Summary: An astronaut works to recover his memory and save humanity.
I was surprised when I looked back at the Martian that it has been 12 years since I read it. I purchased Project Hail Mary four years ago when it was on sale and just had not gotten around to listening to the audiobook. It won a number of awards when it came out and I have had more than a few people comment to me that it is their favorite audiobook. (My favorite audiobook is the Colin Firth narration of The End of the Affair by Graham Greene.)
I have purchased, but not yet listened to Artemis. Generally that has not been as well liked as Project Hail Mary and The Martian. But there is a similar thread to the two books by Weir. It is not that the stories or themes are the same, but there is a dogged determination that is the same. I would argue that “life is worth living” is part of what people like about these books. Yes they are well written hard science fiction. Yes, Weir is writing good character and compelling plots with lots of action. But I think what draws people to them is that the protagonists don’t give up and the reader gets to root for a hero that lives up to their hero status.
The protagonists are not perfect. There are lots of mistakes, both “wrong calculations” type of mistakes and character flaws. But those are humanizing flaws. The actual brass tacks of the story have protagonists that do what it takes, but also are good honorable people. And the world needs more stories that have flawed humans that are still good honorable people.
I am looking forward to the movie coming out. There is lots of humor in Project Hail Mary and Ryan Gosling seems like perfect casting for the character, Ryland Grace. My daughter has a social studies teacher that she loves. She talks about him almost every day. As Project Hail Mary develops and the protagonist overcomes his initial amnesia, we come to know that Grace (as he is mostly referred to in the book) was a middle school science teacher. The book portrays him as that beloved teacher that also is a great teacher who inspired their students that is how my daughter talks about her teacher.
Project Hail Mary also is a first contact story. This is not an “Arrival” (aliens are so different it is hard to understand) type of first contact, but an “in spite of everything about us that is so different, we are surprisingly similar” type of first contact story. Again, there is a lot of humor amidst the near constant action.
If you are an audiobook person, this is a very good audiobook. I have listened to about a half dozen book narrated by Ray Porter (he has hundreds of books), but it is definitely well narrated and edited and the voice matches well with the story.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir Purchase Links: Paperback, Kindle Edition, Audible.com Audiobook