The Martian is undeniably one of my favourite books, so I was so hyped for Project Hail Mary. As soon as the audiobook was available, I jumped straight into it, knowing I loved The Martian’s audiobook so much. And Project Hail Mary? It did not disappoint. This is going on the favourite book list for sure.

Rating: 5 stars!

Thanks to Del Rey for the eARC of this book. It has not affected my honest review.

About the book:

A lone astronaut. An impossible mission. An ally he never imagined.

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. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery-and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.

And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone.

Or does he?

What did I think?

I got this eARC just before release date, and in the end I decided to buy the audiobook to listen along while reading. I’m really glad I did, as the audiobook is an incredible reading experience. I think it’s safe to say that I’ll be listening to this one again and again, I can see it becoming as much of a comfort read as The Martian. The Martian was on my top ten books of 2020 and I’ve reread it enough times since then that I’ve lost count, but I was disappointed to find that I didn’t like Artemis, Weir’s second novel. PROJECT HAIL MARY leapt right back up to the top of the favourite books list again.

We’re back to a similar situation, an isolated astronaut out in space. Alone. Or not so alone, as it turns out. This is a first contact story, which is one of my absolute favourite sci-fi storylines, and I adored the way that the alien language was portrayed in the audiobook. If you enjoy loveable aliens (and how could you not), this is absolutely the perfect book for you. The science threaded throughout is well-explained and has the same realistic energy as THE MARTIAN. Ryland is easy to adore as Mark, and I so badly want a movie of this book.

I think the thing I love about Weir’s writing is that it’s just so fun. It’s hard to explain everything that I love about this book without spoiling it, and honestly I think this book is meant to be experienced. Going into it mostly blind is the best way to enjoy it. It’s weird and wonderful and fun, full of optimism and a surprising amount of pure joy. Even when the threats to Ryland (and humanity) seem overwhelming, the book is still wonderful and fun. Even writing this review, I’m itching to reread it.

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Release Date: 4th May 2021

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