2025 Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to discuss Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir.

Pages: 496 pages

Length: 1 Month (June)

Participants: Sebastian, SarahKat, Sara, Dominique, Heather, Eirelyn, Shari.

Everyone reads at their own pace during a Buddy Read. Because participants can be at different parts of the book at different times, it is extremely important to mark spoilers so that the book is not ruined for someone who is not as far along as others!!!

Mark spoilers by placing {spoiler} before the text and {/spoiler} after the text but use the < and > instead of the { and }.


Happy Buddy Reading!

Yay, I'm excited to start this. :D

Me too! The library should have a copy for me next week

I just started this last night! So far it’s enjoyable and a little creepy.

I'm #4 on the waiting list (of 7 copies), so hopefully I'll get this sooner rather than later. :D

I have a chunky book to finish (hopefully by this weekend). For sure 1st day of the month I'll start. I have the physical staring at me!

Hey everyone! I preordered my copy when the price dropped on Amazon around release, even though I usually buy from Bookshop. Excited to start reading this weekend!

If this arrives on time (I am on a wait list at the library), I hope to read this in June.

Oh man. Once I started the book, I could NOT stop! I started around around noon today, and just devoured it. Won’t spoil anything for everyone, but this book is definitely up there with the Martian…

@Sebastian, I absolutely LOVED The Martian, so that is great to read!

Hello everyone! I would like to join this discussion.
I absolutely loved The Martian, Artemis not so much.
I would probably be starting from next week.

I am now #2 on the waiting list. Getting closer...

I would love to join You All for this…I bought a copy on Amazon (42 people on the waitlist at the library for 1 copy of the book 😱)

Alison, yay, welcome! :D And I know what you mean -- I'm on the waitlist for the ebook, and there are 92 people waiting on 13 copies!

The perks of living in a small town (when they actually have a physical copy of the book). I was first in line and it's ready for me! I'm just trying to finish my book club book (also a newer release library book) before I pick this one up!

I just finished this one on Audible. I absolutely loved it! I would love to read something else like it if anyone has any recommendations.

This was my favorite of his three books - I think it has more heart than The Martian.

Flora wrote: "I just finished this one on Audible. I absolutely loved it! I would love to read something else like it if anyone has any recommendations."

Are you looking for hard sci fi? Interesting alien cultures? Heartwarming relationships? I can for sure make some recommendations, depending on what you liked about it!

Flora wrote: "I just finished this one on Audible. I absolutely loved it! I would love to read something else like it if anyone has any recommendations."

I found To Be Taught, If Fortunate very similar in scope to PHM; a bit more science/biology intensive and involves lots of alien life from different planets, but not quite as action-y. It’s a novella anyway so you don’t risk much by starting it.

Apart from that, The Martian and maybe Seveneves, but otherwise, Weir’s writing is very unique and I’m really glad he was able to make something truly incredible and, like Chrissy said, with heart (something his previous book, Artemis, lacked, imo).

Chrissy wrote: "Flora wrote: "I just finished this one on Audible. I absolutely loved it! I would love to read something else like it if anyone has any recommendations."

Are you looking for hard sci fi? Interesti..."

Definitely interested in alien cultures.

Vivek wrote: "Hello everyone! I would like to join this discussion.
I absolutely loved The Martian, Artemis not so much.
I would probably be starting from next week."

Ditto for me for his first two books.

I just picked up this book today, but have to finish a few books I'm already reading before I can get to this. I have read MANY scifi books (far more than it shows here, since I was reading them before GR and can't remember all of the titles I read) so it takes a lot to get me to love a scifi book, not that I usually like the classics. The Martian was 4.5 stars for me which is rare. I am hoping this one doesn't disappoint, but after Artemis I won't set the bar as high, which should help.

My hold just came through! I will probably start this tonight! So excited! :D

Hi! Can I jump in? The library processed the book way faster than I thought they would!

Yes, Library, join us! :D The more the merrier.

I just finished chapter 1, & I am already loving the main character. :D

I am through chapter 4, and I am really enjoying this book. Ryland is hilarious. Some characters amuse me or make me laugh internally, but Ryland has made me laugh out loud several times already.

I feel (view spoiler)[so badly for him though! He just discovered that he is in a completely different solar system & that he is going to die out there entirely alone. :'( So heartbreaking! (hide spoiler)]

I'll be picking up my copy today!

I'm straight up cackling with Ryland sometimes. I also really appreciate the science that he's actually using.

@Library, I've laughed so much with him too. XD Also, the science is impressive. I am not much of a science person myself, so I feel like I'm just along for the ride most of the time when he gets all science-y.

