Project Hail Mary

This is an unexpected kind of novel to come across in the 21st century: it reminds me more than anything else of Hal Clement's novels from the 1950s. There's the same childlike enthusiasm for an endless series of scientific and engineering problems, and the assumption that the reader will be as fascinated by them as the author.

This author certainly displays plenty of scientific understanding and imagination, though I have to take it all on trust because I'm not qualified to check it.

The story has a fairly simple plot and few significant characters. I found it quite congenial and entertaining, although I often skimmed through the scientific details. But so far I've read it only once, and I don't whether or how often I'll reread it in future.

I thought it rather a pity that the story focused on the adventures of Ryland Grace to the exclusion of the rest of humanity, which was simultaneously going through its own adventures. However, Grace had scientific problems while humanity had political problems, and the author's expertise is clearly scientific rather than political.