It is hard to express the love I have for this book without showing a gif of me just waving my arms around. Andy Weir did such a good job with this that I now have a new understanding of what a high level of writing looks like. Project Hail Mary is by far the most well-developed and orchestrated book I have ever read. Its structure is immaculately designed in a way that systematically introduces new information just at the right time to become relevant in a subsequent section. It is like a spiderweb where everything is put just in the right place to trap the reader’s attention.

Speechify is a free text-to-speech software so you can listen to your favorite books. Click this affiliate link image to download today!

The main character’s name is Ryland Grace and he wakes up with no memory of how he got where he is, which is in a spaceship (not really a spoiler if you saw the cover) and he spends the rest of the book piecing together the events that led up to him being alone on the spaceship. During this process, he also finds out that he has specific skills suited to his new astronomical profession that he doesn’t remember learning. For example, he is somewhat of an expert on Extra-Vehicular Spacesuits or EVAs which is not something he knew how to use back on Earth when he was a high school science teacher. The slew of discoveries and surprises that he encounters on his journey through space are almost entirely worth not spoiling here. I have to stop writing about the plot in order to not ruin the experience of reading it.

This book is not only amazingly written from a technical standpoint it is also amazing fun to read. It is steeped in real scientific paraphernalia that borders on academic tedium but as much as it dives deep into sometimes inaccessible language it balances itself with helpful analogies, metaphors, humor, and emotional introspection. I might actually have a better understanding of physics and engineering after reading this book. For those that love science, this book offers an experience not unlike getting your scalp massaged but it does get technical and flew over my head more than a few times. There was a certain amount of uncertainty and acceptance to just believe that the science was accurate and it was as accurate as it needed to be for me. The high level of scientific detail added legitimacy and weight to the story that grounded it in reality even though it is certainly fiction. One of the best types of fiction, Science Fiction!

I can not recommend this book highly enough and if they decide to make a show out of it I will probably be both delighted and underwhelmed but the movie that played in my head as I read it was exceptionally compelling and I couldn’t get enough. The chapters are pretty long but the story drives forward steadily with stints of intense action and a ton of puzzles to ponder. It is also one of the cutest stories I have ever read. This book balances heart and mind in a way that represents a gold standard in creative writing. Read this book!

Buy this book today and support me by using my affiliate link below or click this text!