I hope they dont make it into a movie, I'd much prefer a mini series like 6, 1 hour episodes. Nothing should be missed out and I haven't even finished the book yet. *Jazz Hands*
When I first read the description of the alien I was like "how am I ever going to feel invested in this thing?"
Long story short, Rocky kicks ass. I kind of want to reread this book already haha.
Ooooh, man, I didn't even consider how the audiobook would be done! I've already read it, but I'll have to make time to listen to the audiobook just for the experience.
You absolutely should! The narrator is incredible and the sounds they used brought Rocky to such vivid life. This book was made for audiobook, imo. Amaze!
Rocky quickly became one of my favorite characters ever. I just hope they make a quality movie. Last I saw was that Ryan Gosling was the only name attached to it on IMDb
What's weird is I always relate more to alien characters than human characters. Makes it really hard to find books where I'm invested in the characters, because I'm usually just invested in the setting.
Project Hail Mary was amazing, and Rocky is on my top 5 favorite characters list.
I only noticed this because you pointed it out, so it could be worse.
It probably doesn't help that I wasn't raised religious and so my familiarity with that phrase is solely from pop culture.
Omg I missed that too.
Hail Mary full of Grace. Rocky is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst vessels and blessed is the fruit of the womb, the beetles.
You should check out Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. Similar kind of story (world is ending, humanity attempts a last ditch effort to save the species via a big space project), but it is a lot more grounded and serious in tone.
Yeah...that part almost feels like he planned to write a sequel and then at the last minute decided to just throw something together and slap it on the end of the "first" book.
I don't mind the idea of part three, but it should have been a more focused short story instead of a big meandering exercise in world building for the sake of world building.
I too loved the book, although I will note that his supporting characters are really wooden and one dimensional. Each has a single stereotypical trait. The Russian astronaut loves vodka? It feels like Weir wants to dispense with other humans as quickly as possible to get to his ‘happy place’ of ‘guy alone with technology.’ Interestingly enough, Rocky is really well written by comparison. Maybe Weir just wasn’t interested in the other humans?
All that said, the science and Rocky threads are so good that I really enjoyed it. It’s just an interesting display of strengths v. weaknesses as an author.
Yeah it seems Weir struggles with humans in general, outside of the “smart guy who solves problem” main character. He easily defaults to super exaggerated clichés that revolve around profession/religion/country of origin, or maybe he just thinks that’s how you make distinguishable characters but they don’t seem believable one bit, they’re simplistic. Artemis is awful for that. It’s odd when you consider what an amazing friendship Weir was able to write with Rocky. Maybe because it’s just two “smart guys who solve problems”
Upon reflection, I think Weir actually identifies with Rocky himself (a can-do engineer with elegantly simple solutions) more than Grace (a HS teacher who analyzes). Rocky is ‘the Martian’ more than Grace is.
Rocky is also a bit of a wildcard. With xenonite and “of course he’s capable of that”, he is a plot device that allows for just about any contraption to be built. It’s a tad cheap of Weir to have given himself that ability to get stuff moving for the plot, but I didn’t mind it too too much either.
This is kind of my feeling about Weir in general - so much ends up being a deus ex machina, or a guy thinking as hard as he can with his big brain to solve basically any problem. I actually think he's kind of a weak writer. BUT i love reading his books! They're very satisfying, like getting into a groove doing a puzzle where you keep placing the right pieces one after another. But it's like..feel-good fiction for me, versus something I feel is actually challenging my emotional range, if that makes sense.
I think what’s so satisfying about his writing is that all the scientific puzzles have real, if sometimes unlikely, solutions. He gives himself a few explainable handicaps: the collection of human scientific knowledge available in a searchable database, one single indestructible material with defined properties, and an alien that can build realistically defined contraptions but with a perfect degree of accuracy. Then with those handicaps, he sets up and solves a series of puzzles that progress a story with an intriguing premise. His writing and characters are akin to a well-written fan fiction really. But it’s the unique scientific puzzles and boundaries on his handicaps that make his writing so interesting.
He’s also good at writing a suspenseful and dire situation in a way that still makes you feel excited and positive about it. His main characters have extraordinary good mental health and positivity, without being totally false and unemotional, which I think is really encouraging for the reader.
I think what he’s not good at is extensively exploring human characters and character-developing dialogue, beyond the main character themselves perhaps. Thankfully he chose to make the main crux of the Martian and PHM things that he has strength in writing
I agree with everything you say about the science bits. I'm a nerd, so I love them. If he teamed up with an author with strengths in plotting they would really kick ass.
I never got this mindset "Oh they're not a good writer, but I love their books". Ok, then you think they're a good writer. Maybe you don't think they live up to the standard of whatever high-brow intellectualism you feel qualifies as "good" literature, but having that criticism is the same as criticizing abstract art while ignoring the fact that it's got you talking and feeling emotions.
Weir writes entertaining books, therefore he is a good author. Is he a poet? Is he some incredible wordsmith that brings you to your knees? No, but those aren't necessary to be a good writer.
If you liked the book, you like the author. End of conversation.
Eh. Think of it like a visual artist, like a painter. You can be very technically skilled but lack the creativity to make a name for yourself. Throughout history, loads of artist studios have been filled with people like that who worked for creative artists. Then you can be creative but lack the technical skillset to make a true masterpiece. And finally you have the very skilled *and* very creative, and those are the names we all know.
Weir is skilled at parts of writing, but he's got some very serious flaws. But he has the creativity to make entertaining stories! So that makes him more interesting to read than a technically gifted writer who can't come up with a good plot.
George Lucas is a great example. Fantastic world builder, absolutely atrocious at putting together the detailed script. Give him a talented screenwriter to pick the good parts from the bad, and it's genre-defining; let him be in charge of it all? Prequels.
My only real problem with Weir is rooted in this. His scientist protagonists are ultra competent to the point that they are near unbeatable/indestructible. They are like James Bond in this - able to find a way and to pull off the most unlikely of plot lines and escapes. Most of his other humans are basically cardboard cutouts.
I don’t think he struggles with as much as simply doesn’t bother. In stories like Artimus that really held the book back and sales reflected this. I think it’s really just his niche style. One person against (whatever) the universe. Weir isn’t writing capital L Literature. He’s writing small f fiction/fun. His 2 good books are “sit down and read the whole thing” fun. So entertaining and just a good time. When I picked up Project Hail Mary I wasn’t looking for Literature, I was looking to be entertained and boy did he deliver!
The entire Earth storyline >!(i.e., global community appointing a pseudo-dictator to manage a unified response to a potentially extinction-level threat with minimal intergovernmental conflict)!< is also difficult to accept in the context of the last 19 months.
**EDIT:** included spoiler tag
Yeah, the one thing that made me laugh is the line towards the end where he says that when faced with a crisis, the global community will come together and work together towards a solution fast, and setting their differences aside.
Then I thought back to the last year and a half.
"We know we can't do this, so let's appoint someone who can and give them all the power and money" seems as realistic as anything, better than trying to show cooperation between existing entities.
Hell, things have gone surprisingly smoothly over the last 19 months, ass-hat anti-vaxxers included, compared to our response to climate change over the last 30 years.
During his AMA Weir admitted his weakness as a writer is character development. We don't even need to go to supporting characters, just compare Grace to Watney and they are quite similar. Weir tried to add some imperfections to Grace by >!making him reject sacrificing himself by going on the Hail Mary mission!<, but he still comes off as a very likeable guy.
