22
Books that are like Project Hail Mary
(piefed.social)
Uh the martian
I'm reading it now and yes, my previous book was also the Project Hail Mary. I'm not even a Sci fi reader.
Yeah that's the obvious one haha.
Children of Time from Adrian ~~Tartovsky~~ Tchaikovsky
Came here to suggest this one too. Spider culture is quite interesting.
Big upvote for this, though his last name is Tchaikovsky , or alternately Czajkowski. He's become my favorite author currently writing.
I liked the Bobbiverse series, starting with We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor. The first 3 books were great. IMO the 4th is ok, and currently listening to the 5th. Fun fact, the narrator for the Project Hail Mary and Bobbiverse series audiobooks is the same - Ray Porter, who fantastic.
Fun books, but I would not say they're at all similar to PHM.
How are they that different? Both involve an anti-social, witty, nerdy guy put in scenarios that demand he come up with an innovative solution that’s usually science or engineering based. And they’re in space. I just finished Project Hail Mary again last week and was consistently thinking about how it reminded me of Bobiverse in tone and character, and not just because of Ray Porter.
Bobiverse is way more superficial - way more fluff - than PHM. PHM is much more hard SF (much more scientifically accurate and fleshed out). While there's humor in both, the Bobiverse books have an emphasis on the silly fun, with a little depth underneath, and PHM is a deep, serious story with a main character who happens to be funny.
Seconded. The Bobiverse is fun.
I also recommend anything narrated by Ray Porter - he is excellent.
Obviously both Weir's other books, The Martian and Artemis.
Also recommend the Silo book series by Hugh Howey. Not nearly as hopeful or optimistic, but there's a similar very strong vein of problem solving / human ingenuity just like in Andy Weir's work.
I had heard of the Martian but not Artemis, what is it like?
Artemis is set in a colony on the Moon. Cool science and economy about running the colony, but writing was meh (if I have to read "head full of steam" for the third time...) and MC swears a lot in a juvenile and cringe way.
Did you like Hail Mary
Yes
It's probably his most "sci-fi" work. It's the farthest in the future, and is kind of a crime / political thriller set in the only city on the moon.
It's decent, but I liked it least out of Wier's books. He seems to only have 1 archetype for his main character. It works really well in the Martian, and project hail Mary, where the main character is a highly competent male. It's a bit jarring when applied to a teenage girl however.
If you liked Project Hail Mary, then you should read the Bobiverse series by Dennis E. Taylor. The premise is as follows:
Bob is dead. Long live Bob.
Tap for spoiler
Software engineer Robert Johansen uses his share of the money from the buyout of his company (the rest having been split amongst the employees) to start a trust to support his end-of-life maintenance needs. But Bob's idea of "end-of-life" is being cryogenically frozen until such a time as whatever killed him can be fixed. What he wasn't counting on, however, was getting hit by a car later that day and waking up over a hundred years later. Finding that, not only has he not been revived, but instead digitised, but also that the christofascist government doesn't recognise him as a human or worthy of rights, he is surprised to also be informed that the reason they instantiated his consciousness was to become the guiding intelligence of a Von Neumann Probe, and that Bob is going to the stars... At least, he should be, as long as none of the opposing factions in the government or any of the other countries also building their own probes nuke him first.
Bobiverse is an example of hard science fiction, with similar limitations to what PHM uses. The primary conceits that go beyond what's currently assumed to be possible are:
- the assumption that it is possible to simulate consciousness using electronic media
- the existence of some method of interacting with the fabric of reality to warp spacetime through a reactionless drive (here called "subspace theory"). This assumption allows for interstellar travel over reasonable time scales (but not superluminal travel) and, later, communications. Think a combination of the "Ansible" and the Bussard ramjet from "Tau Zero"
- the fantasy that most people have comprehensible reasons for their actions.
E: I also wish to advocate for Children of time and, if you have additional spare time, Seveneves.
In case it helps any, I made a post with a giant number of spoiler-free short reviews of SF and fantasy books, including most of the ones mentioned here (might have to click the links to the earlier posts for a number of them).
Thanks for making that post. I had a similar reading list that year and plan to check out some of those I hadn't heard of.
Awesome! The whole reason I post it every year is in hopes that some people will find something they want to read because of it.
Holy smokes, do you have a hardcover account I can follow?
Seveneves
Old Man's War by John Scalzi
A deepness in the sky
If you liked the “astronaut(s) on a distant world do science and meet interesting aliens” aspect Robert L. Forward's Camelot 30K and his Dragon's Egg and Rocheworld series might have a similar vibe.
Maybe also Iain M. Banks' The Algebraist or The Player of Games, though they're much further from “hard” science fiction and focus on the characters rather than the science.
Also maybe Larry Niven's The Mote in God's Eye? Maybe somewhere between the previous ones when it comes to science I'd say.
Or possibly James P. Hogan's Giants aka Minerva series, starting with Inherit the Stars..? It ends up a bit space opera-y, but the first books are about astronauts solving a mystery on the Moon...
(And if you get into that you might also enjoy Frederik Pohl's Heechee saga, starting with Gateway...)
Oh man, I hadn't thought about Dragon's Egg in years - thanks for the nostalgia bump
Small correction, it's Frederik ~~Polh~~ Pohl, not Phil.
Correcting your correction, it's Pohl, not Polh.
God damn it...
Damn autocorrect... thanks, fixed it.
Pohl's Gateway is one of my most favorite books. A real gem.
Well, first of all, "The Martian" by the same author.
Titan by Ben Bova. It kept me awake all night turning pages.
Looking it up to confirm the author, I literally just learned that it's part of a series. Off to see dear Anna I go.
Contact by Carl Sagan
If you’re looking for empathy and kindness with an alien species, check out the Wayfarers books by Becky Chambers.
Depends on what parts you liked most.
I have currently almost finished "The Forge of God" by Greg Bear.
It is a "Earth is threatened by a cosmic plague" type of story with strong science background and some truly alien alien encounters and leaves you in the dark about what the heck is actually going on for a long time.
But it is much more serious and lacks the light-heartedness of Hail Mary.
Can recommend it nonetheless.
In case you're unaware, there's a sequel called The Anvil of Stars. It has a somewhat different feel than the first, but also a really good book.
Noted, and put on my book bucket list! :-)
While not knowing what you liked about Project Hail Mary, it's hard to suggest anything more than what has already been mentioned. A much darker look at space and aliens would be Stephen R. Donaldson's Gap Cycle. I would like to second a vote for A Deepness in the Sky.
Haven't read or watched ‘PHM’, but I've heard that Kim Stanley Robinson's ‘Mars’ trilogy is sorta comparable to ‘The Martian’, which latter is being recommended in the thread. Robinson is known for doing tons of research for his books and writing very realistic ‘hard’ sci-fi.
The Mote In God's Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
Old Man's War by Scalzi. A lot like heinlein used to write.
I listened to Project Hail Mary on Audible. Then eventually it recommended The Expeditionary Force series of books narrated by R.C. Bray.
I am on book 8 now... Can't stop.
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this post was submitted on 29 Mar 2026
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