Lost in space, overcoming enormous obstacles and always duct taping something together in order to survive. Those are the things I think of when I see a book by Andy Weir, and Project Hail Mary is no exception.

When Ryland Grace wakes up he doesn’t know that he is on a mission to save the world. He can’t even remember his own name and finds it really annoying that the robot, who seems to be in charge of the space ship keeps asking for it. All he knows is that he has been asleep for a very long time, given the state of  desiccation of the corpses of his former companions. He knows he should feel something, now that he knows they are dead, but he can’t even remember their names, much less who they were or what they meant to him.

Slowly bits and pieces of his memory return but things are fuzzy and incomplete. He knows he is on a mission to solve the mystery of  a near extinction event that will happen in the near future to humanity unless he can stop it from happening.

As his ship draws closer to his projected destination and with humanity’s existence in the balance, Grace realizes that despite his sense of inadequacy he must now do whatever needs to be done on his own.

But is he really alone?

Weir has done it again! He makes science interesting, accessible and relevant. Grace, like Weir’s other characters is resilient, creative and likes to think outside the box. As we follow Grace, as the bits and pieces of his memory return, we see him emerge as a three dimensional character with fears, a sense of inadequacy and excited by the possibilities before him. In this book however, Weir has added something else-a sense of soulfulness, a longing for meaning and a sense of wonderment that comes through more strongly as themes than in his other books, which makes this book something truly memorable!

Brenda’s Rating: ***** (5 Out of 5 Stars)

Recommend this book to: Marian, Lauren, Keith, Ken and Sharon.

Book Study Worthy? Yes!

Read in e-library format.