What to Read Next if you liked Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir
Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir, seems like it had a big moment among some of the internet spheres I’m next to. I finished it earlier this week on audio and enjoyed it. I liked it better than The Martian, and think it’s a solidly entertaining space adventure book. Definitely grab the audio if you can. Ray Porter is the narrator and he is one of my very favorites. I love his voice and his style He sounds, to me, like a combo of Tom Hanks and Tony Stark in the best way.
As soon as I finished Project Hail Mary, I thought of some books that would be a good fit for folks who really loved it and I’m really happy with this list. There are different parts of Project Hail Mary that I think this list hits. Hopefully it will provide some good reading material!
The Bobiverse series, by Dennis E. Taylor, on Audible - If you listened to Project Hail Mary on audio and liked the narrator, if you liked the regular human person ends up in space predicament and nothing is as you had imagined it would be you really ought to get the Bobiverse series. It’s phenomenal and I’ve listened to the trilogy multiple times. Ray Porter narrates and I adore the space nonsense and space peril and space thinking that this story contains. Here’s my pitch for it - Man gets rich fast, signs up to get his head frozen when he dies, is immediately hit by car afterwards, wakes up as sentient space probe. The first one is We Are Legion (We Are Bob). Go get it. I think I’m going to download it again and listen to the series again this year. It is SO good (I did not read book 4, heard it was not the best and decided to decide it is just a trilogy in my brain).
Waypoint Kangaroo, by Curtis C. Chen - If the thing you liked about Project Hail Mary was competent man stuck in space encounters much danger and many problems and space is so cool then you should try Waypoint Kangaroo. It is about a man with a special skill stuck in space. While Ryland Grace has the special skill of competence and science thinking, Agent Kangaroo is a sometimes competent spy with a one of a kind ability. He has his own personal black hole he can access at will. He can store anything and everything he wants to, whenever he wants to. Kangaroo’s adventure begins when he is sent on a mandatory vacation cruise fo Mars because he messed up another mission. Then, two people aboard end up dead and he has to figure out what is going on and how to save everything. It’s great. There is a second book but I haven’t read it yet.
Six Wakes, by Mur Lafferty - If the thing you liked about Project Hail Mary was the guy stuck aboard spaceship, the peril involved in trying to not die, and memories that do not unfold evenly, then you should try Six Wakes. This is a locked room mystery aboard a spaceship. This concept is so cool, and for me it was really successful. A crew of clones wakes up in space. The catch is, every time they die, their memories reset. So when one wakes up in dried blood they know there’s been a murder, by one of their own, and nobody knows who did it or why. It is intense and clever and so so good. Excellent use of memory loss, clones, and the closed room of a spaceship.
Spaceman of Bohemia, by Jaroslav Kalfar - If the thing you liked about Project Hail Mary was the other thing I can’t mention because spoilers, and maybe wish Project Hail Mary was a smidge more literary or contemplative or more character driven then you should try Spaceman of Bohemia. Oh I adore this weird little book. It’s about a man who becomes his country’s first astronaut, thinking of it as a chance to right personal family history and be an actual hero for the sake of doing the right thing. This is a great blend of character driven writing but still has the great space setting and pressing tension of being the one person who can do the thing that needs doing. In this book, our spaceman grapples with isolation and the near crushing and relentless loneliness in ways Weir’s novel doesn’t come close to. There is a friendship in this book that remains one of my absolute favorites in fiction. Jakub, the spaceman of Bohemia, befriends a creature that might be a figment of his imagination and has a fondness for Nutella. Intrigued? I hope so. This book is lovely, poignant, weighty in the feels and the plot does not lag. I wish more people would read this it is a phenomenal story. Spaceman of Bohemia is the best comp to Project Hail Mary that exists, in my opinion.
An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth, by Colonel Chris Hadfield - If the thing you like about Project Hail Mary was the parts about navigating space, the talks with the controls, the logistics of doing the thing that they’re doing, or wish there was more insight into Grace’s life before the space part, you should try An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth. I love this book. It is non-fiction, written by someone who has actually been to space and done so multiple times with great success. Hadfield is an amazing guy and in this book he talks about what it takes to be an astronaut, and the behind the scenes is absolutely fascinating. Hadfield seems to have the best attitude and I found this to be both an endlessly interesting book, but also pretty inspirational. His discussions about trusting your colleagues, knowing your job, having and cultivating the temperament to be successful at this job, and how those things are just useful in creating a meaningful life. One of the books I really am actually grateful for that has stayed with me and I think about often.
If you pick up one of these recommendations I would love to hear what you think!
Happy reading, and yay space books!