Thursday, May 13, 2021

Hail Mary

Title: Hail Mary
Author: Andy Weir
Published: May 4th 2021 by Ballantine Books
Format: Kindle, Hardcover, 496 pages
Genre: Science Fiction
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.

First Sentence: “What’s two plus two?”

Something about the question irritates me. I’m tired. I drift back to sleep.

From the Publisher: 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, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.

And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone.

Or does he? (Penguin Random House)

My Opinion: Once you get past all the science-y and math-y stuff, which I am sure people more intelligent than I will have issues with, you find yourself in the middle of people-y stuff. The good, the bad, and the ugly people -- as only those trying to save the world can be. Then there is the humor. I know you don’t think nerdy scientists facing world annihilation can be funny, but they are. They so very are. To the point that the dialogue has you putting the book down to continue laughing and sending out messages to your friends and co-workers, telling them they need to stop what they are doing and get their hands on this book. With the laughter, there are also tears and gasping moments. This is what makes the book appealing to a larger audience. There is something for everyone.

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