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?
An irresistible interstellar adventure as only Andy Weir could deliver, Project Hail Mary is a tale of discovery, speculation, and survival to rival The Martian—while taking us to places it never dreamed of going. (Pub Date: May 04 2021)
As someone who isn't a sci-fi fan, I loved this book.
This is 4.5, but not yet something I'd give 5 stars.
Grace wakes up in a spaceship without any idea of how he ended up there or why his other two crewmates are dead. Little by little memories come back to him as he tries to figure out the most important part: how to save humanity from extinction.
I'm not very into stories told in flashbacks but I can't even see how else he could have done it (well, I guess Weir could have just showed instead of told us, but we're looking for the better alternatives of course). Also, despite still not liking flashbacks, it was a good change from the claustrophobia of our main characters being alone, in space, and suffering amnesia.
I've just watched the movie of The Martian (I said I'm not a sci-fi fan), so I may be inexact but this fools you into thinking it'll be like The Martian, but there are too many buts.
As it seems to be Weir's style, and it's much more pleasing with a male main character than it was in Artemis (this one I did read lol), the writing is pleasant and even cute at times. The plot twists are great too, making the story progress toward points I wasn't counting on, even if it's not all that surprising.
Weir still brings some of the cheesy social justice speeches that made me frown a little in Artemis, but it's not bad, it's just: Oh well, good boy, you tried. I also think the last quarter or so wasn't as gripping as the rest. I think Grace is so smart the mistakes he commits are a little too obvious to really be a good plot twist whenever things went bad around here. The book slowly loses steam, actually. Conversely, considering what he had to go on with, it was under such a high possibility of crashing and burning, that just the fact that it didn't already deserves applause.
This was my second book by Andy Weir, and I'm fascinated by how complex the scientific background is for such an entertaining read. Recommended to everyone. In fact, I recommend people stay away from me or I'll try to get to you read this.
Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
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