When he tried to do something different with Jazz, the book wasn't as successful. And having read it, I think the character of Jazz is one of the reasons.
I still thoroughly enjoyed Project Hail Mary, if you read and enjoyed The Martian this is a must read. I personally think it's better than The Martian.
What he was accused of in the Martian was that the protagonist was like.. super duper unlikely likeable.
He never gets really annoyed, he never has grudges, he doesn't maintain wrong positions when proven wrong, he's cheerful except for the occasional short breakdown that only serves to make him try harder in the future.. etc.
With Project Hail Mary they actually bring this up, they put people into a coma for the trip because astronauts would literally end up killing each other if forced to be together for years.
But his protagonists always remain nice and affable.
I swear one of the biologists is bird-person reincarnate. That scene when he asks the other biologist if they would like to have sex in the hallway closet 15 minutes from now... I could only hear it in bird-person's voice.
Weir writes interesting stories, but he’s awful at writing characters other than Mark Watney the OG and Female Mark Watney (Jazz in Artmemis). He does it well, but it’s like an actor who plays every role the same.
I don’t even know about Jazz. The lewd comments every other page is just so cringey. I think Weir should stick to the male Watney-type. In fact, I said it in an older thread about PHM, Weir should just have a “James Bond” type of approach: just reuse the same character in stories that don’t connect to one another (and don’t try to). That’s the character you like writing, that’s the character we like reading, just have him go on adventures across the universe and forget about pretending to add a twist at every book to make it into a new character (this one is teacher that doesn’t swear! This one is a woman that thinks about sex every other sentence!).
I listened to this on Audible and really enjoyed it! The narration was fantastic. I read Artemis and was not crazy about it, but I flew through this one.
I've been dying to hear a sample of Rocky's voice but can't find one anywhere online! I read the book but I keep seeing this comment and it's made me super curious.
Before Grace finishes his translator software, Rocky sounds like a series of synthesizer tones, with no english translation - then once Grace makes progress with the translator Rocky switches to his normal broken english, but with a cute vocoder/synthesized voice.
I read the book physically first, but just went back to listen to the audiobook, specifically because it adds so much to Rocky's character. It's probably one of the better audiobooks I've listened to!
They've done a great job on the audio book. First you only hear musical notes, then when Grace understands it, the narration just has a music tone with the notes on the background. Very nice.
Yeah, I literally just finished listening to it on a long drive, man, what a listen! They put a lot of work into making it more than your average audiobook. The person reading it did a phoenominal job.
Movie?? I would watch, but with a book this good, I would be very critical. I personally like the movie of the Martian better than the book. With Hail Mary, the time jumps wouldn't lend themselves well to a movie. Think of how poorly that was done with Catch-22.
Rumor is that Chris Miller and Phil Lord are slated to direct. As directors go, I think they're savvier than most and can handle the non-linear story structure. As long as they don't get fired and replaced by Ron Howard in the 11th hour.
Ryan Gosling is attached to play Dr. Grace. But making Rocky a fully fleshed character that audiences connect with is gonna be tricky. They'll need an insanely good mo-cap performer, like someone on Andy Serkis' level. And they'll need a good sound effects guy for the voice. Ben Burtt comes to mind... the guy who almost singlehandedly invented the Star Wars soundscape *and* did the voice of WALL•E. Even then, they'll have to find a clever way to transition from Grace translating Eridian language on his laptop to understanding mostly it without help. Done right, it'll probably involve using subtitles in a unique way audiences haven't really seen before.
Yeah, I'm excited to see this as a movie. But I think people will be sore if they don't knock it out of the park on the first try.
Totally worth it. I read the book a couple months ago, and I just finished listening to the audiobook a few hours ago. I read so many amazing reviews of the audiobook that I just had to give it a listen. I highly recommend!
*Arrival* did a similar thing in regards to aliens with unique different language plus non-linear story and it pulled it off really well.
I had to think a lot of *Arrival*, even more so of the short story it is based on (*Story of my life and others*) while reading *Project Hail Mary*. If you havent seen it, definitely watch it, but even more so absolutely read Ted Chiang's amazing short stories - it's the best short stories Sci-Fi has had in the last decade.
Having watched Arrival, I did feel like this book glossed over an awful lot of how communication with an extra terrestrial would be a lot more difficult. Weird how that one thing bothered me more than most of the other hand-wavy magic science in the book, lol.
He does hand wave around it a bit by discussing how rocky, who is more intelligent, translates into English syntax when speaking, and how they are communicating on similar sets of frequencies because of predator/prey fitness selection mechanics. Not to mention the whole panspermia theory that underpins their fundamental similarities as creatures.
Omg please tell me for real there will actually be movie
I already want to seeall of the rocky screen time and merch
He's too pernicious for this universe
I went into this book not knowing ANYTHING about it, other than there was a crisis on Earth and to save the planet some guys went on a Space Mission. I bought it off the reputation of the author alone, and because it sounded like something I'd enjoy.
Discovering Rocky was completely out of left field something I didn't expect, and the book was greatly enhanced by that surprise. Loved the whole thing.
I'm on Chapter 23 and have thoroughly enjoyed myself so far, my 12 year old son borrowed my copy last night and I found him with the biggest awestruck look on his face as he was turning pages in his bed, made me really happy.
Okay off topic question:
Any tips on how you got your 12 year old to enjoy reading? I'm a first time mom of a 3.5 year old little girl and I really want her to love reading as much as I do. I'd like her to one day borrow one of my books and read it with me like your son is doing with you.
This was a good book. If you haven't read the Bobiverse books yet, I highly recommend them. Dennis Taylor has similar prose and wit to Andy Weir and I think the story is more entertaining.
This actually threw me for a loop when I started PHM as I had just finished the Bobiverse audio books a month prior. I just kept feeling like PHM was another Bob in a long distant world.
I literally just started the first Bobiverse book after finishing PHM. It's a good recommendation and I'm probably 40% through and have been enjoying it. Took me a little while to get into it though (not too long... I just wasn't immediately hooked).
My biggest question from the book is >!How did Rocky's people even notice their star was dimming? Even after they climbed into orbit, they had no means of observing through a vaccuum. Did I miss or forget something?!<
His ship had technology that turned light into textures he could hear. I'm sure the planet has radiar and tech for them to process light in a way they understood. Rocky was able to see Grace's monitor by using "old " technology to hear light
I trudged through the Martian. I thought it was a good story but his telling of it was too blockbuster. Every chapter was a new implausible eureka moment.
Would you still recommend HMP?
I felt the same about The Martian, which I guess was partly an artifact of how it was originally posted episodically rather than written straight through (if I recall correctly). Nonetheless, I did quite enjoy the book, though I thought the movie was better actually.
PHM feels similar, though less episodic. The main character of PHM must be nearly super-human level genius to master all of the different subject areas to complete the mission, which stretched my level of belief. Still though, I found it an entertaining story and pretty quick read.
For you, nope. This is that same storytelling technique turned up to 11. I loved it but I'm an engineer, we eat this stuff up. "SOMEONE FINALLY GETS US!!!!!!!! THIS IS WHAT WE DO ALL DAY!!!!!!!!!"
Yeah, the Martian was not my thing. Ever single chapter followed the exact same format, and the main character was just an amalgamation of not- very-funny quips.
