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4
Excellent Hard Sci-Fiโฆ Until the Politics Pull You Out
Format: Kindle
I was really excited to dive into Project Hail Mary. As a longtime Isaac Asimov fan, Iโve been craving fresh, modern hard science fiction that actually respects the science. This book delivered โ at least for a while.
The author injects real science into the story in a way thatโs both fun and fantastic. You donโt need to be an engineer to follow it; a solid high-school education is plenty. The concepts stretch your imagination without ever feeling impossible, and for the first chunk of the book I was hooked. I genuinely thought Iโd found a new favorite author.
Then the jarring interruptions started.
Out of nowhere you get yanked out of the immersive sci-fi world by modern political pandering that feels completely unnecessary. A random parenthetical about Columbus โdiscovering an already inhabited worldโ when comparing something to the New World. Casual pronoun lectures. Characters selected or described by race and identity in ways that scream โcheck the boxes.โ These moments donโt serve the story โ they feel injected. Once you notice the authorโs leanings, it becomes hard to unsee.
Each time it happens, the fantasy evaporates. It takes several chapters to sink back into the storyโฆ only for the next micro-lecture to pull you right back out.
Overall, I loved the writing, the hard science, and the imagination. Itโs some of the best sci-fi Iโve read in years. I just wish the author had trusted the story instead of sneaking in real-world politics. Itโs like eating the best meal of your lifeโฆ and then finding a hair or two in it.
Strongly recommended for the sci-fi, with the above caveat.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2026
