Project Hail Mary: A Novel
4.7 | 186,368 ratings
Price: 13.98
Last update: 01-20-2026
Product details
- Publisher : Ballantine Books
- Publication date : October 4, 2022
- Language : English
- Print length : 496 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0593135229
- ISBN-13 : 978-0593135228
- Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
- Dimensions : 5.2 x 0.97 x 8 inches
- Best Sellers Rank:#46 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- Hard Science Fiction (Books)
- Science Fiction Adventures
- Suspense Thrillers
- Customer Reviews:4.74.7 out of 5 stars(177,438)
Top reviews from the United States
- Casey BruckerAbsolutely loved it! Brilliant story, even if the science went over my headI love, love, love this book! The story is incredible and kept me hooked from the very first page. Some parts are definitely a little too technical for me—chemistry and rocket science aren’t exactly my field—but that didn’t take away from how much I enjoyed it.
My uncle, on the other hand, is very knowledgeable about the science in this book. He’s not much of a reader, but I was thrilled to find a large print edition for him since he refuses to wear glasses. I’m hoping this book sparks a love of reading for him, too.
Highly recommend this one for anyone who enjoys clever storytelling with heart, humor, and science all rolled into one! - DanielProof that lightning strikes twice ... Weir has done it again!According to a 2003 article on the NASA website, "NASA-funded scientists have recently learned that cloud-to-ground lightning frequently strikes the ground in two or more places ..." and that the third and fourth strokes of a lightning flash will follow the same path as the second stroke. In other words, lightning DOES strike the same place twice.
But you don't need to search the web for this information. If you want proof that lightning strikes twice, just read Andy Weir's newest book, Project Hail Mary, and you'll see that Weir has created a giant sci-fi bestseller, in the same electric path as The Martian.
Ryland Grace has a puzzle on his hands. He wakes up without a clue as to where he is, but he seems to be alone except for a computer AI that was keeping him alive. Unfortunately it didn't seem to be doing the same for two others in his ... wherever he is ... as he notes the decayed corpses in their creches on the ... well, it's a ship. A space ship. And bit by bit Grace puts the pieces of the puzzle together.
An alien microbe has been discovered. Ryland Grace is brought on to the science team to learn more about the life form because Grace, currently a middle school science teacher, wrote papers about the notation that there does not need to be water to create life. Only in a biozone such as Earth's would water be needed, but other building blocks could be used in other systems.
The science community as a whole mocked Grace, which is why he left and went on to teach kids, but now, he may be the best suited to understand this new life form. And as he remembers more and more, he also remembers that this life form is feeding on the energy output of the sun, which is decreasing the energy that gets to Earth, which spells disaster - as in the end of all life as currently known - on Earth if something isn't done.
Scientists discover that Sol isn't the only star that is losing its energy output - likely due to the alien consumption, but that there is one star, in the center of all the known stars losing their energy, that remains constant with its output. In which case, the answer to the survival for Earth is likely found there, at Tau Ceti.
The world's best scientific minds come together (by force and coercion) to create a ship that can get to Tau Ceti in twelve years (using the alien microbe as fuel) with shuttle pods to bring back answers to how to save the planet, but for the crew, it's a one-way trip.
Knowing why he's there is only the first puzzle for Grace. Now he has to figure out how to save Earth. There's a very small window of time for him to discover the way to save the human race and get the answers sent back. Take too long and the shuttles will return to a dead planet.
This book is amazing.
Author Andy Weir brings us back to the magic that made The Martian so successful - an abandoned scientist trying to survive. But Ryland Grace's story is more complicated because he's not just trying to survive, but also help humanity survive.
There's lots and lots of science - which is part of Weir's writing signature - and there's also a really wonderful story.
It's hard for me to tell you just what I liked about this book because anything I write will be a spoiler and a huge part of the joy in this book is making the discoveries with Ryland Grace.
Grace is our main character, but through the liberal use of flashbacks, we have a full cast of characters - at least one quite important to the story. Everyone is unique and individual which makes it easy to read, but just as with The Martian, where Mark Watney's personality carries the story, Ryland Grace here is the smart-mouth, sometimes funny, obsessed scientist infusing his personal tastes into his discoveries. He's also quite smart - which is good since he will need his intellect to save all of humanity.
This is a page-turner. I did not want to put this book down. Neither did my 21 year old son who picked up my copy after I was well into it and finished it before I did. And days later he's still talking about how much he liked it and quoting sections of it to me at the dinner table.
I hope Ballantine Books will do a very large print run because this is going to be huge seller and you definitely don't want to miss out on the biggest thing to come out in 2021.
Looking for a good book? Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir is proof that lightning strikes twice as this has all the excitement and energy of Weir's debut novel, with a more complicated storyline that will hold the reader all the way to the end. - MikeWPutting the science in science fictionProject Hail Mary: This story really has a lot going for it -- a massive project to save the Earth, persevering through much adversity, a really interesting alien race unlike any I've seen before, and, most of all, lots of descriptions of scientific experimentation and how science works. Andy Weir has really thought things out, and brings up a number of issues that are not very obvious but would be important in the sorts of situations he imagines. I suppose that scientific experimentation might come across as boring to some people, but if you're interested in science, it's great. What you would expect from the author of The Martian. There's plenty in here that requires suspension of disbelief... There are some pretty far-fetched ideas (perhaps the most far-fetched is that the nations of the world would come together to meet the challenge of a dying sun!), but if you are willing to accept them the story hangs together well.
I read this book four years ago when it first came out, and at that time I was disappointed. In anticipation of the upcoming movie, I decided to read it again, and this time I was not disappointed. I think maybe my expectations were too high last time because I thought all the science in The Martian was so well done, and I was disappointed that I noticed some errors in Project Hail Mary. On this reading I did notice a couple of things that I would consider errors, but they are minor and don't detract from the story.