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A review by jenthelibrarian
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
5.0
When I saw that PHM was going to be 496 pages long and thought back to how much I did not enjoy Artemis, I said to myself, "If this things drags like Artemis did, I'm out." Boy, oh, boy was I wrong. From the first chapter, I was absolutely hooked. Within the first 10 pages of this book, I had already laughed out loud multiple times, and I was compelled to keep reading. Our main character, Ryland Grace, wakes up on a space ship with no memory of who he is, why he's there, or where exactly in space he is. He is alone, save for the two corpses of crew members along with him. Slowly, his memory begins to come back to him. As the reader, we discover along with him what the threat is to planet Earth, where exactly he is, and what he needs to do. And he must do it alone. . . .or does he?
To explain any more of this fantastic book would be to lessen your experience of this incredible novel. No one does a science thriller like Andy Weir. There is some hard science in this book, some of my favorite characters I've read this year, humor that will make you laugh out loud, suspense that you will not want to tear away from, heart that will make you root for Ryland until the very end, and an ending that will give you chills. I could see the movie (already in talks with Ryan Gosling playing the lead) of it play out in front of me, and I cannot wait to see this come to life on screen. Also, as a teacher and a mother, this book hit me in all the feels, as Ryland goes on this journey for his students, the closest thing he has to children of his own.
Recently I read an interview with Andy Weir that gave even more weight to characters like Ryland Grace or Mark Watney. " 'One of the main reasons that isolation is such a recurring theme in my books is that I spent a lot of my life alone and not wanting to be,' he said. 'I was lonely, and so that ends up being a factor in my stories.' " Reading this quote makes me love Ryland Grace even more, and I hope if you pick up the novel, you can hear this side of Andy Weir through this book.
Lastly, I cannot recommend the audiobook of this novel enough. The narrator is Ray Porter and he does an absolutely fantastic job. He is funny, sarcastic, warm, and incredibly talented at bringing all of these characters to life in a way I can see them in my mind. It is one of the best single narrator audiobooks I have ever listened to, IMHO.
I have read 27 books so far this year, and this one not only shot up to #1 on my reads for this year, but I gave it the *very* rarely given five stars. It is better than The Martian, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
To explain any more of this fantastic book would be to lessen your experience of this incredible novel. No one does a science thriller like Andy Weir. There is some hard science in this book, some of my favorite characters I've read this year, humor that will make you laugh out loud, suspense that you will not want to tear away from, heart that will make you root for Ryland until the very end, and an ending that will give you chills. I could see the movie (already in talks with Ryan Gosling playing the lead) of it play out in front of me, and I cannot wait to see this come to life on screen. Also, as a teacher and a mother, this book hit me in all the feels, as Ryland goes on this journey for his students, the closest thing he has to children of his own.
Recently I read an interview with Andy Weir that gave even more weight to characters like Ryland Grace or Mark Watney. " 'One of the main reasons that isolation is such a recurring theme in my books is that I spent a lot of my life alone and not wanting to be,' he said. 'I was lonely, and so that ends up being a factor in my stories.' " Reading this quote makes me love Ryland Grace even more, and I hope if you pick up the novel, you can hear this side of Andy Weir through this book.
Lastly, I cannot recommend the audiobook of this novel enough. The narrator is Ray Porter and he does an absolutely fantastic job. He is funny, sarcastic, warm, and incredibly talented at bringing all of these characters to life in a way I can see them in my mind. It is one of the best single narrator audiobooks I have ever listened to, IMHO.
I have read 27 books so far this year, and this one not only shot up to #1 on my reads for this year, but I gave it the *very* rarely given five stars. It is better than The Martian, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.