Nehaveigur

The only novel by Andy Weir I’ve read besides Project Hail Mary is The Martian, which deservedly has become one of the best-known science fiction novels of recent times even before it was turned into a movie starring Matt Damon. This kind of success should be hard to replicate. But just like his characters, Weir is incredibly gifted at coming up with ideas.

The plot of Project Hail Mary is very, very good. All of the plot holes I thought I had identified got explained eventually, with me going “Oh I see” and feeling a guilty for having suspected Weir of shoddy craftsmanship.

The Martian was rejected by several publishers before Weir bypassed them and released it on his blog. Only once its popularity became clear, a publisher picked it up. While I don’t know this, it seems likely that the reason for the initial rejections was the publishers underestimated their readers. There’s too much hard science. For the same reason, the novel feels like it has been written specifically for me. I get the science, I understand the jokes, and I can relate to the characters. With Project Hail Mary, Weir committed even harder to weaving hard science into the narrative.

At the same time, Weir’s writing feels like it’s not actually meant for me but for a Hollywood producer. Every paragraph is designed to be turned into a movie scene. Weir is not alone:  For example throughout Cixin Liu’s Three Body Problem trilogy, I was torn between liking the ideas and disliking the almost-screenwriting.