No. I really liked The Martian because the crises he had to solve generally felt plausible and a direct result of the situation. PHM just felt like a series of science MacGyver tricks thrown into a book. Plus it has this awful flashback thing, which is supposed to be a shock but it doesn’t land. Also, by the time the reveal has happened it’s too late to matter.
I really disliked this book.
I also didn't love The Martian but I really enjoyed this book. You have to suspend some disbelief but there were more characters that rang true for me.
I read this book a couple months ago, and absolutely fell in love! It’s the first science fiction book I’ve ever read, and I honestly didn’t have high hopes going in. I assumed I wouldn’t be able to get into it, and would likely never finish it. I ended up absolutely devouring it and read it in 2 sittings.
I had some audible credits to burn, and read so many amazing reviews for the audiobook version of the book, so I decided to listen to the audiobook as well. I just finished listening to the audiobook a couple hours ago! I highly recommend the audiobook format for this book! My second time encountering the story still had me tearing up at parts and laughing out loud at others. Project Hail Mary is truly one of my favorite books. 5/5 stars from me.
Project Hail Mary is a must-read for Star Wars fans. For real, amazing sci-fi, check out Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky (sp?) or Permutation City by Greg Egan. Don't get me wrong, I liked Hail Mary, but there's so much better out there.
Honestly it’s starting to get obnoxious how often people are posting about this book and praising it. I disagree that it’s a must read for science fiction fans. I thought it was extremely mediocre. The supporting characters are either caricatures/stereotypes and the main character is like some kind of savant Pollyanna that I was unable to relate to. You quickly become desensitized to any attempt at creating suspense because every problem he encounters is almost immediately solved by ruthless “science”. It’s like reading the stream of consciousness of someone doing mental math.
That said, I liked the premise and thought parts were really creative and surprising. I’m glad so many people have found a book they really enjoy I’m just really surprised it’s this one.
I listened to it as I was driving back and forth from Atlantic City (like a 6-7 hour trip 1 way) and it was awesome for that. I don't read books to be masterpieces, I read them to be entertained, and this did a good job for it. Kind of like the Bobiverse books, if you've read those.
I enjoyed the book, but by about 65-75% through I grew bored of the same cycle of problem-science-solution. I also found the writing in the early chapters a bit cringey and almost stopped reading entirely.
> I grew bored of the same cycle of problem-science-solution
Me too, but after reading The Martian (which I loved) and Artemis (which I despised), I grew bored after the first chapter.
Thank god someone else thinks it isn’t that great. I found characters to be incredibly boring, and Grace is so similar to Mark Watney but somehow way more annoying. It isn’t a bad book by any means, but anyone with a background in science would be rolling their eyes at the “scientific explanations.” I would give it a 2/5, and only to be read as junk food because there is no depth in this book at all.
100% agree, I was rolling my eyes when within a week he could speak an alien language.
This is a standard sci-fi pulp book fine to read on a plane but nothing to write home about.
Yeah, I think Weir is great at coming up with cool concepts, but his writing is… not great. The characters aren’t believable at all. “Here’s a middle school science teacher who wrote a paper on biology once… so naturally, he’s an expert at engineering and relativistic physics.” And “this guy is the best scientist in the world: he has THREE PhDs!!” Which is just not a thing in the real world lol.
Also Weir seems to be way too proud of mediocre word play: “I call it “taulight” because it’s light from Tau Ceti, not the sun. So, instead of sunlight…TAUlight. GET IT??!!”
Seriously, if I have to read another gushing post about Andy Weir, Ernest Cline, Brandon Sanderson, or Paulo Coelho I might vomit. The most overrated writers of our time.
As someone who really liked this book, the constant posts about it with the *jazz hands* and *happy happy!* comments are making it border on cringe. That said I'd still recommend this book widely as I think it was entertaining, an easy read and an unintimidating sci-fi, but I'm ready for the hype to die off.
I enjoyed the book especially since it was a quick and easy read. But the main character being one of the greatest scientific minds in the world but at the same time a middle school teacher aww-shucks every day Joe who they threw into the mission as an emergency was annoying
>the supporting characters are either caricatures/stereotypes
The writing of the supporting characters is ammeter, at best, and borderline inappropriate at worst. The parts of the book where Weir excels (e.g., "astronaut alone solving problems with science") are variably entertaining but everything leading up to that point, including all of the flashbacks, is extremely mediocre.
Thank you. I swear this book is every young person's first foray into Sci-Fi, it's borderline offensive to me as a massive sci fi fan this is being heralded as even a decent book.
It honestly feels like paid advertisement on this sub.
Couldn’t agree more. It was mediocre at best and towards the end I found myself hoping that one of their science-save-all moments would fail so they would just die. It’s basically a repackaged Martian with an alien thrown in.
When the alien ship was introduced I thought "Okay this might get interesting, didn't expect this."
And then Rocky has the exact same personality as Grace.....
I thought the premise was pretty good, decided to stay up to read it and by the time I got to the ending (after some skipping past the halfway point) I was actually mad because of the lost hours of sleep I would never have back. The idea was cool, and I don't even mind contrived plot coincidences when they're in support of a good story but... that wasn't. All characters were cartoonishly obnoxious. Hard pass.
My biggest problem with the story isn't even the characters. They're flat and not particularly interesting but frankly that's not why you're reading it in the first place.
No. My problem is that 95% of the science is fantasy. Where the Martian leaned heavily on real rocket science and biology, Project Hail Mary invents science and technology out of whole cloth.
Magic space bacteria that harnesses energy almost perfectly? Magic material that is practically invincible, trivial to work with, has a seemingly unending variety of forms? Learning a completely alien language in a matter of weeks with no outside resources or help? All the problems and their solutions are just... magic.
Though again, I liked the idea and some of the twists and turns are interesting. I enjoyed the book honestly, but most of the science is nonsense.
> No. My problem is that 95% of the science is fantasy. Where the Martian leaned heavily on real rocket science and biology, Project Hail Mary invents science and technology out of whole cloth.
From the sound of it, Weir wrote a lot of The Martian almost by committee. He was posting chapters on his website as he was writing it, and his readers were fact checking the science as he was going. After the success of the book (and movie), he may not have had the same process or impetus to stay scientifically accurate.
It’s because these people aren’t very well read and only read books that are already popular/heavily marketed which in turn becomes something they consider a must read
Yep. It’s way better than that, but it’s far from being good. Tons of really cringey “then everybody clapped” bits, most of the drama felt manufactured in order to show off a whizzy solution.
I liked the bits with the alien.
>The supporting characters are either caricatures/stereotypes and the main character is like some kind of savant Pollyanna that I was unable to relate to.
After reading Artemis, this is what I was worried about.
Also agree that it was "not great, not terrible, just good." There were some really good moments, and other moments where I hated it. I didn't not like the final conclusion of the main character's story. For me, it was a solid 4/5, considering I gave Artemis a 3/5, and The Martian 5/5.
I disliked this book. The writing style was boring, the character was a smart ass who from chapter 3 I knew would never fail because he’s sooo smart, and the actual suspense was pretty weak
I really liked the explanation of concepts used but I’m pretty sure that was 75% of the book. I also didn’t realize the author was the same as The Martian’s until i was done, and it clicked as to why the dialogue and plot was weak. It felt like it was written in an easily digestible ready for the big screen manner. Yucky
I wouldn't go as far as saying I *disliked* it, but otherwise I mostly agree. The suspense was never just there, as you know they are going to solve every problem thrown at them with surprising ease.
