Project Hail Mary (book & movie)

 

I'll admit, when I first heard about the plot to this story, I thought it sounded kinda silly. I heard about the movie before the book, and based on plot alone I had no interest in seeing it. The movie became a big box office success, however, which piqued my interest. Then my family purchased and read the book, and so I thought to myself that this must be a much better story than I initially thought, so I decided to give it a read. It turned out to be a really good book, and the movie adaptation was good as well. From ChatGTP:

The story follows Ryland Grace, a middle-school science teacher who awakens alone aboard a spacecraft with no memory of who he is or why he's there. As his memories gradually return, he discovers that Earth is facing a catastrophe caused by a microorganism called Astrophage, which is draining energy from the Sun and threatening to trigger a global ice age.

Grace learns that he is part of an international mission sent to the star system Tau Ceti, where scientists observed that Astrophage does not affect one particular star. His mission is to discover why and find a way to save humanity.

Along the way, he encounters an unexpected ally—an intelligent extraterrestrial engineer named Rocky. Despite enormous differences in biology, language, and culture, the two develop a remarkable friendship and work together to solve the mystery threatening both their civilizations.

When Grace is nearly home, he discovers that Rocky's ship is in trouble and that Rocky's species will die if he continues toward Earth. Grace chooses to abandon his return journey and rescue Rocky instead.

The Taumoeba solution is ultimately sent back to Earth, saving humanity. Grace survives but remains on Rocky's homeworld, where he becomes a beloved teacher for alien children. The novel ends with Grace content in his new life, having saved both Earth and Rocky's civilization.

The book features a ton of science, which was pretty cool to read. The way they intertwined the story in the present with his memories from the past to reveal the plot of the story was done really well. It kept you on the edge of your seat as you tried to figure out how, exactly, a science teacher was chosen to be an astronaut to save the world. I didn't know how the story would end, but I really liked that he stayed on Rocky's planet to become a teacher there. I did not see that coming, but honestly is a much better ending than having the earth die or having him return to earth, which would have required an explanation on how things changed. Overall, the book and movie were really well done and enjoyable.