My Thoughts on the Novel, Project Hail Mary, 4/28/2026…

I’m no fan of hard science fiction, mostly because the science (fiction) therein can befuddle me, and I’ll find myself rereading passages just to get the gist of things. This was the case for Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, but the rest of the narrative is so well-written, accessible, and even heartwarming that, at times, the science did not matter.

Essentially, the world is going to end, thanks to microscopic organisms that eat the sun. Yes, that sun, our sun. A multinational team comes together to create a project that utilizes these tiny organisms as fuel, enabling a team to travel across the universe to a different solar system where these entities pose no danger. The team is tasked with finding out the reasons behind this.

Dr. Ryland Grace, a reluctant science teacher who named these entities after conducting research, is tricked—and that’s a mild way to describe what occurred to him—into joining the team and journeying light-years to the solar system in question. After some tragedy, he wakes up alone, with amnesia, to face the problem at hand. Soon Grace meets an alien. And the narrative rises above tropes and plot elements to become something much, much better. It is said that science fiction stories are mostly tales of humanity, and this is quite a glowing example of that contention.

Alongside the developing relationship between Grace and the alien, the narrative is punctuated by flashbacks, providing background on the who, where, and why of the mission. With science and collaboration, Grace saves both the human race and an alien race, and even takes an unprecedented step to save a new friend.

Another book by Andy Weir that was adapted into a film, The Martian, features a lone hero facing an impossible predicament. So when it comes to one man versus Nature (or science), Weir can truly weave a compelling tale. The same intent, style, and elements are included here, in Project Hail Mary. I eagerly await more books by this author.

For fans of hard science fiction and of good stories, I highly recommend this book.