Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir (Penguin, $29.99)

Reviewed by Brian Truitt

A cosmic cross between Memento, Arrival and The Right Stuff, the newest book from The Martian author centres on the sole survivor of a spaceship sent to save humanity and puts him through his paces in a complex, science-filled story that’s also about empathy and friendship found in the most unlikely of places.

Ryland Grace wakes up with a nasty round of amnesia after coming out of an induced coma, not knowing where he is and wondering why a robotic arm is feeding and caring for him. He starts to regain movement, gets his wits about him and notices a couple of dead bodies in his vicinity. Ryland starts to recall his situation that slowly unravels in flashbacks interspersed throughout Project Hail Mary.

Ryland faces plenty of stressful moments, white-knuckle piloting manoeuvres, experiments gone wrong and twists that keep things interesting for him (and readers). Fortunately, he’s not alone in the universe: Ryland meets a fellow traveller, an alien he nicknames Rocky. The twosome figure out how to communicate and help each other, and the bond they form is the highlight of the story, as an unexpected hard-science buddy comedy breaks out in the middle of a disaster-movie scenario.

Project Hail Mary has the same strong storytelling as The Martian and if you dug Weir’s original self-published hit or the Oscarnominated Matt Damon film, get ready to enjoy this, too. Weir’s well-crafted book is an epic story of redemption, discovery and cool speculative sci-fi made all the better with a couple of perfect strangers turned BFFs.