Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.

All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.

His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species. And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone.

Or does he?

Yes, the super popular blockbuster that I’ve never seen. My friend has and that’s why she chose this book. Admittedly, I’m not a big fan of sci-fi, so I went in with low expectations and ended up enjoying it. It helps that Weir imbues Dr. Grace with a fun sense of humor that kept me engaged through the science jargon.

It helps that Weir tries to keep it to how a regular person would try to explain science instead of how a scientist explains science, droning on. It just felt like Dr. Grace was a regular guy who happened to know a lot about science rather than someone trying to push four years of education into my uncomprehending brain. Due to that relatability, I also became invested in his and Rocky’s friendship. So yes, I found it enjoyable.

My friend thought it was as good as the movie. She said they were similar enough with minor changes between the screen and the movie (like not having Ryan Reynolds floating around in gravity all the time because that would cost too much money, and having the computer speak for Rocky) and that it made more sense than the movie because the flashbacks were a clear author’s conceit. In the movie she was confused whether it was a glimpse of the future or otherwise until she figured it out.

Next up is the book I’ve been waiting for-Death on the Lanai!! The second Golden Girls mystery, yay!