Review of "Project Hail Mary" by Andy Weir

Disclaimer: I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Following "The Martian" and "The Martian, but on the moon" (real title "Artemis"), Andy Weir is back with "The Martian, but in deep space!" If you were a fan of the previous two, the latest installment in this not-a-series will not disappoint. Weir knows how to write detailed, believable science and how to keep the reader on the edge of their seat as one space hazard after another reminds the protagonist of the ever-present dangers waiting outside Earth's atmosphere. After expanding his cast somewhat for "Artemis," "Project Hail Mary" largely returns to the man-versus-nature style of "The Martian," at least for the first half of the book--to say more would be to invite spoilers. Setting this book a little further from the present, and taking advantage of the unique circumstances that propel the plot, allow Weir to stretch the imagination more than he has in previous work, but he still manages to make the process of discovery and scientific advancement plausible and fun to follow. The non-linear plot also leaves room for a little mystery, which was interesting and gave a little more depth to the book without detracting from the wonderful science at its core. If you're in the mood for a tightly-plotted, always-moving space thriller full of details that will have you googling to see how much is real and how much is fiction, this is the book for you. Any fans of Randall Munroe's xkcd will surely enjoy.

Four and a half out of five stars, a great weekend read.

Spoilers for the entire book follow, so if you want to enjoy the tension, read no further! There are three big twists in this book, which is a good amount more than in either of Weir's two previous books. Two of them are central to the book--the arrival of Rocky, and Ryland's decision not to go back to Earth. The third--that Ryland did not volunteer for his suicide mission--adds depth to his final choice, but didn't quite land with the same weight. Weir is at his best when he sets his characters against the immovable obstacles of life in space, not against their past selves. Revealing that Ryland did not choose to join Project Hail Mary does not substantially change our understanding of him--in fact, even after the accident that left him as the sole remaining candidate, it seems reasonable for him to be a "volunteer" forced into his role by circumstance. Having seen Ryland make the best of his situation for two-thirds of the novel and even appear to make peace with it, to have it revealed that he did not join the mission by choice fails to erase all the good he has already done or undermine the reader's confidence that he will ultimately make the right choice. This being a Weir novel, the "good" outcome is not in doubt; it's telling that he shies away from showing the consequences of nearly three decades of unprecedented turmoil on Earth in favor of giving us closure with Ryland's arrival on Eridani. However, that underlying positivity is a core part of the appeal. There are more than enough dark and unhappy space dramas out there. It is good to have a sterling example where the possibilities of science and the goodwill of humanity are enough to save one man, and ultimately the world.

The biggest twist, though, and I think the most interesting part of the book (especially in comparison to Weir's previous two space adventures), is the arrival of Rocky. By including a genuine alien, Weir gets the chance to do two things. The first is to further push the bounds of technological possibility. Using Astrophage as a source of essentially limitless power gives us a novel propulsion system and all the interesting consequences that come with it, but Rocky's xenonite and sound-based senses open up a whole new range of possibilities. It's impressive that Weir is able to maintain realism and emphasize scientific techniques that we can recognize given the lack of real-world grounding for these new technologies, especially in contrast to his earlier near-future work. Rocky's surprising mode of perception gives rise to the second opportunity for Weir--the chance to write first contact. Having recently read Arkady Martine's take in "A Desolation Called Peace," also featuring aliens that communicate mainly through unintelligible sound, the contrast is particularly striking. "Project"'s human-alien interactions are about universal principles, but in a very different way than "Desolation." Where Martine focuses on language and culture, Weir follows the Voyager space probe's lead and has Ryland establish a communication protocol by referencing key scientific and mathematical concepts. It fits his world, and provides a unique angle on what the universal connections between spacefaring species might be. Weir's willingness to interrogate his preferred communication method--allowing the choice of transparent xenonite to arise by chance, having Rocky not understand "basic" concepts like radiation--is surprising and positive, showing a careful attention to both the real possibilities of communication-through-science and its flaws. It's amazing and entertaining to watch Ryland and Rocky come to understand each other and work together, an unlikely partnership forged by truly exigent circumstances. Rather than the knowledge and comfort of Mahit Dzmare and Three Seagrass in "Desolation," we are given two protagonists that we get to know at the same time as they get to know each other. Both the buddy-cop dynamic and first contact are classic stories that have their own rich mythologies, yet Weir pulls it off to perfection while never losing sight of his own trademark style and ideas.