Project Hail Mary

Last weekend I finished Project Hail Mary, and I’m just going to go ahead and say that I really, really liked it. Now that I’ve been sitting with it for a few days, I’m ready to claim that I like it more than The Martian, also by Andy Weir.

It’s a hard book to write a review for, simply because it would be so easy to spoil some of the mystery that makes it so enjoyable. I borrowed the book from a friend, took off the dust jacket without even glancing at the flaps, and started reading. If a fast-paced hard sci-fi adventure sounds interesting to you, I might recommend you do the same.

In a way, Weir’s best work (like this and The Martian) reminds me of mid-20th century sci-fi. It puts a heavy emphasis on science and big ideas, sometimes at the cost of characterization. And wow, are there science and big ideas in this book. He drops bombs (sometimes literally), that would be an interesting novel all in their own, and makes them little bit more than a chapter here.

If you read it - let me know what you think!