hail Mary is an enjoyable story. It is readable and fun, requiring little reading comprehension; most readers could finish this book within a week or less.

The science is fine, albeit sometimes a little bit far-fetched. With Sci-Fi, it's often hard to get the balance right. I feel that you either create broad concepts, e.g., FTL travel, wormholes, etc. and don't explain them in detail or you try to make them hyper-realistic and explainable. The author attempts to do both but doesn't get it exactly right. Nevertheless, attention to detail regarding some of the key concepts, e.g. relativity, gravity, etc., is appreciated.

The major criticism I have, that is to say, why I wouldn't give it four or five stars, is that the characters aren't particularly complex and, therefore, not real, in a human way. The protagonist falls into the classic Hollywood hero trope. His only flaw is that he gets a bit cranky and stupid when tired or drugged (who doesn't?) and is somewhat of a coward. Other than that, he is almost perfect. Moreover, in many ways, he is a copy-and-paste of his other protagonist, Mark Watney, from his previous book, the Martian. Frankly, I think he's a bit of a loser, and not in a fun or endearing way — I would not like to have a drink with him.

Overall, I would recommend this book as something to read on a long weekend or as something light between more challenging reads.