Project Hail Mary

THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE MARTIAN • Soon to be a major motion picture starring Ryan Gosling, directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, with a screenplay by Drew Goddard

A lone astronaut must save the earth from disaster in this “propulsive” (Entertainment Weekly), cinematic thriller full of suspense, humor, and fascinating science.

HUGO AWARD FINALIST • ONE OF THE YEAR’S BEST BOOKS: Bill Gates, GatesNotes, New York Public Library, Parade, Newsweek, Polygon, Shelf Awareness, She Reads, Kirkus Reviews, Library JournalNew York Times Readers Pick: 100 Best Books of the 21st Century

“An epic story of redemption, discovery and cool speculative sci-fi.”—USA Today

“If you loved The Martian, you’ll go crazy for Weir’s latest.”—The Washington Post


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?

An irresistible interstellar adventure as only Andy Weir could deliver, Project Hail Mary is a tale of discovery, speculation, and survival to rival The Martian—while taking us to places it never dreamed of going.

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Published May 4, 2021

Average rating: 8.51

4,339 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

Dmar Smyth
Feb 20, 2026
7/10 stars
Very engaging and loved the friendship that builds over the story. It was my first Science Fiction novel and a fast read since I had to know what happens to Ryland and Rocky!!
joepeek
Jan 17, 2026
6/10 stars
I’m not a huge sci-fi fan, and only read this because it was the library book club selection. I found myself skipping over paragraphs of science related narrative. But I really liked Rocky, and I especially liked Statt as a strong leader of the mission
Dmar Smyth
Jan 07, 2026
7/10 stars
Very engaging and loved the friendship that builds over the story. It was my first Science Fiction novel and a fast read since I had to know what happens to Ryland and Rocky!!
Stizstar
Nov 24, 2025
10/10 stars
Amaze!

Project Hail Mary has made my favorites list.

Excellent read!
Groundhogcat
Oct 24, 2025
10/10 stars
Wow! Such a fun book to read and listen to. I especially enjoyed the interactin between the alien and the human Grace. Or rather they are both aliens in outer space, but Rocky is very differnt from Grace.

Enjoyable read. Recommended.

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