"Project Hail Mary" by Andy Weir

 

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Copyright: 2021

ISBN: 9780593135204

A fantastic story. Mr. Weir once again takes on the world of science fiction, and scores another hit by putting the science back in science fiction. Odd as it sounds, having a science based theme in the science fiction genre is something that has been sorely lacking for many years, it is great to see an author that cares about doing their research.

This story tells the tale of an Earth in what we assume is the not too distant future, when the environment is pretty much the same state as ours is in today - lousy and getting worse. Then a new threat is discovered - one that will essentially eliminate over half the life on the planet as it is having a direct and very detrimental affect on the sun itself.

Ryland Grace - a science teacher - is drafted to assist in solving the problem as when he was a former PhD student, he published a paper that was dismissed by the scientific community, as it went against the status quo. However it turned out to be a partial solution to their new problem. Grace ends up going on a mission to find the ultimate solution to Earth's problem, but without any memory of who he is, or how he got there - definitely a bit of a problem.

I don't want to give away anything else in this story as is was such a great read. But I will say that just like he did in his best seller "The Martin" he explains the scientific concepts behind what goes on so that virtually anybody can understand them, just like a good teacher should. The ending was a bit of a surprise, but it was so well integrated into the storyline that it made complete sense. This was one of those books that was extremely difficult to put down (luckily, I have a job where a little less sleep doesn't matter very much).

With two hits in a row I'm definitely looking forward to whatever he does next as I'm sure it will once again be both entertaining and and educational.