[Book Review] Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Warning: This review contains spoilers

So, my interest in Project Hail Mary first piqued when my daughter went to go see the movie with her friends, then came back saying the movie was good. She's not particularly interested in sci-fi, and not the kind of person that praises things easily, so for her to say that something was good usually means something. Then, almost around the same time, a friend from church asked if I wanted to do a book club with him and some buddies over this book. I jumped at the chance.

Prior to this, I didn't know anything about the book/movie, other than that Ryan Gosling was in the movie. After I picked up the book, I realized it was written by Andy Weir, who wrote the Martian. I really liked the Martian, so that was a good sign. From the very first chapter, the similarities with the Martian are apparent. The main character is a slightly sardonic but brilliant scientist, thrust into a lone-survivor type situation where he has to use science to figure out what to do next and solve problems.

Ryland Grace, as portrayed by Ryan Gosling

In fact, the first few chapters are almost too similar to the Martian. For those who have read/seen the Martian, it has a slightly "been there done that" feel to it. It doesn't help that the main character, Ryland Grace, has a lot of similarities to Mark Watney of the Martian. They are both whip-smart, but have an everyman kind of personality and wit that feels very relatable. So, in a sense, it was bad that the characters felt so similar, but it was good in the sense that the characters are easy to root for and relate with.

My own background, in particular, drew me to empathize with Ryland Grace. He was a failed professor in the field of molecular biology: someone who got frustrated with the politics of academia and gave it all up to become a middle school science teacher. Although I didn't give up academia entirely the way Ryland Grace did, I have felt the same frustrations that were articulated in the book; and I did give up a higher-prestige research university position to take up a lower-prestige teaching university position. Thus, I felt a real bond to the character when I learned about his background. More than that, I felt that the author understands some of the frustrations that people like me experience.

Rocky, as portrayed in the movie

The story begins to diverge from the Martian-esque feel when Ryland meets an alien named Rocky. You see, Ryland and Rocky have both arrived at the Tau Ceti star system to look for a cure to a star-eating microbe called "astrophage", which is slowly consuming both species' stars. Both species have determined that Tau Ceti, despite being infected by astrophage, is not being actively consumed by it. So both have arrived at Tau Ceti to figure out why Tau Ceti is not being consumed, and to hopefully discover a cure that can be brought back to their respective homeworlds.

Much of the book is an exploration into interstellar first contact. The ideas presented about how Ryland and Rocky learn to communicate with each other are genuinely fascinating, as are the frequent reflections on why the two species may have evolved similarly or differently along various dimensions. This is where I think the book is a step up from the Martian. The Martian was great, but it focused mainly on real science in a more realistic scenario. Project Hail Mary is hard sci-fi of the best kind: taking real science concepts but then using them to speculate about more hypothetical scenarios. Indeed, much of the tension in the book arises from the engineering challenges of interspecies collaboration when the two species' natural environments would normally kill each other.

Although science is the star of the book, there is no shortage of human drama. The friendship that develops between Ryland and Rocky is heartfelt, and the exploration of Ryland's own character in a series of flashback scenes sheds light on his own internal struggles as a character.

Project Hail Mary, the ship

Perhaps the best thing I can say about this book is that it hooked by 6th grade son. I am always on the lookout for books that are entertaining and written in an easy enough style that my children would want to read it, but also smart enough that I can feel good about them reading it. I think such books are rare, but this is one of them. There is a tiny bit of foul language, and some discussion of sex between characters (though sex is never actually depicted), but there's nothing in there that would be more offensive than what'd you see on an average TV show.

Last little note: I actually listened to the audiobook version, narrated by Ray Porter. I thought the voice acting was superb and really captured the sound of a smart, slightly jaded, middle-aged man with dry humor and a sarcastic wit. Very well done narration, overall.

I'd recommend this book to anyone with an interest in sci-fi, and I'd especially recommend it to kids who have such an interest.