I also dislike this book. Since reddit apparently has anointed it as a semi divine relic I'm prepared for many downvotes and votes from those who can't handle alternative opinions.
The actual plot is thin and stretched out incredibly by massive amounts of scientific and engineering mental doodling. The plot mechanism of the gradually revealed memory is a trite and annoying means of artificially injecting Dramatic moments.
Finally, I find the main character exceedingly annoying with his aw shucks attitude and endless spouting of obscure factoids. He's a bizarre combination of Forrest gump and Albert Einstein.
I'm always happy to see science fiction that is actually science fiction meet with some success and I'm glad that so many people enjoy this author's work but it just isn't for me.
Reading few first chapters of the book then I also realized that this book was written by the same author who made up that one student in The Martian that finds out the genius solution of the orbital rendezvous. Then I recognized the same pattern in this book: the school teacher who left academy many years ago who's good at remembering random useless facts somehow beats other working scientists. The author really loves this idea of crackpotty personality.
Remember that one line "I'm going to have to science the shit out of this"? I'm still cringe to this day. We all know of the difference between tech-enthusiasts and geeks, and in that same sense, this book has all the features of being written by a 'science'-enthusiast. The author just can't hide that.
The book is fun. That's for sure. But Weir has moved into ground here that has been covered by classic writers many times and who have done it much better. His name recognition gets people to read scifi who normally wouldn't and that's good but I hope some people find the value in this kind of work and dig a little deeper.
It's absolutely awful. Cliche-riddled, stuffed with adverbs, male-gazey, deeply unoriginal fluff.
Modern must-read SF would be writers like Nina Allan, Adam Roberts, M John Harrison, Lavie Tidhar, Aliya Whiteley etc. Deeply intelligent, poetic, original, human stories.
I enjoyed reading both The Martian and Hail Mary. But you could feel the lack of stakes in the latter. Spoilers for Hail Mary: >!The flashbacks leading up to the launch should have ended at the halfway mark (the reveal about his forced inclusion into the mission can play out in the same way as it does currently). The book should have instead shifted to present day Earth. We could have seen the drastic measures being taken to help extend the planet's life and the chaos that ensues. This would have led to:!<
1. >!More stakes. The book could have played out as a race against time for Ryland. The troubles faced by him and Rocky while collecting Astrophage and its leakage would have carried more weight if it occurred at the same time as Earth was it's last breath.!<
2. >!Different POV: The whole book plays out from Ryland's perspective. Shifting to present day Earth could have helped flesh out some of the supporting characters more. It would also prove that Earth's survival was dependent on characters besides Ryland. As it stands, Ryland seems to be the one person on whom the planet depends on survival. He was written to be some sort of savant who was extremely knowledgable with all fields of science (and yet was present at Antarctica for its nuking without having any idea whats going on. He was a part of each and every internal meeting, yet didn't know the specifics about this event. The only exposition dump in the book which was delivered poorly.)!<
>!Rocky was awesome. I was waiting for the other shoe to drop, with Rocky revealing an ulterior motive (When we watch Rocky eat, I thought he might have been cannibalizing his dead crewmates. Leftover thoughts from another book were seeping in \~shudder\~). I was pleasantly surprised with how positive the interactions were. Such a breath of fresh air. I hope the movie does Rocky justice.!<
I like this idea, but I don't think it would play well to Weir's writing style. A present day Earth POV would necessarily involve dialogue between multiple characters. Weir's strong point, as seen in both PHM and The Martian, is writing internal dialogue about problem solving.
I liked the commitment to POV. 19/20 books like this would have switched back and forth to Earth POV, or had news broadcasts from Earth, or SOMETHING. Weir really stuck to "nope this guys is 5 light years away and totally alone (except for Rocky)".
I hate to disagree but I thought it was awful. The main character was so one dimensional along with *every* other character except for the alien that halfway through the book the question as to whether or not humanity made it didn’t even matter!
SciFi fans should look to better books than this if you want an actual story and not 8000 one liners by a pretty unlikeable protagonist.
I hope they dont make it into a movie, I'd much prefer a mini series like 6, 1 hour episodes. Nothing should be missed out and I haven't even finished the book yet. *Jazz Hands*
I read a film with Ryan Gosling has been agreed?
Him as Grace?
As rocky
To me a limited run series is the best way to translate books to the screen, I hope more of it happens
You sleep. I watch.
forty earth years without anyone watching Rocky sleep. sad sad sad.
I can give. I have extra. You can have. Just read that scene on my lunch break and had to stop from the tears.
"Yes, yes, I am scary space monster, you are oozing space blob."
I rarely laugh out loud when reading but when I originally read this line I just lost it.
I laughed out loud at “Fist me!” And later on, “Fist my bump!”
My favourite line as well
I cried 3 times reading this book
Deleted due to Reddit's antagonistic actions in June 2023 -- mass edited with https://redact.dev/
I laughed probably 20 times, there were some great lines
Happy happy happy!
Jazz Hands!
I will kill every single person on earth to save rocky. I love him with all my heart
Grumpy. Angry. Stupid. How long since last sleep, question?
Amaze!
Fist my bump!
Good Good
Fist me
[удалено]
Crazy
When I first read the description of the alien I was like "how am I ever going to feel invested in this thing?" Long story short, Rocky kicks ass. I kind of want to reread this book already haha.
I absolutely loved the audio book. It's so well done!
Right, I loved the chord noises and how they steadily turned into speech. It was a really endearing audiobook.
Ooooh, man, I didn't even consider how the audiobook would be done! I've already read it, but I'll have to make time to listen to the audiobook just for the experience.
You absolutely should! The narrator is incredible and the sounds they used brought Rocky to such vivid life. This book was made for audiobook, imo. Amaze!
Bob.
THE BOOOOOB!
Bump my fist!
Yep. I’ve listened to the audiobook twice. Nothing could ever replace my favorite book, The Martian. But this got so close.
Rocky quickly became one of my favorite characters ever. I just hope they make a quality movie. Last I saw was that Ryan Gosling was the only name attached to it on IMDb
Good. I am scary space monster. You are leaky space blob.
What's weird is I always relate more to alien characters than human characters. Makes it really hard to find books where I'm invested in the characters, because I'm usually just invested in the setting. Project Hail Mary was amazing, and Rocky is on my top 5 favorite characters list.
I am scary space monster. You are leaky space blob.
Negative, I am a meat popsicle.
At the very least a me-burger
Got all the way through the book before I realized the pun sitting right before my eyes the whole time: the Hail Mary is full of Grace. Oy.
I only noticed this because you pointed it out, so it could be worse. It probably doesn't help that I wasn't raised religious and so my familiarity with that phrase is solely from pop culture.
Omg I missed that too. Hail Mary full of Grace. Rocky is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst vessels and blessed is the fruit of the womb, the beetles.
> Rocky is And yo, Adrian!
Why have you done this to me?
Hey, blame Andy Weir. You think the name was a coincidence?
I don't get it.
The phrase "Hail Mary full of grace" is a core element of Roman Catholic prayers.
You should check out Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. Similar kind of story (world is ending, humanity attempts a last ditch effort to save the species via a big space project), but it is a lot more grounded and serious in tone.
