Keeping this short since there are so many reviews of this book out there. This was boring. I was bored. I thought it went on way too long and got to the point I didn’t care if Ryland Grace lived or died or if he would complete his mission (save Earth). I haven’t watched the movie yet and wanted to finish the book first, but one of my friends told me the movie is eons better than the book and they are probably going to be correct. I think that things just didn’t gel for me once we had Ryland on his own. When we have him “remembering” his past and the people he met, that was way more interesting than when he was out in space doing science stuff.
Project Hail Mary follows Ryland Grace as he awakens on board a spaceship unclear of how he got there. He eventually starts to recall why he is where he is and that it all has to do with the sun and Earth. And that he is Earth’s last chance to stave off something that seems to be dimming the sun and other stars.
Ryland Grace just read like Mark Watney by another name (see The Martian). I am not trying to be a jerk, but I kept going shut up, shut up, everytime he stopped and explained science stuff to himself, others, and to us. I just went man, give me the abbreviated version. Reading about him experimenting was not interesting. I also can’t say too much about anyone else in this book because they all read like really bad caricatures.
The flow was off the whole book. It just went in and out of his present day circumstances and then flashbacks to what he was remembering. The only reason why I gave this book two stars was because once [redacted] appears the book got more interesting. Frankly that was for me, the only thing that saved it.
The setting takes place mostly on board a ship and of course we have Grace flashbacking to his time all over the place when he was somehow dragged into trying to save the Earth.
I think Weir wrote this as a way to honor teachers, science, and all hosts of things. But it just fell flat for me since I didn’t buy many of the things that he was setting up in this book.
- Friends – all my friends are reading this/I wish my friends would read this; a book with a friend group; a friendship. There is one main friendship in this book.
