Project Hail Mary by Andy WeirMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Our hero wakes up from a coma, with dead crewmates all around, and no idea why he's alone in outer space. Very interesting beginning! Unfortunately any responsible reviewer will need to stop there. This is a book one cannot speak too much about, for fear of spoiling!
It was a pleasant enough read, but Weir is one of those authors whom you read purely based on plot, and not for beauty of language nor nobility of thought.
I liked how Weir used "real" science in the real world to make his scifi novel seem robust and realistic.
Some might like how contemporary Weir's characters sound, as if they really lived in 2021 (the date of the book's publication) because they speak the lingo of 2021. I guess it's just a personal preference for me to want the protagonist (a science teacher, hurray!) to say more heroic / profound things. Weir also tries his best to explain a great deal of scientific jargon in simple words, however, non-scientifically inclined readers still need to be on their toes (and have access to Google) to look up a lot of words not necessarily encountered outside a high school Science class (like "centrifuge" and "the Krebs Cycle"). In short, this book demands a lot from its reader!
This is my first time to read Weir, although I greatly enjoyed watching the film version of his other book "The Martian."
I think this is the appeal of Weir's books: how an everyman can get himself into the unique position of being Earth's Messiah. Whether or not he pulls it off ... well, you'll have to read the novel to find out. Or watch the upcoming Ryan Gosling movie. I have a suspicion this would work better in movie form.
Over-all, a most pleasant read, and a palate cleanser from this reader's usual diet of literary fiction.
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