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. 

Light Chaser by Peter Hamilton and Gareth Powell

Sometimes I think science fiction is just lost on me. I tend to get a bit glassy-eyed when authors talk about the tech they have envisioned as though I’m going to be as enamored with it as they are, and frequently I’m simply not. Tech itself doesn’t impress me any more than a dial tone in a phone receiver would. The story of how tech is used, though, is compelling. 

Hamilton and Powell almost get it, here, but ultimately fell short for me. 

This is well-enough written, and if you like tech, you’ll like this. It’s a bit of a swashbuckling, rage-against-the-machine by the end of it all, and again, it’s a bit sophomoric for my tastes.

The stories on the various planets are pretty cool, and the underlying premise is solid. 

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

2022

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.