{"id":6308,"date":"2025-08-17T06:00:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T10:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/?p=6308"},"modified":"2025-07-20T08:41:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-20T12:41:00","slug":"project-hail-mary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/17\/project-hail-mary\/","title":{"rendered":"Project Hail Mary"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ABy Andy Weir
\n\u00a9 May 4, 2021
\nFile Size: 11.6 MB
\nISBN-13: 978-0593135211<\/p>\n

Ryland Grace awakens from a coma with no idea who he is, where he is, or what happened to put him there. Only time, and slowly returning memories fill in the blanks. He\u2019s a middle-school science teacher. He\u2019s on a space ship. And he\u2019s here to save the Earth. The only thing is: he\u2019s just the science member of the three person team, and the others\u2014the two people who know how to fly the ship, where they\u2019re going, and all the other pertinent details\u2014did not survive the trip. He\u2019s alone in the blackness of space. Until he\u2019s not.<\/p>\n

Spoiler alert: There\u2019s no way I can write this review without giving away certain things that are not made clear in the book\u2019s blurb.<\/p>\n

I cannot say enough good things about Project Hail Mary<\/em>. I was hooked from the start. Main character Ryland Grace is human\u2026no, like really, really human. Full of faults, weaknesses, and doubts. Throughout the course of the story, it\u2019s easy to relate to his emotions and fears, given the circumstances in which he finds himself, so when he completely falls apart the first time he finds himself in zero G, it\u2019s totally believable. It\u2019s also absolutely realistic that he geeks out about being the very first human to explore\/visit a whole new solar system (as well as other firsts for humanity). As the story progresses, Weir masterfully crafts Grace\u2019s growth through plausible and relatable stages, drawing us in ever closer to Grace\u2019s emotional landscape until we can\u2019t help but feel what he feels.<\/p>\n

Grace, as a sole character, would have been riveting enough. But Weir didn\u2019t stop there. He added Rocky, who is also incredibly human\u2014even though he\u2019s not human at all. But that\u2019s all I\u2019m going to say about that, other than to add that Rocky\u2019s presence, and his effect on Grace\u2019s work, marks a turning point in Grace\u2019s character growth. But it was only when the results of his changes smacked me in the face with his life-altering choice that I realized I\u2019d known this result was inevitable from the beginning. Brilliantly done.<\/p>\n

There is a ton of science in this book. And some of it I could understand. Most of it I could not. (Science aficionados will love the heck out of it, though!) Even so, it didn\u2019t affect my ability to read and follow the story. I followed enough to know where Grace was going with his projections and plans, and that\u2019s what mattered. The premise of this story\u2014both the challenge the character faces and his (their) devised solution\u2014is nothing short of genius. There\u2019s the sickening fear of what\u2019s happening on Earth (once he remembers it), and the disappointment when he tries and fails to solve the problem over and over. But there\u2019s also hope, humor, excitement, and absolute determination to find the solution that had me hanging on every page.<\/p>\n

Overall, the story has an upbeat, positive, hopeful, and human flavor that is immersive. It sucked me in and didn\u2019t let me go until the last page. This book kept me up past my bedtime and almost made me late for work. It\u2019s that good. I was torn between wanting to see how it ended and not wanting it to be over.<\/p>\n

This book is nothing at all like The Martian, save that a single human character finds themselves alone in space with a massive problem to work out. Still, science fiction fans are likely to love it. Readers who want stories heavily based on character growth and development will probably also love it. Looking for a story that pits the average person against overwhelming odds? Here\u2019s your book. Project Hail Mary is a joy to read and left me in tears more than once\u2014not from sadness, but from compassion and understanding of Grace\u2019s emotional turmoil. This is a novel I will probably read again. And again. And probably again. It’s my new favorite read. Most highly recommended.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Andy Weir \u00a9 May 4, 2021 File Size: 11.6 MB ISBN-13: 978-0593135211 Ryland Grace awakens from a coma with no idea who he is, where he is, or what happened to put him there. Only time, and slowly returning memories fill in the blanks. He\u2019s a middle-school science teacher. He\u2019s on a space ship….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8n0kX-1DK","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":182,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2017\/04\/09\/arkwright\/","url_meta":{"origin":6308,"position":0},"title":"Arkwright","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"April 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Allen Steele Tor Books\/Tom Doherty Associates, LLC \u00a9 2016 ISBN 978-0-7653-8215-3 (Hardcover) Print length 336 pages, $23.58 Nathan Arkwright, best-selling science fiction writer and wealthy philanthropist, dies without providing for his daughter Sylvia or granddaughter Kate. 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