These are the basic phases to reading Project Hail Mary.
- This is just the Martian again.
- I’m remembering why I loved the Martian.
- Holy Shit this isn’t just the Martian again.
I’m avoiding spoilers in this review, which tells you a lot because the Martian is impossible to spoil. A guy gets stranded on Mars and survives due to a well-rounded science education. Most of that’s on the blurb, and the rest of it’s obvious. He doesn’t die because that’s not a story. If you vacation in Martha’s Vinyard and die, that’s a story. If you get stranded on Mars and die, that’s just what happens.
But I’m just saying the Martian has limited character interaction (though some of that tiny bit is great) and very little plot. Andy Weir pulls it off with enthusiasm, endless patience for research, and a gift for feeding you didactic detail like a competitive eating coach.
If I ever sound like I’m minimizing that, I assure you that if Weir wrote 400 books that were basically repackagings of the Martian, I’d finish them or die not taking a break to read anything else. If your trick is this, being a one-trick-pony is nothing to be ashamed of.
And Weir’s second book, Artemis isn’t just that one trick. It’s a good book. It’s not just the Martian again. It’s not good enough that I didn’t find myself missing the Martian sometimes.
Project Hail Mary does everything Weir does well, and then it accomplishes a bunch of stuff Weir typically doesn’t do well. I can’t go into details without spoiling it, except to say you could actually spoil this book. It has a bunch of intricate problem solving that you’ve already accepted will take the place of a plot, and then it gets an actual plot.
Am I inflating your expectations too far? Maybe. I’d rather do that than risk you not reading this book.
