When did I first feel the allure of outer space, that tug to look up at night and never stop? Was it when my dad got my brothers and me a telescope? When my friend added David Bowie’s Space Oddity to a mixed CD for me? Or maybe it was that time I decided to call NASA about the strange light I saw in the starry sky. (It was definitely Venus.) Perhaps watching Fifth Element at a formative age had something to do with it. Ten years ago, when I saw the trailer for Andy Weir’s The Martian, I knew I had to read the book before watching. Both the audiobook of The Martian and the movie starring Matt Damon did not disappoint. All of these experiences and more have contributed to my love of outer space, a love that continues to expand like a star going supernova.
Now that another Andy Weir novel, Project Hail Mary, has been adapted for film this year, I have dived right into this audiobook too. I’m determined to finish it while the movie’s still in theaters, so I can go see it. The further I get into reading Project Hail Mary, though, the hungrier I become for more space books. If you’re like me and craving more books like Project Hail Mary, I’ve got you covered below.
Sci-Fi Books Like Project Hail Mary
Do You Dream of Terra-Two? by Temi Oh
Like Project Hail Mary, you’ll find deep space travel in this award-winning novel by Temi Oh. After the discovery of a planet similar to Earth, a crew of three veteran astronauts and six teens gets sent there to start a human colony. As they trek across space to reach Terra-Two, the characters will have to spend the next twenty-three years traveling together. What could possibly go wrong?
Velocity Weapon by Megan E. O’Keefe
This next space story also involves the protagonist waking up on a spaceship and trying to figure out why she’s there. Seargant pilot Sanda and politician Biran Greeve are a famous sibling duo with lofty aspirations. In the midst of an interstellar war, though, Sanda gets shot down from the sky and wakes up hundreds of years later with only a mysterious AI for company.
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The Last Watch by J.S. Dewes
This new novel by J.S. Dewes also includes a deep space setting and a save humanity theme. At the edge of the universe, the Divide awaits. Unfortunately, it’s starting to collapse, and it’s taking everyone with it. Adequin Rake commands a motley crew at the Divide, and along with the help of an exiled prince, they may be humanity’s last hope before the Divide consumes them all.
Hole in the Sky by Daniel H. Wilson
For those who love the first contact theme of Project Hail Mary, this tense new sci-fi by Daniel H. Wilson makes for another great read. As with Hail Mary, you’ll find plenty of high-stakes suspense as well as intriguing astronomical mysteries. As the Voyager probe has just passed by Heliopause, a place on the outskirts of the solar system, we meet a father named Jim living in the Osage Territory of Oklahoma, his daughter Tawny, a NASA engineer, a genius analyzing a curious “Pattern,” and a CIA investigator of strange phenomena.
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
Andy Weir excels at interweaving humor within sci-fi, so I’d be remiss if I didn’t include a more humorous option as well. Like Project Hail Mary, there’s also a bit of an endearing Rocky-Grace dynamic found between the crew of this book and Murderbot, a company-issued droid who secretly hacked its own system. As a team of scientists tests the surface of a distant planet, Murderbot must begrudgingly keep them alive. Before long, though, they’ll instead begin investigating what happened to another nearby mission.
Before You Blast Off…
I hope you love these books as much as I love calling NASA! If your head’s still in the stars from all these great books like Project Hail Mary, I suggest checking out these 5 Books to Read After You See Project Hail Mary and these 8 Space Exploration Books to Add to Your TBR next.
English (US) · 