Project Hail Mary
I really enjoyed this! Arguably more so than The Martian. (I never read his second novel, Artemis, because of relatively poor reviews.) The ending was not very satisfying, but when is it ever. It’s a bit of ‘hard sci-fi’ except it’s not really “hard” sci-fi; more the high school teacher’s version of hard sci-fi, quite reminiscent of The Martian (including the humour). If you like novels like that, I certainly recommend this one.
Excerpts of trademark Andy Weir humour:
“How did you do it? What killed it?”
“I penettrated the outer cell membrane with a nanosyringe.”
“You poked it with a stick?”
“No!” I said. “Well. Yes. But it was a scientific poke with a very scientific stick.”
“It took you two days to think of poking it with a stick.”
“You…be quiet.”
Oh thank God. I can’t imagine explaining “sleep” to someone who has never heard of it. Hey, I’m going to fall unconscious and hallucinate for a while. By the way, I spend a third of my time doing this. And if I can’t do ti for a while, I go insane and eventually die. No need for concern.
And here’s an example of a cool little explanation:
This is one of those things I frequently have to explain to my students. Gravity doesn’t just “go away” when you’re in orbit. In fact, the gravity you experience in orbit is pretty much the same as you’d experience on the ground. The weightlessness that astronauts experience while in orbit comes from constantly falling. But the curvature of the Earth makes the ground go away at the same rate you fall. So you just fall forever.
And a gut check that perhaps hits too close to home:
“Do you think I don’t know you, Dr. Grace?!” she yelled. “You’re a coward and you always have been. You abandoned a promising scientific career because people didn’t like a paper you wrote. You retreated to the safety of children who worship you for being the cool teacher. You don’t have a romantic partner in your life because that would mean you might suffer heartbreak. You avoid risk like the plague.”
All book cover images are from Goodreads unless specified otherwise.