The main story takes place on the Hail Mary spacecraft and is intercut with flashbacks. This summary is in chronological order.
In the near future, scientists observe a global dimming event coinciding with the formation of a bright line from the Sun to Venus. The exponential rate of dimming will cause a catastrophic ice age within 30 years. The world's governments cooperate and appoint former European Space Agency administrator Eva Stratt unilateral authority and legal immunity to solve the problem. A space probe is sent to Venus, and it is discovered that the line contains alien microbes.
Stratt appoints Ryland Grace, a junior high (middle) school teacher and former molecular biologist to study a sample of the organism recovered from Venus. He discovers that the single-celled organism consumes electromagnetic radiation and uses radiant energy to move, naming it "Astrophage.” Grace also discovers that Astrophage reproduces by feeding on the heat of the Sun and carbon dioxide on Venus. Other scientists discover that Astrophage can be mass-bred for use as rocket fuel.
Astronomy data reveals that Astrophage has also infected and dimmed nearby stars, but one star, Tau Ceti, has resisted the infection. An Astrophage-fueled starship, the Hail Mary, is created to travel to Tau Ceti and obtain information about Astrophage resistance. There is only time to breed enough Astrophage for a one-way trip, so the crew are tasked with returning the findings to Earth with unmanned mini-ships called "beetles." Grace trains the science experts for the mission, but they are killed in an accident shortly before launch. With no time to train a comparably-skilled replacement, Stratt forces Grace to join the mission. Grace threatens sabotage, so a sedative is administered to him before launch, with a temporary amnesia-inducing drug set to be administered shortly before he awakens.
Years later, Ryland Grace emerges from his coma aboard the Hail Mary with no memory of his identity or situation. Grace finds that his crew members have died and gives them a space burial. Hail Mary reaches Tau Ceti and is approached by an alien starship, which Grace names "Blip-A." The other ship indicates that its home system in 40 Eridani is also plagued by an Astrophage infection. Blip-A docks with Hail Mary, and the two ships establish first contact. Grace develops a system to communicate with the spider-like five-legged alien, whom Grace names "Rocky." Rocky, a skilled engineer, has been in the Tau Ceti system for 46 years and is the last survivor of his crew.
Unfamiliar with the concept of relativity, the Eridians greatly overestimated the amount of fuel needed for a round-trip to Tau Ceti, and Grace learns that the Blip-A has enough Astrophage fuel for both ships to return to their planets. Grace and Rocky discover Astrophage's home planet in orbit around Tau Ceti, which Rocky names after his mate and Grace names "Adrian." The planet's atmosphere is found to contain a natural predator of Astrophage. The predator is found to live in the upper atmosphere of Adrian, forcing Grace and Rocky to construct a 10 kilometer chain made of xenonite, an Eridian xenon compound with extraordinary tensile strength and heat resistance. While collecting a sample, a hull breach occurs, and Grace and Rocky risk their lives to save each other. From the sample, the Astrophage predator is found to be a microbe which Grace names "Taumoeba."
Grace and Rocky use selective breeding to produce Taumoeba that can survive in both their home star systems. Rocky refuels the Hail Mary, and they part ways. En route, Grace discovers that he has accidentally bred into the Taumoeba the ability to escape their xenonite containers. Although Grace fixes the problem on Hail Mary, he realizes that the Blip-A is made almost entirely of the same material as the containers and that the Taumoeba would have consumed Blip-A's Astrophage fuel, leaving Rocky stranded.
Due to his limited food supply, Grace is forced to choose between returning to Earth but dooming the Eridians or saving the Eridians and starving to death on Erid, where the food is toxic to humans. Grace chooses to send the beetles back to Earth with Taumeoba farms and instructions to save the Sun, while he locates the Blip-A and reunites with Rocky three months after their departure. Rocky is overjoyed and points out the possibility that Grace could consume Taumoeba, giving him a chance at survival.
