» REVIEW: Project Hail Mary by Andy WeirThe Booktopian

Andy Weir exploded onto the sci-fi scene several years ago with The Martian, the beloved bestseller about an abandoned astronaut that quickly became a blockbuster movie starring Matt Damon. He followed it up with Artemis, a moon-bound heist crime novel that didn’t quite reach the same levels as his debut but was nevertheless still a fun sci-fi adventure. So how does his latest novel, Project Hail Mary, stack up?

Andy Weir

You’ll be thrilled to know that Project Hail Mary finds Andy Weir much closer to The Martian than Artemis, with an engaging protagonist stuck alone (ish) in a terrifying survival situation and having to use his wits and knowledge of physics to save not just himself, but the entire human race.

And that’s where this book absolutely blasts off to become Andy Weir’s best book to date.

The set-up is just great – the protagonist, Ryland Grace, wakes up on a spaceship next to two dead bodies, and with no idea of who he is, where he is, how he got there, or what he’s even meant to be doing. Ryland then has to somehow piece together the puzzle of himself and his mission. He quickly discovers that the survival of the entire human race is at stake … and that’s about all I can say without heading into heavy spoiler territory.

There are some incredible surprises in this book, and I really think you’ll be rewarded by avoiding spoilers. I experienced several WTF moments while reading this (in a very good way), and Weir is at his best when he can land those moments with style.

All in all, Project Hail Mary really is a smartly-written book — a thrilling adventure that celebrates science and the human condition.

—Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (Penguin Books Australia) is out now.

Project Hail Mary

by Andy Weir

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...

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