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I've just started reading Project Hail Mary, and this is more or less how it starts. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54493401-project-hail-mary https://www
by ohadron 4y ago
I've just started reading Project Hail Mary, and this is more or less how it starts.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54493401-project-hail-mary https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54493401-project-hail-ma...
- nytesky 4y agoSo this the result of an overzealous marketing campaign for Hail Mary?
- mckirk 4y agoGreat book! I can also wholly recommend the audiobook, it was quite well done.
- nikanj 4y agoI had the exact same thought.
- adenozine 4y agoIf you like it, you might enjoy a book called Seveneves. The first sentence involves the moon blowing up, and the rest of the book is about the consequences of that. Quite good, imo.
- bilater 4y agoThis was the book I was thinking about as I heard this news! Hopefully that vortex doesn't come down on us in a 5000 year rain of fire.
- BLKNSLVR 4y agoThe answer to the (paraphrased) question "how long do you expect that to last?" is so subtly delivered and unexpected and unhyped, and beautifully sets up the rest of the first (of two) section of the book. I had to read the small passage through a couple of times to make sure I had the right context. Also read, and loved, and had emotional reactions to Project Hail Mary. Highly recommend.
- adenozine 4y agoI liked Project Hail Mary (and Artemis, and The Martian) but I thought it was a little too heavy in the programmer narrative style. I won’t spoil anything in case someone reads this comment who hasn’t read it, but a large section involving establishing a communication protocol really wore me down from the story. The big revelation about how he got there also felt nearly translucent in how obvious it was when it was revealed. I hope he writes a couple more books though, if I can ever get some grandkids outta my kids, Weir’s books will be in their collection for sure.
- michaelmcdonald 4y agoI really enjoyed the first "part" of Seveneves. I felt the second part went a bit off the rails and was almost _too_ out there for me (at least as it compared to the first part. Love Neil Stephenson though (Cryptonomicon was amazing and Diamond Age / Snow Crash hold a special place in my heart).
- adenozine 4y agoI’ve heard this sentiment a lot from people who’ve read it. I think he wrote himself into a tight spot though, and I’m happy with the result. Part of me thinks the second act could’ve been broken down into maybe like 0-1000, 1000-5000, and then the final act could’ve been essentially as it was, stripped down a bit. It felt to me like he crammed a little too much worldbuilding into it and couldn’t draw on the resourcefulness and resilience of humanity that dominates the first act. But it makes sense in context, because they’re not in such dire straits in the second half, and are approaching the whole issue from complex standpoints of religion and meaning and societal archetypes. I surely couldn’t have done better, I know that much.
- jackcviers3 4y agoI thought both books were entirely too generous in their depictions of humanity's ability to coordinate for enormous, earth-saving efforts. I have a feeling that a real extinction level crisis would be much more like Don't Look Up or Greenland(extra optimistic ending scenes not included) than we'd care to admit. Bureaucratic incompetency and political infighting leading to a tragic and preventable end in both cases presented in the books.
- mig39 4y agoI think this happens a lot to Stephenson. He's great at creating worlds, and that's the genius of his writing. Then what happens in those worlds is sometimes underwhelming. Anathem is another one of these novels.
- tiffanyh 4y agoOff topic: is there a particular reason why you link to GoodReads instead of Amazon, given that Amazon owns GoodReads?
- ohadron 4y agoGood question. I think Goodreads put a bit more emphasis on audience reviews and sentiment other than just trying to outright sell it. But yes, the difference is not huge.
- oriolid 4y agoMaybe because it's less terrible. Some time I had a very surprising experience: I was shopping for a book and found it at bookdepository.com. It was nice experience: predictable price with no marketplace sellers or exchange rate shenanigans, shipping costs visible up front, and cheaper than Amazon. The surprise? Amazon owns it.
- rapnie 4y agoIt is always nice to drop links to something other than the local monopolist that pops up on the top of search results. Like the original publisher, Wikipedia, or default to a search on bookshop.org https://www.randomhousebooks.com/books/611060/ https://www.randomhousebooks.com/books/611060/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Hail_Mary https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Hail_Mary https://bookshop.org/p/books/project-hail-mary-andy-weir/18644162?ean=9780593135228 https://bookshop.org/p/books/project-hail-mary-andy-weir/186...
- kolinko 4y agoI usually link in comments to Goodreads instead of Amazon to make it seem less like an ad.
- rurban 4y agoI would have linked to its wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Hail_Mary https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Hail_Mary which covers the whole book, upcoming movie, pretty well. Exciting story. But completely unrelated to the recurring polar vortex. No sun-eating microbes, just H and He.
- steaktartaar_ 4y agoOutstanding book. It took me way, way too long to figure out the pun in the title.
- nytesky 4y agoargh, what’s the pun???
- SamBam 4y agoI always just assumed it was simply because it was a last-ditch effort. But I just Googled it, and someone on Reddit pointed out: "Hail Mary full of Grace." Groan... Actually makes me like the book a little less than I already did. (Edit: Which I know is against the grain here, as evidenced by the downvotes for not liking the book.)
- soylentcola 4y agoI just took it as a "Hail Mary pass" ie: a long shot, last ditch effort as the phrase is used in American football. Also, the prayer referenced in this idiom starts off as "Hail Mary, full of grace" and the main character's name is Grace. edit: beaten by 6 min.
- rootbear 4y agoArgh. I just finished Project Hail Mary and I missed that.
- 1900-01-01 4y agoOff topic. Do you have any movie suggestion close or related to this book? I've seen The Martian, 2001 Space Od, Interstellar, and Event Horizon.
- pcardoso 4y agoI liked The Three Body problem. The story is very good, but it was also interesting to read the Chinese point of view.
- robertlagrant 4y agoSunshine? I watched a review of it[0] recently and it took me back to when I watched it at the cinema. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3QdcvfXMHk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3QdcvfXMHk
- oillio 4y agoAwesome movie. The cinematography is beautiful
- robertlagrant 4y agoSo good. And the cast. From memory, the third act doesn't quite live up to the first two, but I struggle to imagine how it could've.
- unsupp0rted 4y agoCritical Drinker made me realize a couple years ago that I'm not crazy and movies really are generally unwatchable these days, with a handful of exceptions, many of which he points out.
- ryandvm 4y agoMoon
- TEP_Kim_Il_Sung 4y agoUnit Zappa