Bumpy Oak Books

**I received an electronic ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for honest review.**

Actual rating: 4.5

Andy Weir returns with his newest space adventure in Project Hail Mary. This time, Earth is under threat from a space algae that has infected the sun, causing it to lose energy. Junior high school science teacher Dr. Ryland Grace is tapped by the international group charged with saving Earth, charged with doing research into this strange new threat. Grace finds himself in deeper than he ever thought, unexpectedly part of a crew of scientists set to travel to a particular star to have any hope of stopping the infection.

I loved The Martian, and was so eager to learn that I had received an early copy of Project Hail Mary. As a biologist by education, I love that Weir doesn’t shy away from featuring hard science heavily in his books. Understandably, he has to take liberties with the application and interpretation of said science, but he has done enough research and provides just enough information for me to be able to buy in to the story. I can absolutely see where this may not appeal to some readers and may come across as dull or dry, but for me it was high intrigue the whole way through. I also really enjoyed how Weir chose to tackle the “first contact” portions of this story, and found them to be logical and reasonable.

The difference for me between the five stars of The Martian and the four point five stars of Project Hail Mary came through in the protagonists. Grace’s personality is one that is optimistic and colored by his enjoyment of teaching children. He comes across as relatively hopeful and light-hearted most of the time, and sometimes that sort of vibe got a little grating for me. That’s not to say he was poorly written at all, but just that I didn’t like him quite as well.

There were some questions left unanswered at the end of the story that I would have liked to have answers to, but there were no glaring issues that stood out to me.

Ultimately, I am definitely an Andy Weir fan and am so happy to have had the opportunity to read this work early.