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.
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?
Like many people, I adored The Martian, so I was intrigued by Project Hail Mary. The Doctor and The Boy both read and loved it and kept after me to read it so we could talk about it. (I love my bookish family.) So, I read it in a weekend. And Holy Astrophage Batman!, it was fantastic.
Earth is dying and there is a chance it could be saved, but it means a suicide mission to Tau Ceti. And Ryland Grace is the reluctant candidate. He's not an astronaut, he's a middle school science teacher. But, he gets pulled into the project because of a scientific paper he wrote and the rest is history. Literally.
There is so much here. So much. And I want to share and talk and explain, but that would involve spoilers.
The character study of those who are trying to find a way to save Earth and the extremes they will go to is compelling. Countries of the world working together; people getting conscripted because of their knowledge and abilities. Decisions are made that will hurt some, but could save the entire world in the process. You really ask yourself, "What would I do?" It's a perfect example of the needs of the many outweighing the needs of the few.
Once Ryland wakes up at his destination, he must figure out who he is and what he is doing there, because he's spent years comatose. The deductive reasoning was something else that fascinated me. His process at figuring things out was interspersed with flashbacks to how he got to Tau Ceti in the first place.
Ryland is smart and he cares about people; he loves teaching his kids. As he works to solve his situations in space, there is often internal dialogue of "how would I explain this to the kids" or "what is it I tell the kids about this..."
And Rocky. Oh my goodness. Rocky is the best. He is the key to this story. He is what shows us that working together we can make a difference and save worlds. That our differences help, rather than hinder our progress. It plays out like an intelligent buddy comedy and I am so here for it. It's at once a funny, terrifying, and heartwarming roller coaster.
Like The Martian, the story is heavy with astrophysics and science-jargon. I tend to skim a lot of that because I just don't have a science/physics/math background. But, an understanding of astrophysics isn't crucial to enjoying the story. It enriches it if that is your thing. I just asked The Doctor a question here or there for clarification.
I'm still pondering this story and it's been a week. It's going to be one of my favorites for the year, I can tell that already.
Read 8/23
* * * * *
5/5 Stars
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