I had so much fun reading Project Hail Mary and consider it to be a glowing example of how a sci-fi novel can tell an extremely character-driven story. It took me a couple of chapters to get hooked, but once the story picks up, it doesn't slow down.

The excitement and love for science shown by our narrator, amnesiac scientist Ryland* Grace, is one of my favorite elements of the book. Weir takes a science-forward approach and doesn’t shy away from walking the reader through the details of the various experiments that Grace conducts. I can’t speak to the accuracy of the science, but it’s clear that Weir put in the work to research the concepts he includes in the story and explain them in such a way that they are both engaging and accessible to the reader. Grace’s unadulterated love for science- even under dire circumstances- really brightens an otherwise fearsome premise.

I’d have to do the math to know for sure but—I can’t help it, I want to do the math right now.

We discover that Grace is a

discgraced-academic-now-teacher who left academia after the community rejected his theory that life does not require water

. This backstory makes total sense for the character we come to know- smart and kind, but with a controversial side that indicates he isn’t afraid to go against the grain when it counts. Being a

teacher

also gives him quirks like never swearing and constantly hitting us PG exclamations like "gosh" and "holy moly".

As Grace regains his memory via flashback, the reader rediscovers his mission alongside him. We later find out that

this amnesia was not a mere side effect, but an intentional move to force Grace to comply with the mission despite being forced to go against his will. This is a smart narrative choice as it elevates memory loss to be more than just an excuse for anachronistic storytelling

. I was genuinely surprised by this plot twist, and I really loved how the reveal recontextualizes Grace’s actions and informed his character development. This makes the resolution to Grace's arc that much more compelling- 

the man who had to be detained and forced onto the mission to save his world willingly sacrifices his chance to return home to save an alien planet

.

Weir does an excellent job balancing high stakes with enough dry humor and levity to preserve suspense while creating a really enjoyable reading experience. As someone who really enjoys reading high action but hates being caught in a web of unbroken tension for the entirety of a book, I find that Weir strikes a great balance between the serious and the unserious. Even the plot itself takes both extremely dark and extremely whimsical turns. Speaking of which…

I know this is a sci-fi book but oh my god, the

spaceship x intelligent alien life

reveal SHOCKED me.

This plot point definitely calls for the largest suspension of belief but it's so worth it.

It's evident that Weir put a great deal of thought into how an alien lifeform could have evolved under conditions different from Earth as well as how these characteristics would create unique challenges when attempting to communicate and share space with a human. I was especially interested in how they built up their understanding of language. This issue of communication alone could easily generate multiple books worth of content, but given the pacing of the larger story, I see why Weir made the choice to fast-forward the process.

Beyond that, I found the dynamic between Grace and Rocky to be really heartwarming and fun. This star-crossed friendship really had me giggling and kicking my feet.

"I’ve gone from “sole-surviving space explorer” to “guy with wacky new roommate.” It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out.

I thought that the ending, while perhaps another reach in terms of realistic science, was a fitting and satisfying conclusion to this wonderful rollercoaster of a book.

* I'm not sure what the overlap of audiences is between this book and A Court of Mist and Fury, but the initial reveal of this name gave me quite the jump scare when I misread it as Rhysand o_O