Review of Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Hard Sci-Fi Expertly Written, 5 Stars for All Us Science Geeks

I have had the good fortune to read several superb books in a row this year and Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir is the latest, and possibly the greatest, of that line. For now, I have it at the top of my list for best book of 2021. Let me tell you why.

Project Hail Mary is hard sci-fi, which means it is not fantasy but is instead based in science fact. Yes, the story does have a fictional threat to the Earth, and other fictional things that Ryland Grace encounters on his "desperate last-chance mission" to save the Earth, but Weir goes to great lengths to explain all of fictional aspects -- how they exist and what they can do. It's not a "here's-Jabba-the-Hutt-just-go-with-it" type thing. Everything is explained as if he is a high school teacher trying to explain it to his class. Indeed, our protagonist Grace is a high school teacher and the story is told in first person, so it makes sense that it would roll out this way. This is the best hard sci-fi I have read since Ben Bova's Mars. It's really, really good.

This is a fairly long novel with 624 pages, but there is absolutely no filler in there -- just a lot of stuff that happens, and Weir explains the logic and the science behind each event. This is a book that makes you feel smarter as you read it. You might have a moment in which you say "OH! So that is what Einstein meant!" Yes, its that deep and explained that brilliantly. I liked it so much that I sent a message to my high school Physics/Chemistry teacher (from the '80s) and told him this book was meant for him!

But I should also say, Project Hail Mary is not a dry textbook. Weir brings his characters to life and I cared for each one -- worrying about them and hoping that things were going to turn out okay them.

If you are not a science person and could care less about how the Universe is put together, this is still a 4-star read, but if you are a science geek and like to learn as you lose yourself in a good story, this is a 5-star read.

5 out of 5 stars



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