Project Hail Mary

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?

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?

In his #1 New York Times bestselling debut, The Martian, Andy Weir took us to another world. In his highly praised follow-up novel, Artemis, he took us to the Moon. Now, in his most extraordinary and ambitious book yet, Andy Weir takes us to another star. Why does Ryland Grace, the hero and narrator of Project Hail Mary undertake such an unprecedented journey? Because the Earth’s own star, the Sun, is dying. Under attack from a mysterious energy-eating microscopic organism Ryland dubs Astrophage, the gradual dimming of the Sun spells the end of all life on Earth. Unless something can be done… Ryland is recruited into the international effort to build a starship that can travel to Tau Ceti, a star that has been proven to be resistant to the Astrophage. The trip is to be one way, and Ryland, awakening from a medically induced coma and initially amnesiac, finds he is the only member of the three-person crew to survive. Racing against a clock counting down to the death of the human race, Ryland puts Weir’s command of science and technology—and his ability to communicate it in clear and gripping language—to the highest imaginable test. At every turn astonishing, Project Hail Mary meets and surpasses the impossibly high bar Andy Weir set with his earlier novels, fulfilling the promise of the title in every respect. Go to another star. Go to another world. Go long.

Why does Ryland Grace, the hero and narrator of Project Hail Mary undertake such an unprecedented journey? Because the Earth’s own star, the Sun, is dying. Under attack from a mysterious energy-eating microscopic organism Ryland dubs Astrophage, the gradual dimming of the Sun spells the end of all life on Earth. Unless something can be done… Ryland is recruited into the international effort to build a starship that can travel to Tau Ceti, a star that has been proven to be resistant to the Astrophage. The trip is to be one way, and Ryland, awakening from a medically induced coma and initially amnesiac, finds he is the only member of the three-person crew to survive. Racing against a clock counting down to the death of the human race, Ryland puts Weir’s command of science and technology—and his ability to communicate it in clear and gripping language—to the highest imaginable test.

From the author of The Martian, a lone-astronaut Ryland Grace must save the earth from disaster — if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish.

From the author of The Martian, a lone-astronaut Ryland Grace must save the earth from disaster — if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish.