Andy Weir's third best-selling novel, Project: Hail Mary, was published in 2021. Weir established a high bar for himself with his 2011 debut novel The Martian, which was transformed into a highly praised film in 2015. Even as his debut novel threatens to eclipse his ongoing storylines, Weir's works continue to wow readers with their depth, relatability, and stunningly innovative concepts. Many admirers of his work say that Project: Hail Mary is his best book yet, and with good reason: the novel has been pitched for a film adaptation, featuring none other than Ryan Gosling as the main character. The anticipated release date is 2023.
Project: Hail Mary follows Ryland Grace, a microbiologist turned 8th-grade science teacher who awakens in space in a strange solar system, surrounded by the corpses of his crewmates and an impersonal ship AI. With no recollection of how he got there, the story proceeds as Grace investigates his strange surroundings and attempts to put together his horrible reality. He and his crew, of which he was the lone survivor, were the last chance for the whole human species. The sun is dying, mankind is on brink of destroying itself in fear, and the cure for the sun is in the hands of a guy who can't even remember his own name. Well, one man, and then an unexpected companion.
Weir manages to keep readers on the edge of their seats, laughing and gasping with a protagonist facing the most complete kind of isolation: light years away from another human being with astronomically small possibility of returning home, just as he did so effectively in The Martian. Grace's retrograde amnesia—a side effect of his medically induced coma—along with his funny, realistic, occasionally self-deprecating, and overall well-written internal dialog—helped him achieve this.
Grace's memories gradually resurface during his voyage, and with each one, he and the readers learn more about Earth's frighteningly swift deterioration and the gravity of the Hail Mary mission. Before leaving Earth, Grace had met with the most brilliant minds mankind has to offer, and they all came to the same conclusion: if the mission fails, all life on Earth is doomed. All they can do is postpone the inevitable and hope for Grace to send them salvation. And, to add insult to injury, Grace discovers that he was not only not the first choice for this mission—he didn't even want to be there in the first place.
When Grace discovers "Blip-A," his adventure takes an unexpected turn. A blip on his ship's radar resembles... another spacecraft? Grace's goal and life are forever altered as a result of this finding. Not only is there sentient life on other worlds, but their sun is also on the verge of dying, and Grace now has another solitary survivor with whom to race to discover a solution. Finding an alien spaceship and thereby confirming the presence of other intelligent life—was the only time Grace cursed in the whole novel, which is a wonderful illustration of Weir's penchant for humour in his writing.
Weir's depiction of extraterrestrial life is gloriously distinctive, amusing, and scientifically based. Grace's unexpected companion—dubbed "Rocky"—is an engineer on his home planet. The two start talking in their common global language: science. Their exchanges as both species establish "first contact" are as exciting for readers as they are for Grace, and Weir manages to present a heartwarmingly wholesome image of extraterrestrial encounter despite the seriousness of their position. He paints a vivid picture of how two lonely, existentially afraid scientific nerds with a same purpose may find common ground and form an unbreakable bond despite being from opposite sides of the galaxy.
The ability of Weir's literary works to smoothly merge fiction with the world of possibility is a significant component that makes them so exciting and unusual, and Project: Hail Mary maintains this tradition. Grace is a scientist at heart, and he frequently references to technical aspects of his mission, such as detailed facts regarding his spaceship, explanations of gravity and physics, and experiments involving his attempts to construct and adapt a microbiological cure for Earth's sun. Weir is a computer programmer with extensive understanding of mathematics and physics, but for Project: Hail Mary, he collaborated with a slew of renowned experts to nail down the small details. Dr. Andrew Howell, Principal Investigator of the Global Supernova Project and presenter of Science Vs. Cinema; Jim Green, who just departed as NASA's chief scientist; and Shawn Goldman, a NASA researcher with an emphasis on exoplanets and astrobiology, were among his confidants.
Human beings have a remarkable ability to accept the abnormal and make it normal.
Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish.
Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.
All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.
His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.
And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone.
Or does he?
An irresistible interstellar adventure as only Andy Weir could deliver, Project Hail Mary is a tale of discovery, speculation, and survival to rival The Martian—while taking us to places it never dreamed of going.
Yes, of course duct tape works in a near-vacuum. Duct tape works anywhere. Duct tape is magic and should be worshiped.
Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars.
Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there.
After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive.
Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to kill him first.
But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills—and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit—he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?
It’s a simple idiot-proofing scheme that’s very effective. But no idiot-proofing can overcome a determined idiot.
The bestselling author of The Martian and Project: Hail Mary returns with an irresistible new near-future thriller—a heist story set on the moon.
Jasmine Bashara never signed up to be a hero. She just wanted to get rich.
Not crazy, eccentric-billionaire rich, like many of the visitors to her hometown of Artemis, humanity’s first and only lunar colony. Just rich enough to move out of her coffin-sized apartment and eat something better than flavored algae. Rich enough to pay off a debt she’s owed for a long time.
So when a chance at a huge score finally comes her way, Jazz can’t say no. Sure, it requires her to graduate from small-time smuggler to full-on criminal mastermind. And it calls for a particular combination of cunning, technical skills, and large explosions—not to mention sheer brazen swagger. But Jazz has never run into a challenge her intellect can’t handle, and she figures she’s got the ‘swagger’ part down.
The trouble is, engineering the perfect crime is just the start of Jazz’s problems. Because her little heist is about to land her in the middle of a conspiracy for control of Artemis itself.
Trapped between competing forces, pursued by a killer and the law alike, even Jazz has to admit she’s in way over her head. She’ll have to hatch a truly spectacular scheme to have a chance at staying alive and saving her city.
Jazz is no hero, but she is a very good criminal.
That’ll have to do.
Propelled by its heroine’s wisecracking voice, set in a city that’s at once stunningly imagined and intimately familiar, and brimming over with clever problem-solving and heist-y fun, Artemis is another irresistible brew of science, suspense, and humor from #1 bestselling author Andy Weir.
Despite the possibilities of a film adaptation, Project: Hail Mary is a novel that may be appreciated without a visual counterpart. Weir's language is detailed as well as evocative, exhilarating as well as heartwarming. Fans of The Martian or Artemis, alien sci-fi, or those who just prefer meticulously researched literature will enjoy Project: Hail Mary. Grace and Rocky's narrative is loaded with frantic action and incredible stakes, yet they don't obscure the themes of personal growth, overcoming fear, and platonic camaraderie that make Weir's characters and stories so approachable, thought-provoking, and cherished.
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