Uh the martian
this post was submitted on 29 Mar 2026
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All I’ll say is the movie was a great adaptation of the book. Neither takes away from the other and it’s worth doing both
I'm Reading God's Junk Drawer by Peter Clines, which definitely gives off similar vibes.
Old Man's War by John Scalzi
I have a love/hate reaction to this suggestion.
Love - It's a great book!
Hate - I've read it already, and I came here hoping for ideas of new books to read!
Awesome book, which is part of a series.
Yes this is a good one.
Came here for this. Great story.
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.
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.
Well, first of all, "The Martian" by the same author.
Children of Time from Adrian Tartovsky
The 4th book came out a couple days ago. Quite fun, so far
Oooohhh
Big upvote for this, though his last name is Tchaikovsky , or alternately Czajkowski. He's become my favorite author currently writing.
Came here to suggest this one too. Spider culture is quite interesting.
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.
Did they release the 5th in book form?
Agreed that 4 was “meh”.
Seconded. The Bobiverse is fun.
I also recommend anything narrated by Ray Porter - he is excellent.
Fun books, but I would not say they're at all similar to PHM.
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?
It’s more or less about heist on the moon that goes predictably sideways in weird ways. I’ve noticed that his foreshadowing is a little too blunt though.
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.
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
A deepness in the sky
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.
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 Phil's Heechee saga, starting with Gateway...)
Oh man, I hadn't thought about Dragon's Egg in years - thanks for the nostalgia bump
Pohl's Gateway is one of my most favorite books. A real gem.
Small correction, it's Frederik ~~Polh~~ Pohl, not Phil.
Correcting your correction, it's Pohl, not Polh.
God damn it...
Lol
Seveneves
The Martian