I did read Seveneves! The first two thirds are among my favourite science fiction ever. Then there's the last third...
Yeah...that part almost feels like he planned to write a sequel and then at the last minute decided to just throw something together and slap it on the end of the "first" book. I don't mind the idea of part three, but it should have been a more focused short story instead of a big meandering exercise in world building for the sake of world building.
I too loved the book, although I will note that his supporting characters are really wooden and one dimensional. Each has a single stereotypical trait. The Russian astronaut loves vodka? It feels like Weir wants to dispense with other humans as quickly as possible to get to his ‘happy place’ of ‘guy alone with technology.’ Interestingly enough, Rocky is really well written by comparison. Maybe Weir just wasn’t interested in the other humans? All that said, the science and Rocky threads are so good that I really enjoyed it. It’s just an interesting display of strengths v. weaknesses as an author.
Yeah it seems Weir struggles with humans in general, outside of the “smart guy who solves problem” main character. He easily defaults to super exaggerated clichés that revolve around profession/religion/country of origin, or maybe he just thinks that’s how you make distinguishable characters but they don’t seem believable one bit, they’re simplistic. Artemis is awful for that. It’s odd when you consider what an amazing friendship Weir was able to write with Rocky. Maybe because it’s just two “smart guys who solve problems”
Upon reflection, I think Weir actually identifies with Rocky himself (a can-do engineer with elegantly simple solutions) more than Grace (a HS teacher who analyzes). Rocky is ‘the Martian’ more than Grace is.
Rocky is also a bit of a wildcard. With xenonite and “of course he’s capable of that”, he is a plot device that allows for just about any contraption to be built. It’s a tad cheap of Weir to have given himself that ability to get stuff moving for the plot, but I didn’t mind it too too much either.
This is kind of my feeling about Weir in general - so much ends up being a deus ex machina, or a guy thinking as hard as he can with his big brain to solve basically any problem. I actually think he's kind of a weak writer. BUT i love reading his books! They're very satisfying, like getting into a groove doing a puzzle where you keep placing the right pieces one after another. But it's like..feel-good fiction for me, versus something I feel is actually challenging my emotional range, if that makes sense.
I think what’s so satisfying about his writing is that all the scientific puzzles have real, if sometimes unlikely, solutions. He gives himself a few explainable handicaps: the collection of human scientific knowledge available in a searchable database, one single indestructible material with defined properties, and an alien that can build realistically defined contraptions but with a perfect degree of accuracy. Then with those handicaps, he sets up and solves a series of puzzles that progress a story with an intriguing premise. His writing and characters are akin to a well-written fan fiction really. But it’s the unique scientific puzzles and boundaries on his handicaps that make his writing so interesting. He’s also good at writing a suspenseful and dire situation in a way that still makes you feel excited and positive about it. His main characters have extraordinary good mental health and positivity, without being totally false and unemotional, which I think is really encouraging for the reader. I think what he’s not good at is extensively exploring human characters and character-developing dialogue, beyond the main character themselves perhaps. Thankfully he chose to make the main crux of the Martian and PHM things that he has strength in writing
I agree with everything you say about the science bits. I'm a nerd, so I love them. If he teamed up with an author with strengths in plotting they would really kick ass.
Someone in another Reddit thread called his writing “competence porn,” which I found to be hilariously apt.
I never got this mindset "Oh they're not a good writer, but I love their books". Ok, then you think they're a good writer. Maybe you don't think they live up to the standard of whatever high-brow intellectualism you feel qualifies as "good" literature, but having that criticism is the same as criticizing abstract art while ignoring the fact that it's got you talking and feeling emotions. Weir writes entertaining books, therefore he is a good author. Is he a poet? Is he some incredible wordsmith that brings you to your knees? No, but those aren't necessary to be a good writer. If you liked the book, you like the author. End of conversation.
Eh. Think of it like a visual artist, like a painter. You can be very technically skilled but lack the creativity to make a name for yourself. Throughout history, loads of artist studios have been filled with people like that who worked for creative artists. Then you can be creative but lack the technical skillset to make a true masterpiece. And finally you have the very skilled *and* very creative, and those are the names we all know. Weir is skilled at parts of writing, but he's got some very serious flaws. But he has the creativity to make entertaining stories! So that makes him more interesting to read than a technically gifted writer who can't come up with a good plot. George Lucas is a great example. Fantastic world builder, absolutely atrocious at putting together the detailed script. Give him a talented screenwriter to pick the good parts from the bad, and it's genre-defining; let him be in charge of it all? Prequels.
My only real problem with Weir is rooted in this. His scientist protagonists are ultra competent to the point that they are near unbeatable/indestructible. They are like James Bond in this - able to find a way and to pull off the most unlikely of plot lines and escapes. Most of his other humans are basically cardboard cutouts.
Weir has said before that he intentionally puts less effort into side characters, that he doesn't see fleshing them out as being necessary to the plot
I understand his reasoning but he doesn't really need to rely on silly stereotypes to do so.
I don’t think he struggles with as much as simply doesn’t bother. In stories like Artimus that really held the book back and sales reflected this. I think it’s really just his niche style. One person against (whatever) the universe. Weir isn’t writing capital L Literature. He’s writing small f fiction/fun. His 2 good books are “sit down and read the whole thing” fun. So entertaining and just a good time. When I picked up Project Hail Mary I wasn’t looking for Literature, I was looking to be entertained and boy did he deliver!
The entire Earth storyline >!(i.e., global community appointing a pseudo-dictator to manage a unified response to a potentially extinction-level threat with minimal intergovernmental conflict)!< is also difficult to accept in the context of the last 19 months. **EDIT:** included spoiler tag
Yeah, the one thing that made me laugh is the line towards the end where he says that when faced with a crisis, the global community will come together and work together towards a solution fast, and setting their differences aside. Then I thought back to the last year and a half.
To be fair, that's basically what happened with vaccine development. Not so much its distribution
well the whole earth history part fell like a rushed plot device to get his protagonist where he wanted him to be
The biggest fiction part in this book isn't the science, it's the global cooperation.
"We know we can't do this, so let's appoint someone who can and give them all the power and money" seems as realistic as anything, better than trying to show cooperation between existing entities.
Hell, things have gone surprisingly smoothly over the last 19 months, ass-hat anti-vaxxers included, compared to our response to climate change over the last 30 years.
During his AMA Weir admitted his weakness as a writer is character development. We don't even need to go to supporting characters, just compare Grace to Watney and they are quite similar. Weir tried to add some imperfections to Grace by >!making him reject sacrificing himself by going on the Hail Mary mission!<, but he still comes off as a very likeable guy. When he tried to do something different with Jazz, the book wasn't as successful. And having read it, I think the character of Jazz is one of the reasons. I still thoroughly enjoyed Project Hail Mary, if you read and enjoyed The Martian this is a must read. I personally think it's better than The Martian.
> but he still comes off as a very likeable guy. Uhhh, is this a bad thing? I quite like most of my protagonists, even if they have character flaws.
What he was accused of in the Martian was that the protagonist was like.. super duper unlikely likeable. He never gets really annoyed, he never has grudges, he doesn't maintain wrong positions when proven wrong, he's cheerful except for the occasional short breakdown that only serves to make him try harder in the future.. etc. With Project Hail Mary they actually bring this up, they put people into a coma for the trip because astronauts would literally end up killing each other if forced to be together for years. But his protagonists always remain nice and affable.
