Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
This morning I finished listening to Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir, on audiobook.
Earlier this year Madi and I went to see the movie in theaters. I tried to start and finish the book before we saw the movie, but a desire to see this one on the big screen—plus a slow reading pace this year—meant I didn't quite get there.
I'm typically a "read the book first" person when it comes to this stuff, but I also think the movie and book are unique enough that they were both satisfying. The movie leans more into the character development and visuals and lets the hard1 science take more of a backseat.
In the book, the science is front and center. We get tons of details about exactly how Ryland Grace goes through his mission day-to-day. At times it's almost too much detail. Some of my friends who read the book and didn't listen to it felt like it dragged on in this regard and got far too repetitive. I feel like the pacing is done well enough that even when the science starts to get a bit too much, we change scenes and shift things up enough to keep me reading.
I think the pacing is improved because of the audiobook version I listened to, which is performed by Ray Porter. He does an excellent job, and probably adds a lot of life to the dialogue and the interactions between the characters that might be lacking a bit if you're just looking at the text.
There's also a lot of great detail in some of the sound effects that the story warrants. I don't want to speak to much about that here because of some spoiler territory, but it is one of the better produced audiobooks I've listened to.
Watching the movie first certainly lessens some of the impact of how the plot develops and is resolved, but I still found the conclusion pretty gripping and satisfying.
If you liked the Martian or just want a fast-paced, fun sci-fi book, this is an easy recommendation.
Overall: 55
- Characters: 55
- Prose: 50
- Plot: 60
- Worldbuilding: 55
I use the 20-80 scale to rate things.
Perhaps it's blasphemous to refer to this book as having hard science. I wouldn't know. I'm not a science guy. But I feel like Weir is generally praised for the work he puts into making the real science accurate, and accessible, in his books.↩