This book has really astounded me. Weir’s super power is the ability to make Science a plot point. I love it. Sciencing the shot out of stuff is made exciting in Weir’s hands.

I'm on chapter 4 and loving it so far! It definitely has the same feel as The Martian, which is smart on Weir's part. Artemis was not a strong book for him.

Flora wrote: "Chrissy wrote: "Flora wrote: "I just finished this one on Audible. I absolutely loved it! I would love to read something else like it if anyone has any recommendations."

Are you looking for hard s..."

I loved both The Sparrow and Semiosis for that reason, and also second To Be Taught, If Fortunate as well the Wayfarers series.

Having finished the book, I really love seeing people's reactions midway through, and I'm excited for you to keep reading!

As a science teacher, I do think Weir gets (by necessity) a bit hand-wavy in this one, since it deals with things outside our current understanding of matter, space, etc. A bit of a different flavor than The Martian in that respect.

Through chapter 7: (view spoiler)[ Aliens! I mean I know the astrophage is/are aliens, but now there's aliens driving spaceships! That's kind of fun, if indeed that's what they are. I rarely read books that have honest-to-goodness aliens like that.

One complaint with Weir's writing. He isn't great with emotion. He's really good at math and the problem of how this person is going to figure out each problem. Every time the dead crewmates come up, it feels forced and weird. "I brushed away a tear but I couldn't think about that now" (or something like that). I think he's trying to make Ryland relatable and more human but honestly I would prefer if he just left it out if he's not going to spend time on Ryland's emotions. Even his struggles with being on a suicide mission don't seem sincere.

It's not ruining the book for me, just a minor "meh" thing. (hide spoiler)]

@SarahKat, same here! (view spoiler)[I rarely get into stories that have intelligent alien life, but I feel like most are done so poorly, character-wise. This one is a breath of fresh air!

I get what you're saying about the emotional aspect of it, but I feel like that was intentional. I'm trying to put myself in Ryland's shoes & imagine myself in a similar situation -- I can honestly say I wouldn't want to spend much time thinking about 1) my dead friends or 2) the fact that I'm on a suicide mission & going to die completely alone in space. I think once a person heads down that path, it would be difficult to focus on the things that actually need to be done (e.g. trying to figure out a way to save the world). It could easily result in a very quick psychological spiraling, so I understand why Ryland doesn't want to spend too much time thinking about those things just yet.

However, I do hope that he will get to that point & want to unpack all of those emotions. I want to see that. I just understand why he hasn't done that yet, from a mission standpoint. (hide spoiler)]

Flora wrote: "Definitely interested in alien cultures."

I would highly recommend Christopher Paolini's newest book To Sleep in a Sea of Stars. There is a huge discussion in it on alien cultures and societies. I also would highly recommend Finder by Suzanne Palmer . It doesn't really have alien cultures exactly, though there are aliens, but I do think it has a similar sense of humor as Andy Weir's books and I just love the series and think everyone should read it.

Also, I'll be starting this book later this week.

I am through chapter 20, and (view spoiler)[things are heating up! Quite literally, in the sense that Rocky's extremely warm body is involved. XD

Things went a bit awry after Ryland & Rocky collected the "predator" sample from Adrian's atmosphere -- the hole in the ship, the Astrophage fuel exiting rapidly towards the planet, the ship thrusting out of control, Ryland getting pinned, and Rocky risking his own life to save Ryland's!

I've never been really into aliens-in-outer-space stories for the most part. However, if a story is going to involve aliens, I prefer it to be like this one, where humans & aliens can actually work together without trying to experiment on or kill each other. In fact, Ryland & Rocky seem to be pretty good friends by this point, considering that they have both been trying to save each other's lives.

Also...Rocky better not die! And Ryland better not either! XD Especially since they discussed how Rocky has enough fuel for Ryland to make the return trip to Earth. *fingers crossed*

All in all, I am enjoying this novel, and I am looking forward to the last quarter or so that I have left to read. :D (hide spoiler)]

I finished it! Not gonna talk about it until you guys are done.

I finished reading it a while back and I loved it. (view spoiler)[ I think friendship dynamics were aptly handled. Ryland's redemption for self-sacrifice was predictable but still quite touching. I especially liked the ending where Ryland stayed with Eridians. That was a fitting end.
In my opinion, the book was quite witty, intriguing, and fun to read. I especially liked reading about the evolution of Eridians and their culture. (hide spoiler)]

Sara wrote: "Flora wrote: "Definitely interested in alien cultures."

I would highly recommend "
I would recommend Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Time for an intricate read on evolutionary biology, alien culture, and remarkable non-human characters.

I have started this and am on Chapter 6! This is the first Weir book I have read. I watched "The Martian" with Matt Damon but have never read any of his books...

