Tag: rfantasy

Saving Grace – Project Hail Mary

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Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mision – if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish.

But right now, he doesn’t know that. All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time, and he’s just woke to find himself hurtling through space, millions of miles from home.

It’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery, and he’s got to do it all alone…

This is the first Andy Weir book I’ve read. It’s also one that I decided to listen to the audiobook of – for which I’m very glad because the audiobook just adds to the experience. I’ve listened to it more than twice. I’ve joined communities about this book. I am looking forward to the movie that’s upcoming (although I’m not a Ryan Gosling fan, I hope he can pull off the role.)

I don’t do science. Or maths. Or anything like that to be honest; and I was worried when all of the scientific aspects came into play that I wouldn’t be able to follow what was happening – turned out it wasn’t an issue, and the accuracy (or lack thereof) would have made no difference to me anyway, but, I got caught up in the narrative and felt Grace’s excitement about it all, and felt like I was learning stuff, even though I can’t remember the ins-and-outs of it all! I think I may have even enjoyed science lessons with Mr. Grace.

But I digress.

I’ve read plenty of things about Project Hail Mary since I finished it – some positive, some negative – but I can say I’m definitely in the positive camp for this. I absolutely love Grace, I both love and hate Stratt at the same time, and Rocky is by far one of the most interesting characters I’ve met.

From the first 2 plus 2 equals, I was hooked. Weir’s writing style just clicked for me straight away and I tore through the book like a mad-woman. I could not put it down. When I listened to it, I didn’t want to stop listening. It was that compelling, I re-read and listened almost immediately after finishing.

The plot, the stakes, the characters, the awkward situations – the togas, the mechanical hands, the flashbacks – all of it just came together amazingly and I rode the journey with Ryland all the way through. Stratt was frustratingly annoying, amazing and awful all at once and was extremely believable given the circumstances. But I connected with Grace more. I mourned his losses, fist-bumped at his achievements along with him, was frustrated when he was. I adored his relationship with Rocky and the friendship they built regardless of the boundaries of language and race, light years upon light years away from their own homes; believing and hoping even when all belief and hope seemed lost. I was right next to Grace when he realised what was really important. I was with Rocky when he realised what Grace had done. I went through a rollercoaster of emotions.

I love character driven stories, and PHM is no exception to that. Weir created a scenario where success was minimal, stakes were ridiculously high, and where above all, friendship and love were proven to be the ties that bind. The ending was extremely satisfying.

This is a tale that will stay with me for a long time, and I will most definitely re-visit it again, probably regularly. Andy Weir most certainly did his job well, and I, for one, am most definitely a fan.

This is in my top reads of 2024.

Rated 5 stars.

The Expanse: Leviathan Wakes

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Jim Holden is an officer on an ice miner making runs from the rings of Saturn to the mining stations of the belt. When he and his crew stumble upon a derelict ship, the Scopuli, they find themselves in possession of a secret they never wanted.

Detective Miller is looking for one girl in a system of billions, but her parents have money and money talks. When the trail leads him to the Scopuli and Holden, he realises the girl may hold the key to everything.

Holden and Miller must work together and thread the needle to find the truth, but between the Earth government, the Outer Planet revolutionaries and secretive corporations, the odds are against them.

Out in the Belt, the rules are different, and one small ship can change the fate of the universe.


Are you actually kidding me?

I am one of the most idiotic, ridiculous and stupid people in the world of readers. I like *watching” sci-fi: I love Star Wars, Star Trek, Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, but it never crossed my mind, not once, to see if I liked *reading* it.

Well, I’m sheepish. And very, very ashamed that it’s taken me this long to read a space opera. As I’m participating in Book Bingo 2024, I’ve read A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers for the Space Opera Square (HM) but it didn’t feel like a space opera. It felt like Firefly. Which I know is in my list above, but it’s not really a space opera, it’s cosy space-fantasy-sci-fi. Not that that’s a bad thing. I mean, yay! cosy sci-fi- I loved it, but I don’t really think it captured the “spirit of the square” so I’m still waiting for something to fill that slot. I digress, my original point is this: I’ve never read a Space Opera, even though I’m evidently a fan of them in TV format, so, when The Expanse was recommended to me by Dan at my local Waterstones I dived right in.

And I am most definitely not disappointed.

I have never, and could never have imagined enjoying a sci-fi book so much. Seriously. Did I understand all the jargon? No. Was it still amazing? Hell. Yes!!! So much so, I checked out the TV series too…

I went into this book blind. All I knew was that it was something set in space. If it had just been that, I would have been satisfied, but it’s so much more. Seriously, this is Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek on steroids in book form!!!! The characters are intriguing, the plot engaging, the writing ebbs and flows in exactly the right ways and the threads all weave together brilliantly. And one of the most amazing things is the world-building: it’s realistic, the foundations are secure and based on fairly current knowledge… – it’s believable that this could be what our world becomes, and funnily enough, that’s a theme that runs through the series -what could our world become? And what will we do when it changes into that?

So, yeah, I went out and got the rest of the series before I’d finished the first book. I got distracted from bingo for a little while, but never mind.

Back to the matter at hand. It’s all Dan’s fault.

I loved the noir aspect of this – I love thrillers and crime dramas and all that sort of thing, so Miller being a detective really hit the spot, and the mystery alongside the science/space intrigue kept me turning pages. I love Miller. He’s odd, a little bit psycho and stalkery, but he’s so intriguing and his relationship with Holden is just really endearing. I think if they weren’t almost polar-opposites, they’d be best mates.

I have to admit, I found it difficult to get into at first, so I checked out the first episode of the series to “get the feel” of it all, and I don’t regret doing that because it really helped me to get into the vibe of the book. Once that was done, I flew through it. There were some parts that were slower, which I anticipated, but on the whole, it was just fascinating and really enjoyable.

Out of all of the relationships in the book, Miller and Julie really got me. I mean, he kind of went a bit loopy, but the scene where he “saved” earth and Julie, was just so beautifully described, both in the book and in the series, that it completely devastated me as well as filling me with a sense of awe and just made me think “wow, there are still decent people out there.”

I’m really looking forward to getting to know the rest of the crew and seeing what else the belt, the martians and the earthers have in store for Holden and his friends.