MixedThe Washington Post... has a propulsive story line and is filled with the cool science and witty banter you expect from Weir ... It’s a fun idea, and Weir knows how to ratchet up the excitement, but the novel seems written to be a movie (and in fact is being made into one, starring Ryan Gosling). Perhaps just wait for that? ... A friend of mine, who teaches scriptwriting, talks about \'refrigerator logic\' — elements that don’t bother you until after a movie is over and you go to the refrigerator and say, \'hey . . . wait a minute.\' Refrigerator logic is even worse in a novel — you have a lot more time to sit with the book in real time and scratch your head about the plot points and characterizations that don’t quite make sense, even in speculative fiction...There’s lots of \'refrigerator logic\' in Project Hail Mary ... Even if the amnesia is a bit of a cliche, it’s still fun to watch Grace figure everything out, and he’s clever, too. But his cleverness is also the weakness of this novel, because there are so many parts of the narrative that seem to exist only to show off that quality ... weird plot holes abound ... There are plenty of things to love about this book. Grace’s enthusiasm for science is infectious. Watching him get excited about an idea and chase it down is a delight. Rocky, when you meet him, is a beautifully constructed alien ... But the book could have been so much better. Its central tension — will Grace figure things out? — should have been based on a real problem, instead of a series of incidents that could have been solved with checklists and simple common sense. That said, you’ll probably enjoy it anyway, at least until you reach the refrigerator.
