Project Hail Mary

The Book in 1 Sentence

Science is the music for all life in the universe.

Brief Review

"Project Hail Mary is an absolute fantastic book that scratches this deep nostalgia of being a kid and wanting to be an astronaut and scientist and so much more." With a blend of anxiety, suspense, joy, and surprise, Project Hail Mary is the best science fiction book you will ever read.

Why I Read this book

The Martian was my favorite book before this and I read this book while I was living in Canada and loved it. Andy Weir is a fantastic author except for Artemis and this book is the redemption from that book. I was happy to read it again as it is my favorite book. I was so impressed with it originally, that I emailed him and he responded.

Mr. Weir,

I know the odds of you reading this are fairly slim (I did math that made sense to me, but probably isn’t scientific whatsoever and ended up with like 6% at best), but in the event you do I just wanted to say thank you. 

Project Hail Mary is a absolute fantastic book that scratches this deep nostalgia of being a kid and wanting to be an astronaut and scientist and so much more. This is the main reason I am reaching out is because your books are something else. In the world that has a ton of things to inspire kids, I feel your books will do more than any other. The blend of entertainment and science as well as drama as mind blowing. 

I first started reading your books while stationed in the Middle East and haven’t been able to put them down. This latest one is a book I have wanted so much more from but felt it wrapped soo perfectly that I was content with it. 

My last thought is that I hope this becomes a movie like your others as it is the perfect blend of hype and then memory and just like the Martian, a way to keep action up and still break it up. I am not a scientist, but if it doesn’t become something and I can help in anyway, I’d be more than happy to participate. 

If you have read this, thank you for your time. I know you have better things to do. Thank you for writing such wonderful books and bringing so much joy to all who read, listen, and watch them.


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Thanks, glad you liked it! :-)

I have sequel ideas. And it was a very successful book, so there may be more for you. :-)

The film is supposedly going to be made. We have Ryan gosling attached to play the lead.  

-ATW

In-Depth Review (Favorite Quotes)

I typically do not like books that tell a story in a weird back and forth between time periods. However, this is presented in such a great way that it is natural and fills in the blanks that the character has at the same time. It is seamless.

Grace is by far the best human I have ever read. Fallible, self-deprecating, honesty, and intelligent. He makes mistakes and admits to it provide the reader with a true sense of all the science that is going on. That is the other excellent thing that this book does well. Taking super complex science explaining and providing the high points and not really the nitty-gritty even though it does do that.

Even with this book being science heavy, more than Artemis or The Martian, the amount of comedy in this book is overwhelmingly amazing. I mean, the number of different ways to say "Fist Bump" without actually saying that.

The pacing is great, but I will say that some of the earth supporting characters are a little single dimensional. I mean, they don't play a huge part, there are just some things that don't make sense for the characters.

Rating

This is honestly an almost perfect book. It is so funny that I laughed out loud multiples times and in just 3 years have read it twice. The two main characters, Grace and Rocky are so well written and the attempt to learn language is smart. This is my favorite book and I know that it won't be for everyone, but it is a 10. It is a great book. Read it and Hollywood, make it a movie already! Andy, please give us more.

EDIT: Since I wrote this review, it has been announced that the movie has finished production and is moving into post-production with a 2026 release.

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