** Space Sucks, Science is Fun **
Every science nerd dreams that someday their years of learning esoteric knowledge will pay off. So for many, the real world, void of advanced math and driven by relationships and perception, is a disappointment. Andy Weir’s niche is science-fantasy to fill this gap, a high budget MacGyver where the protagonist can ‘science the shit’ out of any situation.
While Hail Mary makes no reference to the Martian, it is a continuation of the same premise. Wise-cracking science geek Ted Lasso finds himself alone in space with enough tools to try hypotheses and find creative solutions. In a separate substory, a competent bureaucracy races against the clock in order to make a last ditch effort to provide assistance from the safe confines of earth. This setup plays to Weir’s strengths: no worldbuilding, no relationships or character development, only science, plot, and wisecracks.
Still, I didn’t enjoy this as much as I did the Martian, for a few reasons: First, many of the science-mini-mysteries were overly telegraphed so it felt like the main character and story were just catching up to what the reader already knew. This is a known hazard of reading too many genre books, but whether it was problems with the Xenonite, non-visual aliens, or why Grace ended up on the ship in the first place, many of the subplots lacked suspense. Second, much of the plot is driven by an overarching glibness in dealing with the unknown. Characters die from atom-bomb level mishaps, or our main character remains incurious about the substances he’s working with until a plot crisis develops. For a book that is supposed to be space-competence-porn, I wish Weir would have injected a bit more caution or humility into characters deep out of their depth.
** 66th book of 2021 **