"These kids were going to grow up in an idyllic world and be thrown into an apocalyptic nightmare.
"They were the generation that would experience the Sixth Extinction Event."
"Project Hail Mary" arrived as timely escapist fiction, in the sense that Earth is under siege in the form of a virus-like issue impacting the sun. Andy Weir doubles down on the science, at times turning this into a dense, complex read.
A dramatic, highly absorbing opening kickstarts the story, with a number of variables lending a degree of annoyance. The protagonist suffers memory issues, yet somehow refuses to use a notebook or mission log to help him combat this challenge.
Weir offsets some of these plot potholes with welcome, sneaky humor.
"Besides, if I had a nickel for every time I wanted to smack a kid's parents for not teaching them even the most basic things ... well ... I'd have enough nickels to put in a sock and smack those parents with it."
"I want to know how this affects humans, and when. I don't care about the mating grounds of the three-anused mud sloth or any random biome."
"This is happy! Your face opening is in sad mode. Why, question?"
At its best, this novel is a human-alien buddy story, blending giggles and surprising emotion to create a memorable tale of interstellar survival to save multiple species. Suspension of disbelief is called for on a number of occasions, but the result is a book that offers something that can be in scant supply these days:
Hope.
"The situation was dire and deadly, but it was also the norm. Londoners during the Blitz in World War II went about their day as normal, with the understanding that occasionally buildings get blown up. However desperate things were, someone still had to deliver milk. And if Mrs. McCreedy's house got bombed in the night, well, you crossed if off the delivery list."
No comments:
Post a Comment