Project Hail Mary: 200 Word Book Reviews #2

Astrophage is a stellar micro organism. It is slowly consuming the sun, cooling the Earth and putting all of humanity at risk. But, it turns out this parasite is infecting other stars too, and another civilisation is sending a mission to same place we are, which may hold the key to saving two worlds…

In Project Hail Mary, Andy Weir blends a hard science fiction story with a buddy comedy, and it turns out to be a perfect combination, where the growing friendship had me engaged, laughing and eventually crying happy tears.

This dynamic paired with a series of flashbacks which creates two simultaneous narratives that contextualises the stakes and fill in the scientific underpinnings of the story. As a writer, I appreciated how well he did making both of the arcs feel equally important and enjoyable. All too often flashbacks can be a drag.

Project Hail Mary might be the best SF story I have ever read. It raises the bar for how much fun a story can be to read, while keeping a sense of gravity and momentum to the plot, as well as the quality of storytelling that I sincerely hope that I can one day match.