Project Hail Mary (Movie Tie-In): A Novel

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Now a major motion picture starring Ryan Gosling, directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, with a screenplay by Drew Goddard

A lone astronaut must save the earth from disaster in this “propulsive” (Entertainment Weekly), cinematic thriller full of suspense, humor, and fascinating science—from the author of The Martian.

HUGO AWARD FINALIST • NEW YORK TIMES READER PICK: 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21ST CENTURY • ONE OF THE YEAR’S BEST BOOKS: Parade, Newsweek, New York Public Library, Polygon, Shelf Awareness, She Reads, Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal

Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish.

Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.

All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.

His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.

And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone.

Or does he?

Hailed by USA Today as “an epic story of redemption, discovery, and cool speculative sci-fi,” Project Hail Mary is an irresistible interstellar adventure as only Andy Weir could deliver.

ANDY WEIR built a two-decade career as a software engineer until the success of his first published novel, The Martian, allowed him to live out his dream of writing full-time.

He is a lifelong space nerd and a devoted hobbyist of such subjects as relativistic physics, orbital mechanics, and the history of manned spaceflight. He also mixes a mean cocktail.

He lives in California.

“A crowd-pleaser on the grandest scale.”—The Boston Globe

“An engaging space odyssey.”—The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice)

“Dazzling.”—Vulture

“Funny, well plotted, and full of surprises.”—The Guardian

“A joy to read.”—Locus

“The ultimate page-turner.”—Daily Mail

“Weir spins a space yarn in a way only he can. Fans of his earlier works won’t be disappointed.”—Newsweek

“Andy Weir proves once again that he is a singular talent. Project Hail Mary is so fascinating and propulsive that it’s downright addictive. From the first page as Ryland wakes up not knowing who or where he is, I was hooked.”—Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times bestselling author of Daisy Jones & The Six

“Reading Project Hail Mary is like going on a field trip to outer space with the best science teacher you’ve ever had—and your class assignment is to save the world. This is one of the most original, compelling, and fun voyages I’ve ever taken.”—Ernest Cline, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Ready Player One

“Two worlds in peril, a competent (but flawed and human) man, a competent alien, unending scientific puzzles to unravel, with humanity itself at risk, this one has everything fans of old school SF (like me) love. If you like a lot of science in your science fiction, Andy Weir is the writer for you.”—George R. R. Martin, New York Times bestselling author of A Game of Thrones

“I loved The Martian, but I actually find Project Hail Mary to be Mr. Weir’s finest work to date. It’s somehow both exciting, yet also personal. I’m constantly amazed by how well Mr. Weir continues to write wonderfully accessible science fiction without compromising either the science or the fiction.”—Brandon Sanderson, New York Times bestselling author of the Stormlight Archive series

“Brilliantly funny and enjoyable . . . one of the most plausible science fiction books I’ve ever read.”—Tim Peake, ESA astronaut and internationally bestselling author of Limitless

“Thrilling doesn’t even begin to describe Project Hail Mary, which is undisputedly the best book I’ve read in a very, very long time . . . I cheered, I laughed (a lot), I cried, and when the twist arrived and the book revealed its true target, my jaw hit the floor. Mark my words: Project Hail Mary is destined to become a classic.”—Blake Crouch, New York Times bestselling author of Recursion and Dark Matter

“Readers may find themselves consuming this emotionally intense and thematically profound novel in one stay-up-all-night-until-your-eyes-bleed sitting. An unforgettable story of survival and the power of friendship—nothing short of a science fiction masterwork.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Project Hail Mary" is a thrilling science-fiction novel about survival, science, and friendship on a cosmic scale. It follows Ryland Grace, a former science teacher and molecular biologist who wakes up alone on a spaceship with no memory of who he is or why he is there. As his memories slowly return, he realizes he is on a desperate mission to save Earth from a mysterious organism called Astrophage, which is draining the Sun’s energy and threatening to freeze the planet into an extinction-level disaster.

At the beginning, the novel builds tension through Ryland’s confusion and isolation. He is trapped millions of miles from home aboard the Hail Mary, with two dead crewmates and no immediate way back. Because he has amnesia, the story unfolds like a puzzle, with Ryland and the reader discovering the truth together. He gradually pieces together that the world’s scientists found strange dark patches and dimming around the Sun, then identified Astrophage, a microscopic lifeform that feeds on sunlight and carbon dioxide. Once it became clear that Earth could not survive long, a global effort created a last-ditch plan to investigate the problem in space.

Ryland’s role in the mission is both heroic and tragic. He is not a trained astronaut in the traditional sense, but he is one of the few people with the scientific background needed to study Astrophage. What he slowly remembers is that he never volunteered for the mission in the way he first assumed. He was chosen because the mission needed his expertise, and then sent on a one-way trip after the original crew died before launch. That revelation gives the novel an emotional edge, because Ryland must accept that he has been forced into a task that may cost him his life, all while being the only person who can still help Earth.

Much of the book’s appeal comes from its detailed scientific problem-solving. Ryland uses observation, experiments, and logical reasoning to understand how Astrophage works and how it might be stopped. The novel treats science like an adventure, with each answer leading to a bigger question. He learns that Tau Ceti, a nearby star, seems to be resisting Astrophage, which makes it the key to the mystery. The Hail Mary is sent there because Earth needs to know why that star survives and whether the answer can be used to save humanity.

The story becomes even more memorable when Ryland encounters an alien engineer from another star system, whom he names Rocky. Rocky is not human, but the two gradually develop a remarkable partnership despite huge biological and communication barriers. Their interactions are one of the novel’s most charming and powerful elements. At first, they cannot understand each other, but they find ways to communicate through sound, math, diagrams, and patient cooperation. Rocky is also on a mission to save his own world from the same Astrophage threat, so the story becomes not just about Earth’s survival, but about two civilizations facing the same crisis together.

As Ryland and Rocky work side by side, the novel deepens into a story about trust and sacrifice. They exchange knowledge, compare discoveries, and design a solution that can protect both of their planets. Their friendship is central to the book’s emotional power. Even though they come from completely different species, they share the same fear, intelligence, and determination. The bond that forms between them gives the novel warmth and heart, balancing the danger and technical complexity with humor and loyalty.

The stakes rise when the solution they are pursuing begins to demand personal sacrifice. Ryland eventually discovers that Rocky may be in greater danger than he first realized, and he is forced to choose between going home to Earth or helping his new friend survive. The novel’s ending is both tense and deeply emotional, because Ryland’s greatest scientific success comes with a moral decision. He does not simply try to save himself or his own species. He chooses compassion, cooperation, and courage, even when those choices make his future uncertain.

By the end, Project Hail Mary has become more than a survival story. It is about how intelligence and empathy together can solve problems that neither one can handle alone. It shows a man who begins the story lost, scared, and alone, but ends up transformed by purpose and connection. The book also celebrates the idea that science is not cold or distant; it is a tool for hope, discovery, and survival. Its mix of suspense, humor, technical ingenuity, and emotional depth makes it a standout story about what humans can achieve when they refuse to give up.

In simple terms, the novel is about one man waking up in space, remembering that the Sun is dying, meeting an alien with the same problem, and working with him to save two worlds. But underneath that clean premise, it is also about memory, friendship, sacrifice, and the possibility that the greatest rescue mission of all may depend on trusting someone completely different from yourself.