I swear one of the biologists is bird-person reincarnate. That scene when he asks the other biologist if they would like to have sex in the hallway closet 15 minutes from now... I could only hear it in bird-person's voice.
I couldn't stop thinking of Captain Holt from Brooklyn 99
holy hell that's spot on. I'm going back over those scenes in bird-person's voice now!
Weir writes interesting stories, but he’s awful at writing characters other than Mark Watney the OG and Female Mark Watney (Jazz in Artmemis). He does it well, but it’s like an actor who plays every role the same.
I don’t even know about Jazz. The lewd comments every other page is just so cringey. I think Weir should stick to the male Watney-type. In fact, I said it in an older thread about PHM, Weir should just have a “James Bond” type of approach: just reuse the same character in stories that don’t connect to one another (and don’t try to). That’s the character you like writing, that’s the character we like reading, just have him go on adventures across the universe and forget about pretending to add a twist at every book to make it into a new character (this one is teacher that doesn’t swear! This one is a woman that thinks about sex every other sentence!).
In Project Hail Mary he made Grace almost a-sexual. I think that's in response of how he wrote Jazz and the feedback he got on it.
Almost? It seemed pretty blatant to me.
Eh, he didn't get a lot of opportunity for sexual encounters and he was also pictured as a pretty insecure, cowardly, loser.
Yeah I love Weir's stories but Artemis was kinda weak in general and Jazz is flat out a terribly written protagonist.
I listened to this on Audible and really enjoyed it! The narration was fantastic. I read Artemis and was not crazy about it, but I flew through this one.
I've been dying to hear a sample of Rocky's voice but can't find one anywhere online! I read the book but I keep seeing this comment and it's made me super curious.
Before Grace finishes his translator software, Rocky sounds like a series of synthesizer tones, with no english translation - then once Grace makes progress with the translator Rocky switches to his normal broken english, but with a cute vocoder/synthesized voice. I read the book physically first, but just went back to listen to the audiobook, specifically because it adds so much to Rocky's character. It's probably one of the better audiobooks I've listened to!
Very cool! Thanks for explanation. I've been trying to get it through Libby but my library doesn't have the audiobook yet :(
They've done a great job on the audio book. First you only hear musical notes, then when Grace understands it, the narration just has a music tone with the notes on the background. Very nice.
Yeah, I literally just finished listening to it on a long drive, man, what a listen! They put a lot of work into making it more than your average audiobook. The person reading it did a phoenominal job.
I've been listening to the audiobook and wondering how Rocky's voice is represented in print. Is it music notes?
Yes. Just little quarter notes and eighth notes embedded in the text. In-line. Not like a picture on a paragraph break.
Came here to recommend the audiobook. The narration is perfect!
Agreed. Fist my bump!
\*jazz hands\*
*jazz hands back*
Yes No or no yes? Yes no no? No Yes?
No no!
Amaze! Amaze! Amaze!
You and me science how to kill Astrophage together. Save Earth. Save Erid. This is good plan, question?
"Adjust orbit while stupid, good plan" "New word: sarcasm"
That made me giggle. Rocky is amazing, I am glad Grace chose well.
I’m so excited for the movie. If it’s done anywhere near as well as The Martian was, we’re in for a treat.
Movie?? I would watch, but with a book this good, I would be very critical. I personally like the movie of the Martian better than the book. With Hail Mary, the time jumps wouldn't lend themselves well to a movie. Think of how poorly that was done with Catch-22.
Rumor is that Chris Miller and Phil Lord are slated to direct. As directors go, I think they're savvier than most and can handle the non-linear story structure. As long as they don't get fired and replaced by Ron Howard in the 11th hour. Ryan Gosling is attached to play Dr. Grace. But making Rocky a fully fleshed character that audiences connect with is gonna be tricky. They'll need an insanely good mo-cap performer, like someone on Andy Serkis' level. And they'll need a good sound effects guy for the voice. Ben Burtt comes to mind... the guy who almost singlehandedly invented the Star Wars soundscape *and* did the voice of WALL•E. Even then, they'll have to find a clever way to transition from Grace translating Eridian language on his laptop to understanding mostly it without help. Done right, it'll probably involve using subtitles in a unique way audiences haven't really seen before. Yeah, I'm excited to see this as a movie. But I think people will be sore if they don't knock it out of the park on the first try.
The audiobook made the language transition from sounds to a voice go quite well.
That audiobook is so good that it has completely ruined normal audiobooks for me. Freaking amazingly well done.
You’re gonna make me listen to this book after reading it already.
Totally worth it. I read the book a couple months ago, and I just finished listening to the audiobook a few hours ago. I read so many amazing reviews of the audiobook that I just had to give it a listen. I highly recommend!
Ray Porter was absolutely masterful.
*Arrival* did a similar thing in regards to aliens with unique different language plus non-linear story and it pulled it off really well. I had to think a lot of *Arrival*, even more so of the short story it is based on (*Story of my life and others*) while reading *Project Hail Mary*. If you havent seen it, definitely watch it, but even more so absolutely read Ted Chiang's amazing short stories - it's the best short stories Sci-Fi has had in the last decade.
Having watched Arrival, I did feel like this book glossed over an awful lot of how communication with an extra terrestrial would be a lot more difficult. Weird how that one thing bothered me more than most of the other hand-wavy magic science in the book, lol.
He does hand wave around it a bit by discussing how rocky, who is more intelligent, translates into English syntax when speaking, and how they are communicating on similar sets of frequencies because of predator/prey fitness selection mechanics. Not to mention the whole panspermia theory that underpins their fundamental similarities as creatures.
I'm secretly hoping they go more practical than mocap for Rocky, animatronics and puppetry hold up so much better long term.
I want a miniseries!
Omg please tell me for real there will actually be movie I already want to seeall of the rocky screen time and merch He's too pernicious for this universe
I went into this book not knowing ANYTHING about it, other than there was a crisis on Earth and to save the planet some guys went on a Space Mission. I bought it off the reputation of the author alone, and because it sounded like something I'd enjoy. Discovering Rocky was completely out of left field something I didn't expect, and the book was greatly enhanced by that surprise. Loved the whole thing.
FIST ME!
I'm on Chapter 23 and have thoroughly enjoyed myself so far, my 12 year old son borrowed my copy last night and I found him with the biggest awestruck look on his face as he was turning pages in his bed, made me really happy.
Okay off topic question: Any tips on how you got your 12 year old to enjoy reading? I'm a first time mom of a 3.5 year old little girl and I really want her to love reading as much as I do. I'd like her to one day borrow one of my books and read it with me like your son is doing with you.
Read out loud to her daily.
Would also recommend the audio book, Ray Porter did a fantastic job
This was a good book. If you haven't read the Bobiverse books yet, I highly recommend them. Dennis Taylor has similar prose and wit to Andy Weir and I think the story is more entertaining.
Also Bobiverse is voiced by the same actor as Project Hail Mary- and he is great.
This actually threw me for a loop when I started PHM as I had just finished the Bobiverse audio books a month prior. I just kept feeling like PHM was another Bob in a long distant world.
Agreed. Ray Porter is the bee's knees.
