Project Hail Mary

Type: Book

Subtypes: Hard Science Fiction, First Contact

Origin: Andy Weir (2021)

SCAN

Project Hail Mary is the third novel by Andy Weir, the bestselling author who broke onto the scene with the hard science fiction ‘Robinson Crusoe on Mars’ The Martian. Emerging as a sort of modern day Michael Crichton, the author blends rigorous science with pop thriller sensibilities. Unlike his previous work, Project Hail Mary is notably less grounded, involving an invasive species of spacefaring microbe that absorbs energy from the sun, thus threatening the survival of all life on Earth. The story follows a lone astronaut on a long shot mission into deep space to try and solve the extinction level event, interspersed with unfolding flashbacks of the mission’s preparations.

ANALYZE

I deeply enjoyed The Martian when it came out. I never got around to reading Weir’s sophomore effort, Artemis, scared off by lukewarm-to-poor reviews. I wondered if Weir was a one-hit wonder but later saw many praising Project Hail Mary as his best work yet. Personally, I ended up enjoying The Martian more, but there is a lot to like in his latest novel and they differ in some key ways. 

Returning to the Michael Crichton comparison, Project Hail Mary immediately reminded me of The Andromeda Strain with its alien microbe plot hook–first contact at the microscopic level. However, around page 120 of the book we get a SECOND first contact, this time with a sapient alien lifeform. I did not expect the entire book to at this point morph into a sort of outer space buddy comedy, but it did. The interactions between the unfortunately named protagonist (Ryland Grace) and his new alien best friend are the absolute heart and soul of the story.

Like The Martian, you have a can-do, brainy main character with a sarcastic sense of humor who SCIENCES his way through each obstacle that arises. Yes, I used science as a verb, just like one might ‘MacGyver’ something. The difference between The Martian’s Mark Watney and Ryland Grace is that the latter is an amnesiac and at times reluctant middle-school science teacher (albeit with a PhD in Molecular Biology), waking up on board a spaceship and having to initially try and remember who he is, where he is, and what he is supposed to be doing while all human life hangs in the balance.

One criticism is that at times the book can come off as a speculative thought experiment by the author, with the characters and plot points simply inserted to allow the experiment to play out. ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if…?’ Another is that Ryland Grace is a sort of Mary Sue. He rightly insists that he is not qualified to be an astronaut or go on the mission, and yet he can seemingly understand and solve every mathematical and scientific problem presented to him with relative ease, navigate over vast interstellar distances, pilot a complex spaceship, go on multiple spacewalks in various gravity conditions, etc.

While I think The Martian (book) is better than its very good movie adaptation, I suspect that Project Hail Mary might end up even better in movie form if it focuses on the (scientifically grounded) odd couple buddy comedy.

ALERT

Since The Martian literally began with a string of F-bombs, I suspected about the same from this book. I was surprised when, in contrast, the main character only drops a major burst of profanity upon encountering an alien spaceship. Throughout the book, although never explained, Ryland exclusively uses approximate swears like “gosh darnit” and “heck.” I have no idea if this was somehow in response to The Martian’s more liberal use of profanity or supposed to be related to Ryland’s job as a junior high teacher.

In the middle of the book, the sex lives of two astronaut side characters are discussed as a joke in one flashback, and the joke continues well beyond the point of being funny (including an unnecessary later callback). There are a few brief uses of profanity from other characters, discussion of suicide, and brief references to sexuality.

Despite being titled Project Hail Mary, and the protagonist’s last name being Grace, there is almost no discussion of religion in the book apart from a joke about sending two other spaceships with reverent names referencing deities from other religions and a late-arriving side character who professes optimistic, possibly Christian, faith. The concept of non-theistic evolution is presented as the norm throughout, and the theory of panspermia is repeatedly discussed.

ENGAGE

Jesus tells us in John 15:13 that, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” 

In a flashback, our hero realizes the terrible future that awaits his students if the sun-eating microbe problem can’t be solved, and volunteers to throw his all into helping the effort. Because of the great distance he has to travel on his mission, he knows it is a one way trip. There is not enough fuel or food for a return journey. Even if there was, it would take something like 26 Earth years round trip. He and others repeatedly identify it as a “suicide mission,” and yet many volunteer. 

Ryland has a chance, however small, of saving the lives of many back on Earth, but he knows he will die alone in space. He contemplates this often on his journey and accepts it, heroically pressing on with his difficult task for the good of others. At the end of the novel, despite discovering a newfound possibility of survival and returning home, he once again chooses to sacrifice himself, quite literally laying down his life for his friend. 

An excerpt of a discussion between Ryland and the alien, nicknamed Rocky:

“Another similarity: You and me are both willing to die for our people. Why, question? Evolution hate death.”

“It’s good for the species,” I say. “A self-sacrifice instinct makes the species as a whole more likely to continue.”

“Not all Eridians willing to die for others.”

I chuckle. “Not all humans either.”

“You and me are good people,” Rocky says.

“Yeah.” I smile. “I suppose we are.”