16 years later, Grace is living on Erid, now rid of its Astrophage infection. Using a digital archive of human knowledge, the Eridians have built a system that enables Grace to live on Erid, where he has become a teacher of Eridian young. Rocky tells Grace that the Astrophage infection around the Sun has abated, meaning Grace's mission was a success. Knowing that humanity has survived on Earth, Grace considers returning to his home planet.
Writing process
In a profile in The New York Times, Weir says that after completing The Martian, he began a multi-volume space opera called Zhek, about a substance that could absorb electromagnetic radiation and be used as a fuel for interstellar travel. He wrote 75,000 words before abandoning the project and beginning his novel Artemis (2017). Several elements from Zhek were brought over to Project Hail Mary, including a ruthless bureaucrat character, and an energy-absorbing substance used as starship fuel.[6]
Publication
Project Hail Mary was released on May 4, 2021, by Ballantine Books. It is available in hardcover, e-book, and audiobook formats. The audiobook narrated by Ray Porter uses melodic sound effects in the background whenever "Rocky" speaks.
Reception
Project Hail Mary has received generally positive reviews. According to Book Marks, the book received a "positive" consensus, based on eighteen critic reviews: eight "rave", seven "positive", and three "mixed".[7][8][9]
Writing for The New York Times, sci-fi author Alec Nevala-Lee wrote "For readers who can forgive its shortcomings, the result is an engaging space odyssey."[10]Kirkus Reviews gave the book a starred review, describing it as "An unforgettable story of survival and the power of friendship—nothing short of a science-fiction masterwork."[11]
In writing her review for The Washington Post, SFWA president and science fiction writer Mary Robinette Kowal mentions that there are plenty of things to love about this book, such as Grace's infectious enthusiasm for science. At the same time, Kowal mentions some of the many flaws in the novel, such as the lack of the use of checklists, which are very important in the fields of aviation, astronautics, and medicine in reducing human-induced errors which Grace seems to ignore and could have prevented him from making his many errors in judgment.[12]
A reviewer for Locus Magazine wrote, "Project Hail Mary, however, isn’t a simple rehash of The Martian. Instead, it’s a celebration of Weir’s voice... Weir’s jaunty blend of science and fiction in Project Hail Mary is a return to the work that got him where he is."[13] The reviewer for The Boston Globe wrote that "Project Hail Mary is still a suspenseful space yarn that zigs and zags — sometimes literally — in ingenious directions."[14]
Project Hail Mary debuted at number three on The New York Times Best Seller list for Combined Print & E-Book Fiction in May 2021.[15] By August 2021, the book had been on the NYT list for nine weeks.[16]Project Hail Mary additionally achieved the #1 spot on the New York Times Audio Fiction Best Seller List for three weeks in February 2022.[17][18]
The novel debuted at number two on the Los Angeles Times SoCal Bestsellers for Hardcover Fiction[19] and number 6 on The Wall Street Journal Bestselling Books List for Hardcover Fiction[20] during the same month. The book was still on the L.A. Times list in mid-August.[21]
In August 2021, Project Hail Mary debuted at number one on the Locus Bestsellers list for hardcovers[22] while remaining at the top position for five consecutive months[23] before dropping to a lower position while still remaining on the list for 11 consecutive months by June 2022.[24]
Weir sold the book's film adaptation rights to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in early 2020 for $3 million.[34]Ryan Gosling signed on to star in and produce the project in March 2020, with Phil Lord and Christopher Miller signing on to direct the film in May and Drew Goddard, who previously adapted Weir's debut novel The Martian into a film, signing on to write the screenplay in July.[4][35][34] In May 2023, it was revealed the film would begin production in early 2024 in the United Kingdom.[36] In April 2024, Amazon MGM Studios, who acquired MGM in 2022,[37] announced a possible 2026 release window for the film.[38] Later that month, a release date of March 20, 2026, was set.[39] At the time of the announcement, the list of people who is associated with this film as producers included Amy Pascal, Gosling, Lord, Miller, Aditya Sood, Rachel O’Connor and Weir.[39]Sandra Hüller was added to the cast as Eva Stratt in May 2024.[40]
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