Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

89 reviews

jj_tj's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny informative mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Cannibalism, Kidnapping, and Vomit

bomenvernietiger's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.5

I respect the general goal of making approachable but accurate science media, but when I set aside that appreciation for a moment and hold this book to the standard of anything else I read, it simply doesn't hold up.

There's a really interesting and well thought out plot, but it's massively dampened by the many little mistakes and plot-holes, prose that sounds like it came from a drunk text message, an overly light-hearted and casual tone that doesn't fit the story, a boring main character, events that are often way too plot-convenient, annoying humour, cheesy dialogue, and Andy Weir's stubborn unwillingness to explain or do research into anything that doesn't adhere to his highly specific personal interests. This last flaw is clear from his refusal to get into any substantial world politics even though a third of his book is supposed to be about international cooperation, and his _extremely_ half-assed attempt to conceptualise a pitch&harmony-based alien language, which contained mistakes which could only be possible if Weir did not consult a single semi-professional musician or musicologist before publishing. 

This could have been an amazing hard scifi that teaches people about physics and astronomy, but it's written in such a way that the science never really matters; whenever there's a plot issue Weir's science can't solve, it's either glossed over or splattered with plot convenience sauce (aka 'xenonite'). It could have also been a nice, silly, emotionally deep, feel-good soft scifi, but the characters and the prose are way too dull for that, and anything heartfelt about the book is drowned in constant scientific explanations. Both of these ideas would have been great stories, but they were smashed together and the result is a mess.

This is extra sad considering Andy Weir can write something as good as The Martian. But looking back, the Martian already contained the cracks in Weir's storytelling which became full-on rifts

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Medical trauma, Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Death, War, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Minor: Cancer, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Pedophilia

sidekicksam's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

A man wakes up in a room, tied up to IV drips and machines. He doesn't know who or where he is, but slowly, things start to come back to him. He is the only one that can save the earth. 

Well, this was exactly what I hoped it would be. A quick-paced space novel, with relatable though probably not representative narration (but I might be prejudiced towards scientists) and an easy arc that was enjoyable to read. 

I loved the conception of Rocky, and how Weir worked out his world and presence. It was fascinating to reimagine a sentient being, what it could be, and how life on its planet would have evolved, and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know him.

 

The main character had the same sarcastic, down-to-earth mentality as the guy from The Martian (a book I also thoroughly enjoyed), and I would recommend this book to everyone looking for a summer read! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Medical content

vif's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Death, Suicide, Drug use, and Kidnapping

Minor: Cannibalism, Vomit, and Alcohol

lindsbian's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Absolutely love this book. It was hard to resist staying up all night to finish, but ultimately had to pause even with how difficult it was to put it down - but as the book points out, we humans do need sleep! Project Hail Mary has so much of the fascinating sci-fi that made The Martian so successful, but the development of alien phenomena has led to such more creative worldbuilding. I love how the story realistically didn't tie up every single loose end, but it still had such a wonderful satisfying conclusion. Love how it can be bittersweet but still fulfilling and feel like a very good, complete story. I would love it if Weir revisits this plot, possibly in future generations

I would absolutely love to see Earth get to learn more about the Eridians! I imagine that one planet or the other would launch a deep space expedition to meet the other, either Eridians with their greater resources due to less catastrophe from the astrophage, or Earth once they have the means to do so, since of course they would have such burning curiosity about what Dr. Ryland Grace discovered!

But my desire for more is because it's such an amazing story that has additional potential, but not because I feel the potential was underused or wasted. Weird nailed the story he was telling, and whether or not he has another one to tell as a sequel, this book is just exemplary. Five stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Grief, Suicide, and Medical content

Moderate: Alcohol and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Drug use, and Kidnapping

longtallemm's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved this so much ❤️❤️❤️

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

Minor: Drug use, Suicide, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Alcohol

edgaranjapoe's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Confinement

Moderate: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Minor: Alcoholism, Vomit, Racism, Cancer, Misogyny, Blood, Sexual content, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, War, Excrement, Medical trauma, Cannibalism, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug use, Sexism, Murder, Gaslighting, Animal death, and Cursing

melchior's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Medical content, Suicide, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: War

gbyronwilliams's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Listening to the narration by Ray Porter is incredible. They add so much to the text with this amazing acting ability. I don't think I would have teared up at the ending or been so invested if I was reading this book on the page! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Animal death, Alcohol, Cancer, Death, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Suicide, Cannibalism, and Colonisation

asperomari's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit

Moderate: Death, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief

Minor: Excrement, War, and Drug use