Andy Weir is a successful author of science fiction who met critical acclaim when his first book, The Martian, was released in 2012, received multiple awards, and became the Goodreads Choice winner in 2014. Since then, Weir has also written Artemis.
This year, Weir is coming back with another exciting book, Project Hail Mary. Here's what we know about it so far:
Project Hail Mary Release Date
On the book's Goodreads page, we see that Project Hail Mary is scheduled to hit our shelves on the 4th of May 2021. In the meantime, you may want to check out the author's other books and short stories, or other recently published works of science fiction such as Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline.
Project Hail Mary Plot Summary
As Project Hail Mary will not be released for a few months yet, little is known about its plot, but what we do know sounds thrilling.
From the Goodreads blurb we read:
"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, he realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Alone on this tiny ship that's been cobbled together by every government and space agency on the planet and hurled into the depths of space, it's up to him to conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.
And thanks to an unexpected ally, he just might have a chance."
It seems that Weir is, at least partly, following the formula of The Martian with a lone character having lost his crewmates and being forced to navigate a hostile environment on his own.
But the blurb also introduces us to distinct new mysteries: why has the main character lost his memories, how did his crewmates die and what is the threat to humanity that he has to navigate? And what is the titular Project Hail Mary? The religious connotations make this both interesting and creepy. We are excited to find out more!
Project Hail Mary Book Reviews
Project Hail Mary might have not been released yet, but this doesn't mean there are no reviews about it! Several Weir fans have managed to secure Advance Reader Copies (ARCs) from Netgalley and other resources. The reviews are stellar, to say the least, giving Project Hail Mary a 4.49/5 before it's even released.
Readers have praised Project Hail Mary for containing everything that made The Martian special while also presenting new exciting elements and taking directions they did not expect.
Generally, reviewers were careful to avoid explaining what those directions were, as that would involve spoilers. However, we do know that the story alternates between the narrative present and past chapters, slowly explaining how the main character ended up a sole survivor in a hostile environment.
For all the dangers and overall hopelessness the blurb suggests, the narrative is still praised as humorous and many reviewers appreciated the author's use of science.
Project Hail Mary Audible Information
Project Hail Mary will be available to order from local/indie bookstores, as well as major book retailers. And if you want to multitask while following Ryland Grace in his adventure, you might want to consider buying the audiobook instead. The narrator hasn't been announced yet, but you can get a Project Hail Mary audiobook for free with your Audible trial if you haven't used that service before.
Otherwise, one-time purchase is possible at about $27, or you can listen to the audiobook as part of your audible $14.95 monthly subscription.
Project Hail Mary News
Before Project Hail Mary is even released, a film adaptation is already on the table. Very little is known about it for now, but, according to IMDb, it will be directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, and co-written by Drew Goddard and Weir himself. The only known cast member so far is Ryan Gosling (La La Land).
Discussions about a movie before the release date of Project Hail Mary can only ignite our curiosity, justifying the book's spot in many lists featuring the most anticipated fantasy and sci-fi books of 2021.
Other books in those lists are A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas and Chain of Iron by Cassandra Clare, both due to be released early in 2021.
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