EMERGENCY Book Club: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

We are having an emergency book club meeting on Saturday, August 9th to discuss Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir.

How is a book club meeting an emergency? A trailer was just released for the film based on the book, and the trailer spoils key plot points of the book. DO NOT WATCH THE TRAILER UNTIL YOU HAVE READ THE BOOK. This is an exceptionally good book that is difficult to talk about without spoiling. The movie looks amazing. It isn't coming out until March, but it is a big studio film starring Ryan Gosling that will likely get a lot of promotion, so it is important to read the book ASAP. It is best to read the book without knowing too much about it. The book is science fiction. It is by the author of the excellent book The Martian which was also made into a very good film.

If it is such an emergency, why are we waiting till August? Well, people need time to read the book! It is a real page turner. Many people won't need that much time, but we want everyone to have a chance. You’ve got 39 days from this event announcement.

The SHL movie club will be going to see the film when it comes out in March, so keep an eye out for that event.

This very special meeting of the book club will take place at 3 pm on Saturday, August 9th in the community room of the Otranto Library in North Charleston. Why Otranto? We are trying out different spaces, and they have free parking which is not as easy downtown on a Saturday.

Per our usual, we will go out for food & drinks after the meeting. Location TBD. Somewhere close to the library. If you've got any good suggestions, put them in the comments below.

Thanks to the generosity of our donors, SHL has funds available to ensure everyone feels welcome and able to participate. If you would like to participate in dining with us after book club but the cost presents a challenge, please email us at shl@lowcountryhumanists.org, and we can discreetly arrange to cover your costs.

About the book:
This is a non-spoiler description from the publisher.
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?

An irresistible interstellar adventure as only Andy Weir could deliver, Project Hail Mary is a tale of discovery, speculation, and survival to rival The Martian—while taking us to places it never dreamed of going.