A Book A Week

For as long as I can remember, scientists, politicians, and large corporations have gone back and forth about how to best respond to climate change. The scientific community is at a consensus that Earth's temperature is rising at an alarming rate due in a large part to human-induced emissions and greenhouse gasses. Despite most agreeing that this is a problem, no one seems to be able to agree on how to resolve it. In Project Hail Mary, Andy Weir imagines a climate catastrophe that makes our struggle with global warming pale in comparison. In his signature style, Weir writes of the last-ditch attempt to reverse the extinction of the human race, an effort that will take all of mankind coming together to save themselves. 

To say the situation that Ryland Grace finds himself in is completely alien to him would be both an understatement and about as accurate as you can get. As we first meet him, the public school science teacher is as in the dark about his predicament as we are. Grace has just awakened from a deep sleep. He's connected to various tubes and wires, each leading to machines that hum and beep quietly in the background. Moving his body is a chore. Dr. Grace aches with each attempt to lift himself from his bed and take in his surroundings. He sees two other beds that appear similar to his own, though neither of the others is connected to any monitoring devices. 

As his physical strength grows, so does his mental capacity. He can see now that the two other beds contain the lifeless bodies of two people, though Grace doesn't recognize either of them. More alarming is what lies outside of this room, a vast blackness that both mystifies and startles him. You see, Dr. Ryland Grace is in outer space. The only problem is that he has no idea how he got here or what he is supposed to do next. 

After enjoying Andy Weir's previous novel Artemis, I was excited to accept an offer from his publisher to review Project Hail Mary. Weir is best known for his breakout hit The Martian, and this novel sees him continue to combine his scientific expertise with a compelling story and witty dialogue. The main character's amnesia adds to the mystery of his situation. Weir alternates chapters of the past on earth with the present in space, allowing us to discover the motivations of his character without sacrificing any of the suspense of his current predicament. 

Both of Weir's previous works were the kind of sci-fi that is rooted firmly in a plausible reality. Project Hail Mary asks us to suspend disbelief a bit too much for my taste, taking the story into several eye roll-inducing moments. As the story progressed, things got more and more far-fetched, taking me out of the reality that the first portion of the novel so successfully built. By that point, however, I was so invested in seeing the story of this character through that I couldn't help but keep reading. To that end then, Project Hail Mary is ultimately a story of one man tasked with carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. It is through the power of this one character that everything else filters through, ultimately making the novel an endearing, if a bit uneven, read. 

For more information visit the author's website, Amazon, and Goodreads. 

(2021, 19)

Confession: I have yet to read Andy Weir's The Martian. I know what you're thinking, "How could he have missed reading that one?!" I honestly don't know. I loved the film adaptation of the book, and the kindle version has languished on my kindle for over a year. For some reason I just never got around to reading it. My negligence aside, The Martian became such a critical and commercial success that author Andy Weir has released a sophomore novel Artemis. I'm pleased to report that this novel hasn't sat dormant on my kindle. I enjoyed it so much, in fact, that I doubt you'll be able to ignore it either.

Artemis sees Weir tackling a story that takes place a little bit closer to home than his previous novel, closer to home than Mars at least. In this novel, man has conquered space and made their home on the Moon. Artemis, as the lunar colony has been named, plays host to a variety of tourists, wealthy industrialists, and the people who work for them. Jasmine Bashara, Jazz has lived most of her 20+ years on the moon. Her father is a well-regarded welder who longs for Jazz to follow in his professional footsteps, but Jazz has other plans. Her job as a porter who ships the various goods that make the city run pays only a meager salary. To earn more slugs (the currency of the moon), Jazz has turned to smuggling in contraband for some of Artemis's wealthier citizens.

A local businessman who regularly uses Jazz's smuggling services has called her in for a chat. He has a grand scheme to take over the monopolized aluminum smelting industry on the moon. The plan hinges upon someone sabotaging automated harvesters that scour the moon's surface. Jazz has the capability to both space walk and weld, skills that are paramount in successfully completing the job. In exchange for her services, Jazz would receive one million slugs, enough money to live comfortably and realize her dreams of her own business. But things will not be easy, especially in space!

I thoroughly enjoyed Artemis. The Martian was essentially an escape thriller that happened to take place on Mars. In Artemis, Andy Weir sets a fast-paced heist thriller on the moon. I'm no scientist, so I can't speak to the scientific plausibility of Weir's imagined colony. Still, Weir's consistency in quasi-scientific logic goes a long way in making this out-of-this-world fiction set in an authentic reality. Jazz is unapologetically crass at times, but operates with an unflinching moral compass that makes her instantly engaging. The supporting cast of space-dwelling misfits are equally attractive. I still haven't read The Martian, but if Artemis is any indication of the quality of entertainment that Andy Weir can concoct, I certainly won't put off reading it much longer.

For more information, visit the author's website, Amazon, and Goodreads.

(2017, 49)