Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir puts the “science” in science fiction. It services as both a compelling story and a lesson in science that is fascinating and not boring. This book is filled with twist and discovery. The story is told from the perspective of Grace Ryland a man with no memory waking in space, we get his backstory as he slowly starts to remember. The narrative really works and leads to a lot of discovery about science and personal insights to his character. There’s no love interest and I give props because there could have been one, but it is a character that had devoted his life to science and in the end that’s what he does. My lack of science could fill a library full of book shelves, but I came away learning a lot about measurements and the scientific method. This book had a surprising amont of humor that were layered throughout the novel. For a novel about one character this story is very compelling. Ryan Gosling is attached to the film, which I can easily see him as this character and can handle the humor and drama of it. The ending of Project Hail Mary is so freaking perfect, it was not what I was thinking, but man did Weir nail it.

The Plot Summary: Grace Ryland finds himself on a spaceship with two dead crew mates. He has no memory of where he is and how he got there. He slowly starts to remember who he is what he discovered and that he is on a suicide mission as Earth’s last hope to save the planet. He remembers he’s not an astronaut but a school teacher that is out of his element. He must use the science he knows to find out why a star and planet, is free from an alien race that is blocking the sun.

What I Liked: The plot was really compelling and I love how the story unfolded. The main character you couldn’t help rooting for an nice guy that was sacrificing himself not for a loved one but for his students. The backstory really worked and explained how a middle school science teacher can get wrapped up in plot to save earth. The ending, I’ve already said is so freaking perfect, I can’t think of a recent ending that got everything so right. The ending is bittersweet but so perfect for the character that it made me well up a little. I loved the science only a couple a small times was I like I’m completely lost on what is happening, which really speaks to how well the science is described. Rocky is great and so much fun as a character.

What I Disliked: There were times when the ship the Hail Mary was really hard to visualize, a schematic would have been a great help. The pacing was mainly good but there was a couple times at the beginning it could have been slightly better.

Recommendations: Read this book! Project Hail Mary was so good, the plot went in really interesting places you could not predict. For science lovers and a good intro to people like me who don’t know science that well. This book was so great I wasn’t able to talk about some aspects of the book because I don’t want it spoiled in any way, but what a fantastic ride. I have not read the Martian or Artemis but plan on adding it to my TBR. I rated Project Hail Mary 5 out of 5 stars, this book is easily my favorite book I have read this year so far.