I won’t deny it. I LOVED Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir! I read it, then immediately reread it. Then I listened to the audio book version. Something about the story and Andy’s writing style really caught my attention.
Basically, it’s about sending a guy into space, against his will, to save our planet. They put him in a coma and suppress his memories. He slowly begins to remember who he is, and why he’s pissed off about being sent.
At the same time, he encounters a being from another world that is on a similar mission to save his planet from the same threat. Neither individual considers themselves a hero.
There are several points that make this a favorite of mine. Both characters do have a strong altruistic desire to save the people on their home worlds. But, as the friendship between the two deepens, they find the desire to save each other from harm an equally strong motivation.
Ryland Grace is the human sent into space. He meets a five-legged creature that looks a little like a spider with a hard exoskeleton. Ryland names his new friend “Rocky”. It’s takes awhile, but the two learn to communicate with each other.
Physiologically, there are few similarities between the two. I liked this because many sci fi stories deal with aliens that are quite like us. These two are so different that Ryland nearly kills his friend by doing something that made sense to a human body, but is fatal on an Eridian.
I found the interaction between Ryland and Rocky to be fascinating. As they learn to communicate with each other, each discovers traits in the other that they just can’t understand. Rocky requests that Ryland watch him as he “sleeps”, because that’s how Eridians evolved.
And, yet these two wildly dissimilar creatures create a bond and begin to work together to find solutions that will save their respective worlds.
Having believed that they have accomplished their mission, the two reluctantly part ways and head for their own worlds. Shortly into his trip home, Ryland realized a flaw in their plan and devised a workaround. But then he predicts that Rocky’s ship will be crippled because of the flaw and be left stranded in space.
Ryland can continue home or turn around and save his friend. But then he won’t be able to return to Earth. Every moment Ryland debates this, Rocky gets more difficult to find and catch up with.
Ryland chooses to save his friend. I shouted “YES” when I read that! You see, I believe that loyalty is one of the most powerful of the human emotions. And I would like to think that such a thing would happen when we mere humans are called to the task.
At the end, Ryland finds himself “stuck” on Erid. For many reasons, the trip back to Earth is a challenge he decides not to tackle. But he is able to realize his dream of being a teacher when, in the final chapter, he addresses a classroom of eager young Eridians.
Elsewhere on this site, I write how I love seeing how ordinary people react when placed in extraordinary situations. Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary does this well and suggests that, perhaps alien lifeforms, vastly different than us, may share some of the same motivations and emotions.