“The whole world put you in charge of solving this problem, and you came directly to a junior high school science teacher?” [loc. 857]
A man wakes up in a white room; can't remember his own name; can't remember where he is, or why; works out that he's American, English or Liberian (he thinks in imperial units) ... and keeps getting flashes of memory, which he begins to piece together.
Dr Ryland Grace is not on Earth. He's on a spaceship, the Hail Mary. He's alone with two dead crewmates, a very long way from home, and he's been sent to save the world.
I shan't reveal more of the plot, because it's cleverly doled out, scrap by scrap, and the pacing of the revelations is excellent. The story kept me guessing almost to the final page, and it was surprisingly moving as well as being jam-packed with science and engineering. I don't read much 'hard' SF, which is to say SF that focuses on physics. I found Project Hail Mary engaging without being intellectually overbearing: perhaps because Grace is a science teacher, used to explaining things to children, his descriptions of his thought processes are pitched for an audience that isn't familiar with the scientific principles involved. There are bullet points, but few, if any, equations.
Grace is a fascinating character, gradually recovering his memories and piecing together the fragments of his life on Earth and the crisis that led to his current isolation (and indeed to his amnesia). He's remarkably level-headed, considering his situation, and extremely practical. What I most liked about him, though, was the way he thought: the way every strange new scenario (of which there are many) prompted new questions, new theories and new ways to test them. It's a brilliant illustration of the scientific method -- and of the difference between science and engineering.
I enjoyed this novel a lot, despite a few loose (though not vital) threads. Now I might give The Martian another try, though I suspect it will elicit memories of the film, which I liked a lot.
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