Project Hail Mary
Ratings2,249
Average rating4.5
Bastante entretenido, pero esperaba más del libro. Podría haber Sido más corto
I'm not a sci-fi lover at all but what a book from Andy Weir!
I loved The Martian for all the scientific references but with Project Hail Mary we are on an another level. Especially the ones with a STEM background will appreciate all the math, experiments and science facts.
The plot then is really intriguing: Ryland Grace, an high school science professor, wakes up in a spaceship in another star system and the rest of the crew is death. He's experiencing amnesia so he doesn't remember why he is there and what's the mission. With some flashbacks he starts to remember something: he have to save the solar system from a micro organism called Astrophage which is essentially eating the sun.
The plot twist occurs at a third of the book when Grace meet a friend who is trying to accomplish the same mission. I'll stop here.
It's difficult to explain why to read this book without any spoiler but, trust me, it is definitely worth reading.
p.s. Ryan Gosling is already writing the screenplay of what could be one of the best sci-fi movies of all time.
This book took me to space in a way that no other book has for a long time. You fall in love with the characters yes there is more than one and humor of the writing. Much like Pringles - once you pop you can't stop (turning pages).
Characters and DevelopmentPersonally I found this one of the weakest elements. The characters were good but they didn't develop in any meaningful way. They started off as well thought out characters and remained solid throughout; but, I didn't feel like they developed over the time we are with them or reach any drastic developments.
PlotSimple plot, in theory. Earth is in trouble and Ryland, a former discredited academic and current high school science teacher, is sent to space to find the solution. What happens while he is out there is unexpected (having not read some of the more spoiler synopsis), funny, and heartwarming. I feel like the less you know about the plot the better for this one.
Setting
The majority of the book is spent on a tiny ship but that didn't limit the enjoyment at all. If anything the environment allowed the focus on the plot and the simple but impactful story it tells.
TL;DR
Pros
- Funny and feelgood writing
- Scientific accuracy (as far as I can tell - not being an astrophysicist)
- Unputdownability (Con: lack of sleep)
Cons
- Character development is eh
- Ends on a bit of a cliffhanger
Hard to describe without spoilers :) Definitely liked it better than The Martian. A thrilling story with a satisfying but unpredictable (at least to me) ending.
Wow wow wow. Maybe one of the most fun stories I've read in a long time. The audiobook for this was perfect, I felt like I was watching a movie. I really think this is a book that pretty much anyone would enjoy. It's such a unique story, and the way the characters are written is so well done. This easily could have been corny but it wasn't at all.
I don't know, man. I'm just not excited about this. 30% in and I don't really care about the protagonist. I thought there was going to be a bit more about the other crew or something, but so far it just feels kind of boring.
Possibly I will try again later, but at this point, I have no feelings about this book.
Very science-heavy but super entertaining. Ryland and Rocky were great characters and I needed to know what was going to happen. The humor in it was amazing and the dual timeline worked perfectly.
Fun, thought-provoking science fiction with great characters. You find yourself caring for a very non-humanoid character, because he cares – and has a hilarious sense of humor. Plus the puzzle-solving nature of the book, like The Martian, is just plain entertaining!
How nerdy can a nerd be? I guess there's no limit and the result is a gripping and funny book that I could not stop reading. The only question I have is if non technical reader will appreciate this book as much as I did.
Bit of a slog in the middle, but overall great story. The ending was worth it.
I had an absolute blast reading this book. If you have any interest in sci-fi, science, outer space, alien life, or humanity's precarious place in the stars, I think you'll find a lot to like here.
I don't want to say too much since part of the plot is discovering things alongside the character as his memories return, but the same scrappy, warmhearted, optimistic “we'll science a way out of this problem” from The Martian is on full display here, and is a joy from start to finish. Highly recommended.
The audiobook version of this was excellent! I really liked this story, though it was very different from The Martian, I thought. Over all, I felt very endeared but the humanity of it. Can't say more without spoiling.
5+ stars in a true return to form for Andy Weir.
That is, return to form in reference to The Martian. Project Hail Mary has different characters, but similar to The Martian (tM), this one has a strong focus on problem solving and survival. This time, though, the goal is to save the world. There's definitely hard science involved here, biology, chemistry, and physics.
Spoiler-free notes below:
While I haven't made the effort to verify any of the science, the way it is written it comes across as plausible to some extent (for reference, I have a BS in Biology, minor in Chemistry and Doctorate in Medicine). I do feel there has been creative license applied with the source of the primary crisis, but again, it's plausible enough to not be a stumbling block (imho).
The characters are not only well done, but genuinely identifiable. The structure of the novel is also interestingly done. It's not simply linear like tM is for the most part. In some books this is more distracting and problematic, but PHM does it well and keeps an interesting twist hidden for a long time. (Trying not to spoil it for you.)
The ending is satisfying while still leaving a tiny bit of wiggle room for a sequel (maybe?)
Anyway, this book was fantastic. I screamed through it speed-wise. Couldn't put it down. Almost started a re-read right away. I think I'll hold off, though, for now.
For more of my reviews, check out my blog.
WOAH.
I went into Project Hail Mary without absolutely no knowledge of what the book was about. All I knew was that Andy Weir wrote it, that I absolutely loved The Martian, and that my husband thoroughly enjoyed the book. All three things led to me picking this up at the library and giving it a shot.
And DAMN am I glad I knew nothing about it. I'm not going to give anything major away here because it's just so much better if you go in expecting nothing other than another book about space in some way.
I loved the characters. I loved the flashbacks.
I kinda just loved the book. If you like Sci-fi, grab this, and get reading!
Started well, by half way through it was irritating me with story inconsistencies.
A good, entertaining story, and well written. But some parts, particularly the way that he tells the backstory, felt a little too obvious. Like, here's something this character needs to work on in this scene, and suddenly here's the explanation/backstory. Not a terrible way of doing it, and makes sense for the story, but feels a little clunky. Also, (I say this as a technical person who enjoys reading technical nerd shit) the parts where science and/or engineering happens feel appropriately realistic but dry at times.
Edit: Bumping up my rating because I'm still thinking about this weeks later.
Gripping and entertaining, even though I really have no interest in stories involving alien species. (It was recommended by a LOT of people whose opinions I trust.) The structure of the story was fantastic, flipping back and forth between Grace's life on earth and his time on the Hail Mary, to provide context as the story continued.
It felt timely in that it involved issues like climate change, food scarcity, apocalyptic catastrophe that could only be solved through cooperation, etc. While ultimately sci-fi, Project Hail Mary felt like it very much could be reality, with a few tweaks in the current environment.
My only gripe is that at times it felt a little heavy-handed with the science and math. I understand that travel to another solar system would require a lot of science and math, but even with the relatively simple explanations of things, I don't know that it really added a lot to the story, especially since we're already suspending belief re: Rocky and xenonite. Didn't hamper my enjoyment of it though.
Wonderful story, I think I even prefered it over The Martian, which I really loved already! The whole process of discovering the story, the findings, but also what happened before the events, ... I really like also the interactions between the different characters and the problem solving skills they had to resort to. A really great read!
I would have given this book 5 stars except the amount of Science in the book was a little overwhelming at times and I had to skim parts of it. In spite of that, however, the plot was interesting and the characters were compelling . The bond of friendship between the main characters was a real joy to read. The way they learned about each other and came together over a common problem was so heartwarming. I loved the ending and it made me think about the book long after I finished it.
I enjoyed the scientifically charged romp through space. The only thing holding it back for me was the emotional beats of the characters back on Earth. I thought the ending wrapped up a bit too early but the first 75 percent of this book had me on the edge of my seat.