Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

I know I’m late to read this, but in all fairness, it has been sitting on my shelf since publication. I pre-ordered it and just never got around to reading it after it showed up—life is like that sometimes.

Then Geo and I came back from a road trip and decided to catch a movie, knowing nothing about Project Hail Mary in the slightest. We loved it, of course. I dug into the stack of books and pulled my copy out, leaving it well within reach. 

Of course I loved everything about this.

Weir does science fiction supremely well.

What makes science fiction work isn’t the science. All stories, to be successful, have to rely on the universal truth of humanity: love, loss, life, ambition, deception, success, companionship, betrayal. And what science fiction is uniquely suited to is stories of universal truths that are arranged around problem-solving, one of the most fundamental elements of human existence. We’re alive; we solve problems. It’s what we do. For what it’s worth, this is why the  Star Trek series succeeded so well, and why the first Star Trek movie failed so spectacularly. Grand sweeping shots of the outside of the ship, or of technology in general, aren’t a story. 

Anyway, I loved everything about this book, and of course you knew I would. 

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

There’s something deeply powerful about this book, and Tartt writes it beautifully and well. But the power of what Tartt has captured goes beyond the story of five friends and what happened to their sixth, and how secrets become a sickness. Tartt published this in 1992, and her canvas for the portraits she paints is the small college campus, an world away but also one so completely a world and culture to itself that it could be interchangeable with another one a coast—or even a nation—away. 

What happened in higher education in the early 90’s—largely through the early years of the S&L crash in the States, but through so many other factors as well—rendered this a last picture of the way things were. By the time contemporary readers meet Richard, our narrator, and his erudite fellows of the Classics, this will seem as though it was written in a culture that is not merely a few decades ago, but from a time of ancient history. The chronology of this work renders the whole even more compelling, though Tartt doesn’t need any help. The Secret History brings friendship and loyalty, identity and inclusion all to the fore, shining a light on the ways in which we build who we are and craft the scaffolds that support our narratives of self. 

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Bloomsbury, 2011.

This is so good that is wrecked my ability to read anything for nearly a month.

Superb writing, deft craft, and the absolute beauty of the tale kept me spellbound. 

My heart still aches when I think of it.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

Tambourines to Glory by Langston Hughes

Novel form published in 1958

This is a rollicking good time.

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

Knopf, 2022

I was so fetched by Zevin’s Fikry that I scooped up this work. It’s nothing like Fikry, of course, and it’s just brilliant.

I was consumed down into the investigation of friendship and trust and confidence and parallel play and gaming, especially gaming together, that I read this book without stopping. 

Truly, I love each of the characters, and I felt the struggles and victories as they played out, winced as each one made terrible decisions, and actually held my breath during a particular scene. 

It’s a compelling work, and delightful.

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

Published by Tor, 2018

The second in the Murderbot series, Artificial Condition brings us more deeply into the issues of identity, autonomy, and friendship. 

These novels are jaunty and light, and yet they deal with some of the most important, and timely, themes of our day. Each of the volumes I’ve read so far has been the perfect book to take with me on a vacation, and the situations and mishaps—and personalities—that populate each offering have stayed with me in a meaningful way. 

Pack this in your suitcase and enjoy the ride.

The series has been brought to the small screen by Apple TV+, and I hear that’s delightful too.