(view spoiler)[ I, too, love Ryland's humor (very dry) and have laughed or smiled several times. The way he and Stratt interact and some of her comebacks to Ryland have me LOL :)

Poor Ryland, to be on a suicide mission :( I do agree with you, @SarahKat, about Weir's writing about emotions and trying to make the character connect with you when Ryland is sad, etc. It seems a bit detached to me. However, @Eirelyn, I also agree with you that Ryland may need that detachment in order to deal with the enormous life situations he is dealing with (dead friends, suicide mission, etc)! I do, however, think that I would like to be more emotionally connected with Ryland...

I love the science of it all! We are a very science oriented family and tho some of the math is beyond me, I like all the experiments that Ryland sets up to study the Astrophage! Maybe Weir might be a little too "explain-y" about the science but I get that he is trying to get the general public interested in the science of the book and may have to explain more to some people so that they are invested in it :)
(hide spoiler)]

Onto read more about Ryland's mission! I am on a long flight tomorrow to visit my sister and family (haven't seen them in over a year) so I think I will get a good chunk of this read! I may not check in for a while but look forward to putting down my thoughts when I get home :)

@Vivek...My husband read Children of Time and really, really liked it! He would talk about it with me whilst reading it and I have it on my TBR! :)

@Sara...To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is also on my TBR :)

I finished this book a few weeks ago, so ready to discuss anytime.

Feel free to post comments as you see fit, whether everyone has finished yet or not. Just make sure to mark spoilers as indicated in the first post. :D

I never have my book and my computer in the same place, so I am not sure what chapter I'm on. 18 I think. Right around page 300

(view spoiler)[At the beginning I was really enjoying Ryland's past because it explained what he was doing there and all the fun sciencey stuff about the Astrophage. At this point, though, it feels like commercial breaks between the things I really want more of which is his interactions and research with Rocky. I think it's clever how they figured out how to communicate and Rocky moved into his ship.
I hope Ryland can make it back, although, would humans then feel the need to go colonize Rocky's planet for that awesome xenonite? It might be best if Earth stayed ignorant of intelligent life with stuff that we could use. We have a tendency to meddle. (hide spoiler)]

I still haven't started this yet!

Thanks for all the recommendations. I will look into all of them. I have started and I really like it so far.

Copied and pasted my review. It's spoilery so only read if you've finished!

(view spoiler)[4.5 rounded up for the sheer enjoyment factor. This book definitely has its flaws but I was glad to see a lot of the same feel as The Martian, and very little of the same feel as Artemis.

I really loved the science stuff, the space exploration, the initial confusion and mystery of why he was there, and of course later, the discovery and befriending of Rocky! I don't care if it was accurate or how much disbelief I had to suspend. It was just fun! I don't read a lot of pure sci-fi, but this was just so enjoyable because it really is pure unadulterated space adventure with great characters and interesting problems to solve. Very much like The Martian in most ways.

Weir doesn't do a great job with emotions. That was one of the things in Artemis that was just terribly executed. I know that a lot of Ryland's grief couldn't be delved into because he doesn't have time to ruminate on it and that's not why the reader is reading this book. However, I would have been happier if Weir had just left the silly little comments out. Stuff like (not exact quotes) "I wiped away a tear before moving on" or "my friends *sob* anyway..." just seemed shoehorned in and if we are not going to delve into his grief, mention it once and move along. Don't keep mentioning it in these little meaningless snippets.

Otherwise, I loved it. I loved the ending! I was really concerned Weir was going to turn around and have either the human race find out about Erid and come colonize them because we really like doing that. Or for a second there I was really concerned Rocky actually sabotaged the Taumeoba boxes so Ryland couldn't tell humanity about him. I guess I'm used to reading darker stuff with more complex characters and twists. But no! This had a happy ending. Ryland lives out the rest of his life with his only friend and he teaches the equivalent of junior high Eridians! AND he saved 2 whole planets. Super sweet. (hide spoiler)]

I am hoping to start this after I finish my current book. Hoping to finish it tonight and start on this one tomorrow. I liked both of the previous books. The Martian was my favorite. Artemis was a little cheesy, but I still liked it. Looking forward to reading this one.

Trisha wrote: "This thread is to discuss Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir.

Pages: 496 pages

Length: 1 Month (June)

Participants: Sebastian, SarahKat, Sara, Dominique, Heather, Ei..."

Hi Trisha

I have just started reading this book. I guess I missed it in the buddy reads list initially. Can you please join me to the buddy reads group.

Thanks

This month has gotten away from me, but I'm hoping to start this one in the next day or two. Really looking forward to it! This will be my first book from Andy Weir, although his other books are on my TBR too.