Project Hail Mary

Title: Project Hail Mary

Author: Andy Weir

Published in: 2021

Date read: 21st June 2025

Score: 5/5

Genre: Science fiction, Thriller

Plot: (Warning, may contain spoilers):
"Project Hail Mary," published in 2021, is a sci-fi novel by Andy Weir that combines high-concept scientific problem-solving with a deeply personal story of survival and friendship. It is a thrilling and optimistic tale that explores the ingenuity of the human (and alien) spirit.

The story begins with the protagonist, Ryland Grace, waking up in a strange room with no memory of who he is or how he got there. He soon realizes that he is on a spaceship, and his only companions are two dead crew members. His memories begin to return in fragmented flashbacks, slowly revealing the terrifying truth of his situation.

He is the sole survivor of a desperate, last-ditch mission to save Earth from a microscopic, sun-eating organism called Astrophage. The organism is rapidly consuming the sun's energy, causing the planet to plunge into a new ice age. Grace, a former middle school science teacher turned astronaut, is the only person who can solve the mystery of the Astrophage and find a way to stop it.

As he begins to understand his mission, his ship, the Hail Mary, arrives at its destination in a distant star system. There, he makes a ground-breaking discovery: he is not alone. Another species, an alien named Rocky from a planet orbiting a different sun, has also been sent on a similar mission to save his own world.

The novel then becomes a fascinating and heart-warming buddy adventure. Grace and Rocky must overcome their communication barriers, using math, music, and clever problem-solving to work together. Their survival and the fate of both of their home planets depend on their ability to combine their knowledge and find a solution to the Astrophage problem.

The story is a love letter to scientific ingenuity and problem-solving. Every challenge, from engineering a solution to translating an alien language, is handled with meticulous and scientifically plausible detail. The climax is a thrilling and emotional resolution that requires both characters to make profound sacrifices. "Project Hail Mary" is a gripping, witty, and uplifting sci-fi adventure that celebrates the power of curiosity and collaboration.

Comments:
The only other book that I had read by this author was The Martian so this book had some pretty big shoes to fill. It began brilliantly and gripped me straight away. I have to admit that I went through a brief period of "hang on, this seems very familiar" but it turned out to be very different indeed. Andy Weir manages this story skilfully in revealing bits about the past just a bit at a time which adds to the development of the overall tale. This process adds shock and surprise as well as I have read anywhere else.
As always, I avoid any kind of spoilers, and I will continue that here, but as I was getting closer to the end two things were worrying me. Firstly, "has he left enough pages to successfully finish the story?" and "how will this end?" There were a variety of options that I could see, some to much of a disaster, some too "Disney", needless to say, I think that the ending was perfect. Highly recommend!

Books that we've read by Andy Weir (3):
The Martian (2011), Artemis (2017), Project Hail Mary (2021)