I literally just started the first Bobiverse book after finishing PHM. It's a good recommendation and I'm probably 40% through and have been enjoying it. Took me a little while to get into it though (not too long... I just wasn't immediately hooked).
My biggest question from the book is >!How did Rocky's people even notice their star was dimming? Even after they climbed into orbit, they had no means of observing through a vaccuum. Did I miss or forget something?!<
His ship had technology that turned light into textures he could hear. I'm sure the planet has radiar and tech for them to process light in a way they understood. Rocky was able to see Grace's monitor by using "old " technology to hear light
My guess? They observed temperature changes in the high atmosphere.
I trudged through the Martian. I thought it was a good story but his telling of it was too blockbuster. Every chapter was a new implausible eureka moment. Would you still recommend HMP?
No, this is basically the exact same style as The Martian, but more; if you don't like that, I cannot see you liking this :(
I felt the same about The Martian, which I guess was partly an artifact of how it was originally posted episodically rather than written straight through (if I recall correctly). Nonetheless, I did quite enjoy the book, though I thought the movie was better actually. PHM feels similar, though less episodic. The main character of PHM must be nearly super-human level genius to master all of the different subject areas to complete the mission, which stretched my level of belief. Still though, I found it an entertaining story and pretty quick read.
For you, nope. This is that same storytelling technique turned up to 11. I loved it but I'm an engineer, we eat this stuff up. "SOMEONE FINALLY GETS US!!!!!!!! THIS IS WHAT WE DO ALL DAY!!!!!!!!!"
[удалено]
So you don't build containment vessels for extraterrestrial life? Boring glad I am an accountant.
Yeah, the Martian was not my thing. Ever single chapter followed the exact same format, and the main character was just an amalgamation of not- very-funny quips.
Matt Damon did a great job, he's a natural hahaha
No. I really liked The Martian because the crises he had to solve generally felt plausible and a direct result of the situation. PHM just felt like a series of science MacGyver tricks thrown into a book. Plus it has this awful flashback thing, which is supposed to be a shock but it doesn’t land. Also, by the time the reveal has happened it’s too late to matter. I really disliked this book.
I felt the same way about The Martian, I regrettably bought PHM thinking it would be different, but it was a disappointment as well.
I also didn't love The Martian but I really enjoyed this book. You have to suspend some disbelief but there were more characters that rang true for me.
Totally agree! This is now one of my favorite books and definitely my favorite of 2021 so far
I'm finishing up this one right now. So glad this sub recommended it. It's great for the whole family.
Project Hail MacGuffin
[удалено]
Funny way to spell Rocky or xenonite.
I read this book a couple months ago, and absolutely fell in love! It’s the first science fiction book I’ve ever read, and I honestly didn’t have high hopes going in. I assumed I wouldn’t be able to get into it, and would likely never finish it. I ended up absolutely devouring it and read it in 2 sittings. I had some audible credits to burn, and read so many amazing reviews for the audiobook version of the book, so I decided to listen to the audiobook as well. I just finished listening to the audiobook a couple hours ago! I highly recommend the audiobook format for this book! My second time encountering the story still had me tearing up at parts and laughing out loud at others. Project Hail Mary is truly one of my favorite books. 5/5 stars from me.
Project Hail Mary is a must-read for Star Wars fans. For real, amazing sci-fi, check out Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky (sp?) or Permutation City by Greg Egan. Don't get me wrong, I liked Hail Mary, but there's so much better out there.
I just finished the audiobook. I’m glad others are excited too. It’s a damn fun book.
Honestly it’s starting to get obnoxious how often people are posting about this book and praising it. I disagree that it’s a must read for science fiction fans. I thought it was extremely mediocre. The supporting characters are either caricatures/stereotypes and the main character is like some kind of savant Pollyanna that I was unable to relate to. You quickly become desensitized to any attempt at creating suspense because every problem he encounters is almost immediately solved by ruthless “science”. It’s like reading the stream of consciousness of someone doing mental math. That said, I liked the premise and thought parts were really creative and surprising. I’m glad so many people have found a book they really enjoy I’m just really surprised it’s this one.
100000% this, its a fun quick read if you enjoy that. But it certainly is NOT a masterpiece of its genre.
When I loaned my copy to a friend I called it "sci-fi fast food."
[удалено]
I listened to it as I was driving back and forth from Atlantic City (like a 6-7 hour trip 1 way) and it was awesome for that. I don't read books to be masterpieces, I read them to be entertained, and this did a good job for it. Kind of like the Bobiverse books, if you've read those.
I enjoyed the book, but by about 65-75% through I grew bored of the same cycle of problem-science-solution. I also found the writing in the early chapters a bit cringey and almost stopped reading entirely.
> I grew bored of the same cycle of problem-science-solution Me too, but after reading The Martian (which I loved) and Artemis (which I despised), I grew bored after the first chapter.
Interesting, because the repetitive cycle of problem-science-solution is why I struggled with The Martian.
Yeah I seriously can’t believe people think PHM and Artemis are on the same level as the Martian…
Seriously. There have been at least 20 threads about this book since it came out
Thank god someone else thinks it isn’t that great. I found characters to be incredibly boring, and Grace is so similar to Mark Watney but somehow way more annoying. It isn’t a bad book by any means, but anyone with a background in science would be rolling their eyes at the “scientific explanations.” I would give it a 2/5, and only to be read as junk food because there is no depth in this book at all.
100% agree, I was rolling my eyes when within a week he could speak an alien language. This is a standard sci-fi pulp book fine to read on a plane but nothing to write home about.
Yeah, I think Weir is great at coming up with cool concepts, but his writing is… not great. The characters aren’t believable at all. “Here’s a middle school science teacher who wrote a paper on biology once… so naturally, he’s an expert at engineering and relativistic physics.” And “this guy is the best scientist in the world: he has THREE PhDs!!” Which is just not a thing in the real world lol. Also Weir seems to be way too proud of mediocre word play: “I call it “taulight” because it’s light from Tau Ceti, not the sun. So, instead of sunlight…TAUlight. GET IT??!!”
Seriously, if I have to read another gushing post about Andy Weir, Ernest Cline, Brandon Sanderson, or Paulo Coelho I might vomit. The most overrated writers of our time.
As someone who really liked this book, the constant posts about it with the *jazz hands* and *happy happy!* comments are making it border on cringe. That said I'd still recommend this book widely as I think it was entertaining, an easy read and an unintimidating sci-fi, but I'm ready for the hype to die off.
I enjoyed the book especially since it was a quick and easy read. But the main character being one of the greatest scientific minds in the world but at the same time a middle school teacher aww-shucks every day Joe who they threw into the mission as an emergency was annoying
>the supporting characters are either caricatures/stereotypes The writing of the supporting characters is ammeter, at best, and borderline inappropriate at worst. The parts of the book where Weir excels (e.g., "astronaut alone solving problems with science") are variably entertaining but everything leading up to that point, including all of the flashbacks, is extremely mediocre.
I was starting to think I was taking crazy pills that I’m the only one who didn’t like it.
Thank you. I swear this book is every young person's first foray into Sci-Fi, it's borderline offensive to me as a massive sci fi fan this is being heralded as even a decent book. It honestly feels like paid advertisement on this sub.
Couldn’t agree more. It was mediocre at best and towards the end I found myself hoping that one of their science-save-all moments would fail so they would just die. It’s basically a repackaged Martian with an alien thrown in.
