Quick question to ponder: What happens when our sun starts to dim? And that solar dimming is being caused by material, aptly named Astrophage, literally sucking the life out of it? And it’s happening at such a rate, Earth will find itself in an ice age and all the fun disaster that comes with it in less than two decades? What do we do? We can’t even get people to wear masks during a pandemic so this is a loaded question. But for the purposes of this post the answer is Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir.

Ryland Grace, a molecular biologist/junior high school teacher turned astronaut is our main protagonist. The story swaps from everything leading up to the launch of Project Hail Mary, to Grace’s experiences in a spacecraft charged with finding a solution to the impending disaster by traveling to a solar system unaffected by the Astrophage. Without giving anything else away, he makes amazing discoveries that make this into an adventure worth reading.

My recommendation is to listen to the audiobook. There is a lot of technical “stuff” that can seem overwhelming to understand if science fiction isn’t your thing. And even if it is your thing, voice actor Ray Porter does a great job narrating the confusing or mind numbing portions to help you grasp the science behind a decision made in Project Hail Mary.

I’d also say the reader should be prepared to understand that Ryland Grace is far from what any person could measure up to. He’s a genius, scientist, mechanic, teacher, linguist, and…everything else? His versatility allows the story move forward, but pushes the boundaries of what could be considered realistic. The things Ryland figures out would take a normal, even a genius human being, months or even years to figure out. That said, this was a fun book to get into.

One last thing: Ryland may be our hero, but the real star of the show is Rocky. I’ll say nothing more.

Rating: 4/5 Stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Dream Cast 🍿 🎥 :

Ryan Gosling is already attached to the movie for the role of Ryland Grace. I think he’s a great choice. I also thought Riz Ahmed would be a perfect.

Rocky: Ray Porter was a perfect Rocky

Eva Stratt: Tilda Swinton