Spoiler warning.
Project Hail Mary is an incredible page-turner. The fact that Andy Weir was able to write this highly speculative work of science fiction packed with physics and biology is an achievement all on its own, but it is nothing compared to the beautiful intergalactic friendship between Grace and Rocky that ultimately saves not one world, but two.
I am no scientist, so I cannot vouch for the details of space travel, gravitational pulls, or microbiology. But I do know that I believed every word Andy Weir wrote. From the theory that all life on Earth and Erid both came from a common intergalactic ancestor, to the threat of a star-killing microbe like Astrophage, to Rocky’s carapace biology, Weir never left me feeling confused or skeptical. Not about the science, not about Grace’s inherent optimism and goodness, and most certainly not about the ability of creatures literally from different planets to get along, relate, and collaborate better than many of the human characters on Earth.
In Project Hail Mary, Weir uses Grace’s coma-related memory loss as a plot device to gradually fill in the protagonist’s backstory and the full context of his mission to Tau Ceti. It is through this steady drip of flashbacks that we understand the world-ending stakes and meet the cast of scientist and political types like Stratt. But as interesting as those vignettes were, I couldn’t wait to get back aboard the Hail Mary with Grace and Rocky. I would never have thought that reading about a high school teacher and an alien solving science puzzles could be so wonderful. Weir’s high-stakes sandbox in this novel had me anxiously turning pages from start to finish.
The ending of Project Hail Mary was also one of the best endings to a novel that I have read in some time. From the moment Grace realizes Rocky is in danger and changes course to save him instead of going home, this book became something really special. There are so many layers of moral questions embedded in this story about what we owe to ourselves, our friends, the future, our species, and even to others who are not like us. There are so many stories out there about “first contact” between different cultures or humans and aliens devolving into some kind of colonial nightmare or gory horror spectacle. This book is nothing like that, and so for all the pressure and danger the characters face, it ultimately leaves you feeling good in a way that seems earned.
The Once and Future Lit 