Project Hail Mary

• Ryland Grace – The novel's protagonist and disillusioned molecular biologist, who quits being such and transitions to become a junior high school science teacher before being recruited to study Astrophage by Eva Stratt.
• Eva Stratt – A Dutch woman who works for the UN, who is subsequently given absolute authority to stop Astrophage, leading to the Hail Mary mission.
• Rocky – An alien from the 40 Eridani system whose planet is simultaneously threatened by Astrophage. Rocky's vessel eventually encounters the Hail Mary and works together with Grace.
• Yáo Li-Jie – The intended commander of Hail Mary's crew; stern and courageous. He dies en route to Tau Ceti.
• Olesya Ilyukhina – The intended engineer and EVA specialist of Hail Mary’s crew, ribald yet cheerful. She dies en route to Tau Ceti.
• Dr. Lokken – A Norwegian scientist who assists in the design of the Hail Mary and has a short rivalry with Grace over a paper he wrote.
• Dimitri Komorov – A Russian scientist who develops the Astrophage-based propulsion system for the Hail Mary and discovered its mass-conversion properties.
• Steve Hatch – A researcher from the University of British Columbia. He develops the "Beetle" probes and is an avid Beatle fan. He is described as very talkative and optimistic.
• Martin DuBois – An American man and original science advisor on the Hail Mary mission. He dies in a explosion nine days before launch. He is described as honest and gregarious.
• Annie Shapiro – The original backup science advisor on the Hail Mary mission. She dies with Martin in the same explosion.
• Robert Redell – A solar energy expert from New Zealand. Arrested for embezzlement and the death of seven technicians in a testing accident, he develops a method to breed Astrophage rapidly.
• François Leclerc – A French climatologist who helps to slow down the climate changes caused by the Astrophage stealing the sun's energy through the development of a method releasing trapped methane embedded in Antarctic ice sheets into the atmosphere through the use of fusion bombs.

In a profile in the New York Times, Weir says that after completing The Martian, he began a multi-volume space opera called Zhek, which was about a substance that could absorb electromagnetic radiation and use it as a fuel for interstellar travel. He wrote 75,000 words before abandoning the project and beginning on Artemis. 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.[4]

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.

Project Hail Mary has received generally positive reviews. 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."[5] 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."[6]

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 creating his many errors in judgment.[7]

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."[8] 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."[9]

Project Hail Mary debuted at number 3 on The New York Times Best Seller list for Combined Print & E-Book Fiction in May 2021.[10] By August 2021, the book had been on the NYT list for 9 weeks.[11]

The novel debuted at number 2 on the Los Angeles Times SoCal Bestsellers for Hardcover Fiction[12] and number 6 on the Wall Street Journal Bestselling Books List for Hardcover Fiction[13] during the same month. The book was still on the L.A. Times list in mid-August.[14]

In August 2021, Project Hail Mary debuted at number 1 on the Locus Bestsellers list for hardcovers.[15] As of August 2021, the novel remained on the above-mentioned bestseller lists.

Bill Gates added the book to his 2021 book recommendations.[16]

• 2021 Dragon Award for Best Science Fiction Novel[17]
• 2021 Best Science Fiction, Goodreads Choice Awards[18]

Weir sold the book's film adaptation rights to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in early 2020 for $3 million.[19] Actor Ryan Gosling plans to produce and star as Ryland Grace. It will be directed by filmmaking duo Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. Its screenwriter will be Drew Goddard, and Ken Kao will produce it.[3]