Tag Archives: sci-fi books

Oct 6 2026

Mel’s 5 Second Book Review: Project Hail Mary

Project Hail Mary
Written by: Andy Weir
Year: 2021
Audiobook performed by: Ray Porter

It was a long time coming, but I finally finished this book. I seem to have trouble finishing books (or shows, for that matter) that I start, even if I love them. It’s weird.

A science teacher wakes up alone on a spaceship. As his memory returns, he uncovers a mission to stop a mysterious substance killing Earth’s sun, and realizes that an unexpected friendship may be the key.

I knew I wanted to read this book as soon as I heard of it way back in 2021. The Martian had been one of the best books I’d read in a long time, so I knew I definitely wanted to read (or listen to) this one. And even though it took me forever, I finally got through it, and can finally watch the movie. I have to say, Project Hail Mary really is as good as The Martian. And the audiobook is performed beautifully by Ray Porter. He really captured the essence of all the characters, giving each their own distinctive voice without sounding silly.

Ryland Grace, our main character, was so well drawn, and we really feel for him. There’s bits of humour sprinkled in that made me grin like an idiot, even laugh out loud a few times. The science, at least to me, sounds all plausible, even though it relies on a substance that doesn’t exist to make it work. Weir is very good at making things sound scientific without being dry. I don’t want to say too much more in case there are people who haven’t read the book who want to, but needless to say, I absolutely loved it. The ending was a nice surprise as well. It was heading towards one thing, and I was rather upset, but then, surprise! Not surprisingly, I give it a 10/10.

AMAZE AMAZE AMAZE!!

M.

May 2 2015

Mel’s 5 Second Audiobook Review: The Martian

The Martian
Written by: Andy Weir
Read by: RC Bray

The-Martian

“If the Oxygenator breaks down, I’ll suffocate. If the Water Reclaimer breaks down, I’ll die of thirst. If the Hab breaches, I’ll just kind of explode. If none of those things happen, I’ll eventually run out of food and starve to death. So yeah. I’m fucked.”

(Questions from Audible’s reviews form)

Would you listen to The Martian again? Why?
I probably wouldn’t, but that doesn’t mean anything. It’s very, very rare that I’ll ever re-read a book. It’s happened only a small handful of times in my adult life. I have so much in my to-read list that I don’t spend time re-reading books, no matter how awesome they were (and this one was awesome).

Who was your favorite character and why?
Definitely the main character, Mark Watney. Along with the obvious heroic stuff, he’s got a killer sense of humour that just brings the character to a whole other level. Venket Kapour, a NASA administrator, is also a wonderful character.

What about RC Bray’s performance did you like?
Everything! He’s an awesome reader! Every character has his own unique voice and accent, even the women, without sounding silly. His voice is pretty much perfect. He was born to read audiobooks.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
I laughed out loud a good few times. I never cried, but I did get really tense a few times. Near the end, I actually had trouble sitting still while listening!

Any additional comments?
This is a practically perfect sci-fi story. And it’s not so out there that I couldn’t picture something like this actually happening. It’s futuristic, but not very far into the future. 50, 100 years, tops. The writing was simple, but very good, and all the characters were engaging. I’d recommend it to anyone even remotely interested in sci-fi. It gets a perfect score from me, 10/10.