Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir: The Book that stole my heart

I cheated a bit on this one. Since I watched project Hai Mary in the theatres before I read the book, I am sure there must be some Ryan Gosling bias in this review. Every reader will agree with me that the film version and the book version of a story are mostly very different from each other but Project Hail Mary is not one of those stories.After I read the book I realised the adaptation was perfect. 

Storyline 

Project Hail Mary begins with an apocalypse looming over the planet. A prtrova line is killing the Earth’s star, the sun or ‘Sol’ by sapping it’s energy. The timer is ticking and Earth has to figure out a way to save the sun. It has to undertake a massive space mission in a record amount of time and an unimaginable budget. 

A scientist who is working as a school teacher, Dr Grace, finds himself being pulled into this mission having no prior knowledge about how to survive in space. The story follows him waking up from a coma, having no idea who he is and where he is. 

He slowly starts to figure out things and soon a friendly alien helps him complete their common mission. 

My thoughts on Project Hail Mary

Although I loved the movie adaptation, the original storyline in the book has many more details that are overlooked in the movie. Dr. Grace,s  ‘back of the napkin’ maths’ and complex calculations and high level science jargon had it’s own charm. If you are a science junkie like me, you will love it too. The book expained a lot of details such that even someone with no science background can understand. 

The story of Project Hail Mary accurately depicted an alien-human interaction when the two beings are stranded in space with no one else for company. What I enjoyed the most was the depiction of the struggle to communicate with each other, then using software and finally understanding each other’s words without the need of any translation. It makes you understand the concept of language and how it developed. 

Once you start understanding the alien, Rocky, you really start liking him more and more. He is just so adorable! And of course, Dr. Grace and his quirks are very cute. 

This book will make you so emotional, that you won’t be able to put it down. In a few parts it seems a bit dragged but it seems to be necessary for the progression of the story. 

Conclusion

A delightful read indeed with the correct combination of emotional intensity, scientific jargon and themes of interstellar friendship. It can be enjoyed by anyone from a teenager to a senior citizen. 

Rating: 4.8/ 5