Summary
Project Hail Mary is one of the biggest hit movies of the year so far, a fantastic adaptation of Andy Weir’s sci-fi novel about a schoolteacher (Ryan Gosling) who makes first contact with an extraterrestrial. Funny, brainy, and full of heart, the movie got rave reviews and has made nearly $700 million at the box office, very impressive for an original story. You may be wondering the age-old question: is the book better? Or to put a twist on things: is the audiobook better? That’s up to interpretation, but the Audible-exclusive version of Project Hail Mary does something that neither the book nor the movie do as well. Meet Rocky, musical alien What do voices sound like light years from Earth? In Project Hail Mary, the Earth is dying. A microscopic, space-faring alien organism called astrophage is consuming the sun’s energy and causing it to dim, threatening all life on the planet. This kind of thing is happening all over the galaxy, but a star called Tau Ceti — located some 12 light years away — is unaffected. Ryland Grace, our lead character, ends up on a mission to Tau Ceti to figure out what makes it different. He’s the only one to actually arrive alive, which is when he sees an alien craft. Aboard, he finds an eyeless, five-limbed alien creature who seems to be made of rock, hence the name: Rocky. Like Earth, Rocky’s planet is in danger from astrophage, and he’s also come to Tau Ceti to study what makes it resistant so he can save his home world. Obviously, Rocky doesn’t speak any English and Grace doesn’t speak whatever they speak on Rocky’s home world of Erid, so communication is a problem. In the book, Grace compares his voice to whalesong. When Rocky speaks on the page, it’s depicted with a series of musical notes. In the movie, Rocky communicates with a series of trills and vibrations that sound a little like a baby elephant. There are some musical elements to it, but I wouldn’t call it especially musical. The audiobook, however, nails this. The Project Hail Mary audiobook is the only version of the story that gets Rocky’s voice right Amaze amaze amaze Audible’s Project Hail Mary audiobook is read by veteran narrator Roy Porter, who also narrated Dennis E. Taylor’s Bobiverse book series — which is also about first contact — as well as appearing in movies like Zack Snyder’s Justice League as Darkseid. He nails the laconic, laid-back tone of Project Hail Mary, even winning the prestigious Audie Award for Audiobook of the Year in 2022 for his work. But Ray Porter has some help creating Rocky’s original, unaltered voice; no human could have done it alone. His voice is overlaid with musical notes, chords, and computerized sound effects to create something that sounds truly alien, and much closer to the musical notation used in the book. In both the movie and the book, Grace uses software to create a vocabulary database of English and Eridian words. Eventually, the database is so robust that Grace’s program can translate whatever Rocky says to English more or less immediately. Meanwhile, Rocky learns English more easily because of his advanced hearing and excellent memory. Once Rocky starts “speaking” in English, the musical language created for the audiobook mostly goes away, replaced by Roy Porter’s voice. He does a wonderful job of capturing Rocky’s excitement and curiosity, creating an audio version of the character what’s every bit as engaging as the one from the movie. Which version of Project Hail Mary is best? The audiobook makes a strong case for itself However you originally found Project Hail Mary, you have lots of ways to experience it, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. The book gives you a more detailed version of the story that digs into Grace’s time on Earth and more thoroughly explores the science behind everything that he and Rocky do, while the movie is a more sensory experience anchored by Ryan Gosling’s considerable charm and the spectacular puppetry of James Ortiz as Rocky. Arguably, the audiobook version of Project Hail Mary is the best version, because you get all the detail of Andy Weir’s original text as well as all the personality that Ray Porter brings to the story. But all three versions are excellent. Audible, the final frontier If you don’t have time to sit down for hours to read a book, audiobooks are a great way to make sure you’re not missing out, and Audible makes it easy. There are tips you should learn to get the most of your experience with the service, but you’ll find plenty to like, including lots of exclusive audiobooks. The Project Hail Mary audiobook with Ray Porter is technically only available through Audible, although there are CD versions that may be available at your local library.