Blog #30: Project Hail Mary

Spoilers!

     I want to start off by saying I don’t typically read Science Fiction novels, I’m more of a Fantasy and Biography book type of person. But this book reads really well, where even someone that isn’t totally into SciFi can read it. It has it’s science moments, but also just reads really well, and has many funny moments or dramatic moments.

     Basically there is this organism they call the Astrophage, and it is eating the Sun and if left untreated Earth’s sun will dim and people will starve and die. Our main character Ryland Grace is brought in to look at the organisms, because he wrote a paper on not all life forms need water. They’re trying to figure out what the organism needs to survive, so they bring him in.

     I will say this about the Science part of the book, I didn’t fully understand a lot of the science and math talk. It’s worth reading and working thru because the story itself is worth sorting through the Science. So to anyone that might not be too interested in that aspect, I’d say just trudge through and get back to the main story. There isn’t too much math and science, and it’s well worth it.

     So for this mission to figure out where the Astrophage is and what can combat it, they need to send three scientists/astronauts into space to get answers. I should mention here that they find out the Astrophage can be used as a energy source, and can power the space ship better than Earth’s resources. So this gives the opportunity to go out and save Earth. But it’s a long shot, and whoever goes will die for the mission, because there isn’t enough resources and Astrophage to get to their destination and send back the containers with the answers. So the people going on this mission get to request how they’ll kill themselves. One picks a gun, and one of the others picks a heroin overdose.

     The people being sent into space are specialists in their fields, but also they have to be put into an induced coma for most of the trip. The catch though? Only a small percentage of the population can tolerate this coma and the meds. On top of that, they have to find people that are not just experts, but also can tolerate the coma, AND agree to a suicide mission and are okay with that.

     SPOILERS:

     Here’s the shitty part, Grace was originally just a scientist that helped with research and working with the Astrophage. But there is an explosion at a facility, and one of the scientists can’t go on the mission. Grace is a trained scientist and has worked with the organism, BUT ALSO: he’s part of the population that can handle the coma state. So the officer controlling this whole ordeal tells him he has to go on the mission. He protests and cries saying he doesn’t want to die, and is put in a cell to wait until it’s mission time. He is forced to go on the mission against his will, which is horrible. But I guess when it’s the fate of Earth and one person, we have to pick the fate of the Earth.

     But it’s good that he ended up going, because something cool happens!

     Grace meets an alien, an actual alien! He’s Spider-Esque, and it’s cool to see how they relate and become friends. The new creature comes from a species called Eridians. They start out with just tapping to communicate, and Grace ends up naming this alien, Rocky. They spend time learning to communicate, Rocky learning English, and they learn that Grace is a scientist but Rocky is an Engineer. They have something in common though: both are the only survivors on their ships, both of their crew mates have died and are years away from their home planets. And both are finding a way to combat the Astrophage problem and save their stars (“suns”).

     What I really liked about Rocky learning English, is after every question he ends with, “Question?” So an example would be: “Are you sad, Question?” He also starts using sarcasm, but the way he says it is so funny. I just find Rocky to be such an entertaining character, and really makes the book.

     Overall, I loved this book. Like I said I’m not much of a Science Fiction book reader, but this book is so captivating and worth the read. Even if it’s not the genre you’d typically read, I high recommend it. There’s drama, there’s humor, and just overall good story telling. 

     Also! This book is being turned into a movie! So I recommend reading it before the movie comes out in 2026! 

     Thanks for reading,

      Signing Off,     

      Fenisha Estes