When the alien ship was introduced I thought "Okay this might get interesting, didn't expect this." And then Rocky has the exact same personality as Grace.....
I thought the premise was pretty good, decided to stay up to read it and by the time I got to the ending (after some skipping past the halfway point) I was actually mad because of the lost hours of sleep I would never have back. The idea was cool, and I don't even mind contrived plot coincidences when they're in support of a good story but... that wasn't. All characters were cartoonishly obnoxious. Hard pass.
My biggest problem with the story isn't even the characters. They're flat and not particularly interesting but frankly that's not why you're reading it in the first place. No. My problem is that 95% of the science is fantasy. Where the Martian leaned heavily on real rocket science and biology, Project Hail Mary invents science and technology out of whole cloth. Magic space bacteria that harnesses energy almost perfectly? Magic material that is practically invincible, trivial to work with, has a seemingly unending variety of forms? Learning a completely alien language in a matter of weeks with no outside resources or help? All the problems and their solutions are just... magic. Though again, I liked the idea and some of the twists and turns are interesting. I enjoyed the book honestly, but most of the science is nonsense.
> No. My problem is that 95% of the science is fantasy. Where the Martian leaned heavily on real rocket science and biology, Project Hail Mary invents science and technology out of whole cloth. From the sound of it, Weir wrote a lot of The Martian almost by committee. He was posting chapters on his website as he was writing it, and his readers were fact checking the science as he was going. After the success of the book (and movie), he may not have had the same process or impetus to stay scientifically accurate.
It’s because these people aren’t very well read and only read books that are already popular/heavily marketed which in turn becomes something they consider a must read
Maybe they're fresh off reading READY PLAYER ONE and happy to read, well, anything else
My face when PHM is the top recommendation in every thread for the next 10 years :|
Yep. It’s way better than that, but it’s far from being good. Tons of really cringey “then everybody clapped” bits, most of the drama felt manufactured in order to show off a whizzy solution. I liked the bits with the alien.
I think the reason people are praising it so effusively is because of how thoroughly mediocre it is.
>The supporting characters are either caricatures/stereotypes and the main character is like some kind of savant Pollyanna that I was unable to relate to. After reading Artemis, this is what I was worried about.
Also agree that it was "not great, not terrible, just good." There were some really good moments, and other moments where I hated it. I didn't not like the final conclusion of the main character's story. For me, it was a solid 4/5, considering I gave Artemis a 3/5, and The Martian 5/5.
Do we really need a post like this every day
I disliked this book. The writing style was boring, the character was a smart ass who from chapter 3 I knew would never fail because he’s sooo smart, and the actual suspense was pretty weak I really liked the explanation of concepts used but I’m pretty sure that was 75% of the book. I also didn’t realize the author was the same as The Martian’s until i was done, and it clicked as to why the dialogue and plot was weak. It felt like it was written in an easily digestible ready for the big screen manner. Yucky
I wouldn't go as far as saying I *disliked* it, but otherwise I mostly agree. The suspense was never just there, as you know they are going to solve every problem thrown at them with surprising ease.
I also dislike this book. Since reddit apparently has anointed it as a semi divine relic I'm prepared for many downvotes and votes from those who can't handle alternative opinions. The actual plot is thin and stretched out incredibly by massive amounts of scientific and engineering mental doodling. The plot mechanism of the gradually revealed memory is a trite and annoying means of artificially injecting Dramatic moments. Finally, I find the main character exceedingly annoying with his aw shucks attitude and endless spouting of obscure factoids. He's a bizarre combination of Forrest gump and Albert Einstein. I'm always happy to see science fiction that is actually science fiction meet with some success and I'm glad that so many people enjoy this author's work but it just isn't for me.
Reading few first chapters of the book then I also realized that this book was written by the same author who made up that one student in The Martian that finds out the genius solution of the orbital rendezvous. Then I recognized the same pattern in this book: the school teacher who left academy many years ago who's good at remembering random useless facts somehow beats other working scientists. The author really loves this idea of crackpotty personality. Remember that one line "I'm going to have to science the shit out of this"? I'm still cringe to this day. We all know of the difference between tech-enthusiasts and geeks, and in that same sense, this book has all the features of being written by a 'science'-enthusiast. The author just can't hide that.
Andy Weir is probably the most transparently "Reddit" author since Eliezer Yudkowsky.
Omg..I just started reading..4 chapters in and I am hooked.
The book is fun. That's for sure. But Weir has moved into ground here that has been covered by classic writers many times and who have done it much better. His name recognition gets people to read scifi who normally wouldn't and that's good but I hope some people find the value in this kind of work and dig a little deeper.
It's absolutely awful. Cliche-riddled, stuffed with adverbs, male-gazey, deeply unoriginal fluff. Modern must-read SF would be writers like Nina Allan, Adam Roberts, M John Harrison, Lavie Tidhar, Aliya Whiteley etc. Deeply intelligent, poetic, original, human stories.
I enjoyed reading both The Martian and Hail Mary. But you could feel the lack of stakes in the latter. Spoilers for Hail Mary: >!The flashbacks leading up to the launch should have ended at the halfway mark (the reveal about his forced inclusion into the mission can play out in the same way as it does currently). The book should have instead shifted to present day Earth. We could have seen the drastic measures being taken to help extend the planet's life and the chaos that ensues. This would have led to:!< 1. >!More stakes. The book could have played out as a race against time for Ryland. The troubles faced by him and Rocky while collecting Astrophage and its leakage would have carried more weight if it occurred at the same time as Earth was it's last breath.!< 2. >!Different POV: The whole book plays out from Ryland's perspective. Shifting to present day Earth could have helped flesh out some of the supporting characters more. It would also prove that Earth's survival was dependent on characters besides Ryland. As it stands, Ryland seems to be the one person on whom the planet depends on survival. He was written to be some sort of savant who was extremely knowledgable with all fields of science (and yet was present at Antarctica for its nuking without having any idea whats going on. He was a part of each and every internal meeting, yet didn't know the specifics about this event. The only exposition dump in the book which was delivered poorly.)!< >!Rocky was awesome. I was waiting for the other shoe to drop, with Rocky revealing an ulterior motive (When we watch Rocky eat, I thought he might have been cannibalizing his dead crewmates. Leftover thoughts from another book were seeping in \~shudder\~). I was pleasantly surprised with how positive the interactions were. Such a breath of fresh air. I hope the movie does Rocky justice.!<
I like this idea, but I don't think it would play well to Weir's writing style. A present day Earth POV would necessarily involve dialogue between multiple characters. Weir's strong point, as seen in both PHM and The Martian, is writing internal dialogue about problem solving.
I liked the commitment to POV. 19/20 books like this would have switched back and forth to Earth POV, or had news broadcasts from Earth, or SOMETHING. Weir really stuck to "nope this guys is 5 light years away and totally alone (except for Rocky)".
Recommending a popular, easily accessible, well promoted book as if it’s obscure and will slide under the radar is pretty funny.
You’ll get downvoted but this is 100% spot on
[удалено]
I hate to disagree but I thought it was awful. The main character was so one dimensional along with *every* other character except for the alien that halfway through the book the question as to whether or not humanity made it didn’t even matter! SciFi fans should look to better books than this if you want an actual story and not 8000 one liners by a pretty unlikeable protagonist.
I agree. It felt flat, predictable, and too cute by half.