Doudna has her own memoir, "A Crack in Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution." Why would you read Isaacson's third-person account, when you can get the information from the scientist herself?

Well, I read both books, and Isaacson's is much better. In fact, Doudna's book was largely written by her coauthor, her then-graduate student Sam Sternberg, based on long interviews. This is the same process Isaacson used. But, in my opinion, Isaacson does it better, incorporating more of Doudna's personal anecdotes with similar levels of science.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30971755-a-crack-in-crea...

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54968118-the-code-breake...

Isaacson has a knack for writing flowing non-fiction prose that make for a great read. Sometimes the detail can border on excruciating but he seems to have resolved this in his later works.

Awesome comment. Thank you.

Thank you for that - I'd recently read A Crack in Creation and thought the same question you had posed.

Project Hail Mary was so good. I loved The Martian but Artemis not as much. By that measure Project Hail Mary was a return to form.

It was just a fun, breezy read that hit the problem solving part of my brain in just the right way, but with a different angle on things than "The Martian".

I was going through goodreads yesterday and came across my review of The Martian there. I gave it 5 stars because I use what I understand is the Roger Ebert style of rating. The Martian is imperfect, pulpy and at times a bit over sentimental. But it succeeds at exactly what it sets out to achieve. It isn't Dostoevsky or Proust but it isn't trying to be. It made me laugh, kept me engaged and turning pages. It made me think, this situation is impossible but if it was possible then this is about as realistic as I could expect a novel to portray. In exchange for suspending my disbelief it gave me an enjoyable diversion.

All that to say, if Project Hail Mary is equivalent to that, it is going on my to read list.

>I gave it 5 stars because I use what I understand is the Roger Ebert style of rating

As I understand the Ebert system your review seems like a 3 star, that is to say if you like this kind of thing (hard sf, survival story in harsh environment using ingenuity) you will definitely like this example of it.

In 45 years as a reviewer Ebert gave nearly 1000 films 4 stars, I think about a 100 5 stars, although he was often thought of as being too lenient about a film's quality - https://www.rogerebert.com/roger-ebert/you-give-out-too-many...

I started reading The Martian and the whole chapter on shit had me giggling like an 8 year old boy. Which meant I made sure my 8 year old boy read The Martian. I think it really helped him get (more) into reading.

It is, very much so.

project hail mary's audiobook is the best audiobook i've ever listened to. it's.... incredible. they adapted parts of the book that were kind of hard to "get" perfectly (and for people that read it, i think you know what i mean).

i totally recommend it.

Yea when they added that element I first assumed my Airpods were dying or Audible was broke. Really loved it in the end.

I listened to Audible, and that made me wonder how effective it would be in the book, or how it would be written in the book at all.

+1 for Audible.

Whoa. I didn't realize the audiobook was adapted.

I just kept thinking that the inner commenting was so weird. Like a the book was partially movie script. I think I should have read the book instead.

But still, it was good.

It absolutely is the best. Ray Porter’s way of narration opened a new, almost visual, dimension. Maybe it’s this very intimate „inner speech“ style, but to me this was a truly novel experience.

I liked a lot of the ideas in PHM. I found the protagonist insufferable throughout, though. Perhaps Weir was going for a more flawed character after Watney? (Never read Artemis, so I can't comment there.)

I still think it's a good book, and well worth the read. But man did that character grate on my nerves.

I either listened to or read an interview with Andy Weir where he said that he was aiming for just such a flawed protagonist in PHM. I think he felt the Watney character was criticized for being the fantasy self-projection of a certain variety of nerd/geek (a variety that is over-represented on HN) and so he decided to try to make a hero who was not as likable, brave, or self-sacrificing as people like to think they are.

His story, his choice, but man, what a shame. The world is already awash in crapsack dystopic sci-fi filled with unlikeable characters. Watney (and the entirely of the rest of the cast, for that matter) being a competent professional was so refreshing! I want to read about competence, not (as in PHM) self-absorbed whiny man-children who exhibit no growth across the entire story.

Rocky was an amazing character though.

Fully agreed.

Yes, I think he was going for someone less likable. Watney was almost too likable.

Maybe Matt Damon pushed his likability over the top.

If Willem Dafoe was cast, it could seem different :)

Haha. I thought this too but I can’t quite place my finger on it. What exactly made the protagonist so insufferable?

He was a literal self-absorbed man-child, and worst of all exhibited no apparent growth throughout the entire story. So much so that it was hard to suspend belief in that he was also capable of doing the real thinking required to move the story forward. I know Weir attempted to insert a reason in-story for why such a poor choice would still be sent, but I found it both unconvincing and obvious why the author needed to add it. I think it would have made a more satisfying story to revamp the character so that his position made sense naturally.

In comparison, Rocky was fantastic as a character, the problem faced novel, the solutions enjoyable. That all tips the scales into the 'still well worth the read' territory, but (IMO) it could have been so much more.

artemis was disappointing, Weir seems like he has no idea how to write a female protagonist. this was my introduction to his work, seeing that others feel the same way makes me think it was probably just the wrong pick and I should try his other books.

What does Weir not understand about a female protagonist? It's not possible that the female protagonist just doesn't fit your mold of what you believe a female protagonist should be?

Project Hail Mary is worth a read. Totally different vibe.

It felt like he was trying to do something very different with Artemis and failed. I rarely have to put a book down but I just couldn't finish Artemis. The whole scene with the "strong" cop holding her down had my eyes rolling so hard they almost got stuck.

I somewhat agree, though I did finish the book and enjoyed it despite its flaws. The Martian was a delight, and Project Hail Mary follows in a similar vein.

We're reading this one for my at-work bookclub, looking forward to it. We did the Martian back when and people enjoyed it. Although easy reading it has enough depth to spark a good discussion.

It's an interesting choice for a book club. Due to the way the narrative progresses (you start with an amnesiac protagonist and gradually reveal backstory via memories) discussions could get tricky/problematic if anyone is reading ahead faster than the rest. Obviously all books have some risk of that but PHM is more challenging than most in my opinion.

Our book club finishes the whole book before we have the discussion. You're right, an as-you-go approach would be much more challenging.

I read PHM straight after Termination Shock, which I also thoroughly enjoyed.

Fantastic couple of books.

================= Begin of the Interesting Part, Discussion & Recommendations ==================

Above parent nothing but man mumbling after famous persons to invoke the Goddess of transitivity of all properties.

Seriously though, i brought this upon myself by opening one of the fanboi threads <Famous Name> does/reads/eats, but how do i filter out the filler more efficiently?

Enter: Dang from Hammerspace

Project Hail Mary was a fun read but at times it felt like a high school essay or someone practicing creative writing. Even the science bits didn't feel like in The Martian, here they were scattered around sometimes not linked to the story. Regardless, I do recommend it.

^ List of books I’ll now never read.