Review by Pamela Saunders, ACLS LIbrarian
Although some found Andy Weir’s “Artemis” (2017)
a let-down after the pulse-pounding suspense of his best-selling debut, “The Martian” (2014), “Project Hail Mary” returns to the
science-based plot of the latter combined with an amnesia-created mystery to
keep the reader humming along.
Scientist and schoolteacher in space,
Ryland Grace must save the rapidly-cooling earth from catastrophe as the sun
dies, but awakening from a years-long coma with amnesia, he does not even know
his name or identity, let alone why he is in a ship light-years from home with
only two corpses for companions. As his memory slowly returns, he is aided in
his quest to solve the mystery and stave off the extinction of the human
species on Earth by the appearance of an otherworldly being.
Just as with the rescue of the Apollo 13
astronauts using only what is on board their ship, Grace is constrained to the
resources of his ship and its damaged computer, along with whatever he can
dredge out of his own prodigious scientific knowledge and the assets and
understanding of his mysterious ally.
The back-and-forth narrative switching from
the present to Grace’s past as his memory returns provides a compelling rhythm
that keeps the pages turning. Relentless tension builds as roadblocks and
unanticipated events make it seem that the mission will fail after all. And
even when things finally turn around, there is one final twist, which leads to
an unexpected and emotionally moving end.
The first-contact aspects of the book are
delightful and well-thought through, as Grace and ally “Rocky” learn to
understand one another before they can further their shared task. The
scientific and technical aspects are fun and challenging, but manageable, as
Weir explains them in a way that allows the non-scientific reader to follow
along.
For all lovers of hard sci-fi and other
readers interested in a thrilling ride which just happens to be based on
molecular biology in space.