A Novel by Andy Weir
I just finished reading this book (Kindle & Audible versions combined). The impending end of the world, Astrophage, Rocky, Adrian, The Beatles (John, Paul, George and Ringo…even Pete Best!), Taumoeba, Russians, Vodka…..and even…spiders??
Audible’s synopsis: A lone astronaut must save the earth from disaster in this incredible new science-based thriller from the number-one New York Times best-selling author of The Martian. 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, he realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Alone on this tiny ship that’s been cobbled together by every government and space agency on the planet and hurled into the depths of space, it’s up to him to conquer an extinction-level threat to our species. And thanks to an unexpected ally, he just might have a chance.
Part scientific mystery, part dazzling interstellar journey, Project Hail Mary is a tale of discovery, speculation, and survival to rival The Martian – while taking us to places it never dreamed of going.
I thoroughly enjoyed the story, beginning to end, with the interesting way that the main character’s amnesia slowly returned, piece by piece, making it seem like I was learning what was going on at the same time the main character was learning the same. There was no feeling like the story was holding some key elements back for a major reveal, everything was just told in order, as that it came back to the main character’s memory, weaving nicely into what he was experiencing in space during his journey.
I don’t want to spoil any of the cool “extraterrestrial” experiences that occur in the story, but my first sentence in this post provides several tiny clues. It even made me laugh out loud several times, though I didn’t laugh because something seemed hokey or ridiculous. It was genuinely funny, and my kind of humor. The whole story really seemed plausible. Something that could actually happen, and lifeforms and characters that really could actually exist. Who knows. Andy Weir (I keep typing his last name as “Weird” and having to correct it) really seems to know his math and science! I’m curious just how accurate all of his theories and calculations in the book actually are–just like his book The Martian, if you’ve read that one. I’ll have to look around the interwebs a bit and check out the analyses of others who might be more knowledgeable about those science details and see what they think about the book.
Parts of this audiobook reminded me, several times, of how reading the audiobook version of a book can be enhanced a lot by other “little things” they add, such as sounds, impressions of characters, and music. All of these unmentioned “enhancements” were included in the Audible version I listened to, often while following along in the Kindle version, and made it just that more enjoyable of an experience. From what I read on the Audible website, the changes made to accommodate the audio version were approved by the author, Andy Weir. I also approve… they made the story more enjoyable and definitely increased my appreciation for, and the overall depth of the characters in the story. On the other side of the coin, however, the Kindle version is visual, so it also has the potential of having advantages of it’s own, and there are a few key things in the Kindle and print versions of the book that Audible-only readers may not even know about… Want a better idea of what that bizarre spaceship in the book actually might look like? Check the actual book!
As I usually find when I read a good book, I hated to have it end, forcing me back to reality once again. It didn’t disappoint at all, in any places. I really enjoyed this one and loved every minute of it. I can’t wait for it to be made into a movie. Christopher Nolan has to direct it. No one else would do it justice. If it can’t be a movie, I’d settle for a “limited miniseries” on TV. Speaking of that, if I did have one complaint about the book, it would be the seemingly tamed-down language of the main character. There are several moments on the story when he says things like “DARN it!” and ‘Oh. Shucks.”, and “gosh-darned” instead of much harsher words that would seem much more appropriate to the situations the character was in at the time, and this kind of bugged me a little, bringing me slightly out of the story a bit, wondering, each time. It seemed like it might have been purposely written for “teens” or a definitely young audience. Then again, the character was a grade school teacher in the book, so maybe he was just accustomed to cursing tamely because of the kids. I don’t know, but it just didn’t sit right with me. Aside from that tiny issue though, I highly recommend this book… it visual AND audible formats!
Oh, and I just found this article. Looks like it IS going to be made into a movie! I’ll be waiting for it!
JimTrottier.com 