With this novel set to be released as a major motion picture with Ryan Gosling portraying Ryland Grace, one of my fellow b*tches suggested Project Hail Mary for our January book. Oh I have thoughts. Before you read any further, I have to disclose that unlike my other book reviews, this one contains spoilers.

Project Hail Mary

Here’s a synopsis from Amazon:

Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish.

Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.

All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.

His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.

And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone.

Or does he?

An irresistible interstellar adventure as only Andy Weir could deliver, Project Hail Mary is a tale of discovery, speculation, and survival to rival The Martian—while taking us to places it never dreamed of going.

I must confess that I did zero research before reading this story. I simply downloaded it on my Kindle. I’ve also never read (or seen) The Martian, which is Andy Weir’s other most famous body of work. So excuse my ignorance but I truly did not realize this story is about alien life form until I was WELL into the book. Sure, there were plenty of signs, but I honestly thought this was an Apollo 13 or Atmosphere type tale and that the alien references were simply red herons. I was shocked when Blip A turned out to be aliens. I figured the occupants were fellow scientists, like Stratt or Dimitri. Unfortunately, I kind of tuned out a bit at this point. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a brilliant story crafted by a brilliant author and I am glad I read it. However, science fiction isn’t my usual jam. Neither is physics, which is plentiful in Project Hail Mary. But that’s the beauty of book club: reading novels I otherwise wouldn’t.

I have to admit that Ryland Grace is a fabulously developed main character. I love him. I’ll probably see the movie just to compare Ryan Gosling’s version of Ryland to the Ryland in my head.

Ryland Grace

As for my B*tches, we had a small but mighty crew to discuss this lengthy tome. The ice/snow situation kept some of the ladies home. Those of us in attendance were split. We all agree that Andy Weir is a genius, but some us found it too scientific. Many of the formulas went right over my head. However, several B*tches LOVED the book. Different strokes for different folks, right? Some of us had a difficult time understanding Ryland’s decision at the end. I will say that those who listened to the book seemed to enjoy it more than those of us who read it, particularly the scenes with Rocky.

My friend, Jacque, created an amazing menu (burritos, but not room temperature IYKYK) that went with the book perfectly. I didn’t take a single photo, but it included astrophage! Super cute. So thankful for my Book B*tches! While this book may not be a top ten for me, it made for a fabulous discussion.