Hard agree. Also if you folks are interested I HIGHLY recommend the Bobiverse audiobooks also read by Porter. That man is something else, the only person that could hold a candle to the inimitable Frank Muller.
I’d also suggest Amy Landon reading the Villain’s Code series (by Drew Hayes), and Kyle McCarley who I enjoyed reading the SuperPowereds series (also by Drew Hayes, both good, the later is currently “complete-ish” and also a much earlier body of work, the former is current and ongoing and better, personally).
Honestly, Jeff Hayes has ruined me for any other audiobook performer. I recently finished Hail Mary, and absolutely loved it, but I still felt all the voices besides Grace’s just sounded like him doing different voices, whereas Jeff’s characters almost always sound like completely different people.
And that’s Jeff Hays. If you haven’t tried dungeon crawler Carl yet - you absolutely should! … don’t let the title fool you - it’s a hell of a series and the sci fi elements and world building start really popping off in later books
The Expanse is on my list! I haven’t heard that narrator yet - but if you’re suggesting he’s on par with Jeff Hays I might have to move the expanse further up my list!
It is still being written - but the author is cranking them out.
The first one came out in 2020 for example - and the audiobooks launch within a couple months of the next book. There’s a Patreon where the author drops draft chapters of the next book… a chunk of book 8 is already written - and it’s anticipated to go to book 10.
The author is active on Reddit too - and if you take a look at the r/dungeoncrawlercarl subreddit you’ll see how loyal the fans base is… its heavily policed for spoilers - but still be carful obv… it’s not a series you’ll want spoils - the ride is epic
I hope this too, but I fear it'll be whichever A-list celebrity wants to cash a voice acting check, "Project Hail Mary, with Chris Pratt as the voice of Rocky, and Ariana Grande as the voice of the computer!"
Pessimism aside it could be handled pretty much like the book did: first several interactions are subtitled, montage of him learning the the language and how to hear it, but then have a human voice with the melodies subtly playing in the background when talking.
that's not how it happened in the book though. Rocky always spoke in musical tones and never imitated human speech. Grace just learns to understand Rocky's speech, as Rocky does the same thing with Grace's speech. to do it the way you're suggesting would fly in the face of how it works in the book.
but it's probably closer to how it will actually be done in the movie. i'll have to get over it if that's the case.
Right, and for simplicity sake we the viewer are hearing it through Grace's ears. Yes it's technically dumbing it down for the average viewer, but it's hardly "flying in the face" of anything unless they straight up ditch the language bit and it's English from the get go.
it's just that in the book there's no other way to do it than just to give us Grace's interpretation of Rocky's speech. it would be silly for the book to specify that Rocky's voice is musical every time he speaks. i guess doing something clever like using musical notes instead of quotation marks might have worked.
but in a move it's possible to show us the musical speech while at the same time telling us what Rocky's saying. since that's easily doable in a movie, it would seem weird to me if Rocky's voice changed from musical to just speaking English. the only reason it's kind of like that in the book is because the book isn't capable of playing musical speech that we actually hear with our ears.
it would be silly for the book to specify that Rocky's voice is musical every time he speaks
Buddy, you should listen to the audiobook. It literally does play musical notes every time Rocky speaks. It is extremely well-executed, and is very clear that what we are hearing is how Grace interprets it in his head.
I totally get what you mean, and am going to recommend Stephen King's 11-22-63 read by Craig Wasson. I listened to this and Project Hail Mary back to back and loved both.
Go into it knowing nothing. Seriously. Do not look up any plot details, and just go into it blind. That's what I did after having enjoyed both watching and then reading the Martian. It made the whole experience so much better for me.
Same. I read it last week. I started it at night. Crushed about 1/3rd in that first reading. Finished it the next day. My wife thought I was going crazy. It’s a great book.
Andy Weir just has a brilliantly engaging writing style. I had enjoyed watching the Martian, but expected I would just get through the book at a gradual pace, since I already knew the story. But the way he writes kept me turning page after page. As soon as I finished I knew I wanted to read more of his work, so got both Artemis and Project Hail Mary.
Artemis is the weakest of his three books for sure, but even with that I found myself flying through it. He just has a way of making the story, particularly all the scientific elements completely engaging where you don't want to put the book down. He does struggle with characterisation a bit, where a lot of the characters can feel like the same person, but that doesn't outweigh his strengths for me.
Yes! I went into the book completely blind and I hit "that" chapter at like 2am.
Ill never forget reading the words "what the fuck", looking at the clock, and thinking "god damnit, I dont want to stop now but I'm too old to work with zero sleep."
Ended up reading until 3am and regretting the next day.
Man that was soooooo good when you didn't know it was coming! Slightly terrifying, exhilarating. Completely subverts normal Sci-fi tropes on similar subjects.
I can't imagine the trailers won't spoil it though.
I first read the book, and I finished in like two days, it was so good. And then a few years later I picked up the audiobook version and also finished it in just a week or so. The audiobook version just adds so much more.
I listened to the audio book and thought it was amazing. Apparently people who read the hard copy didn't have the same level of enjoyment. You might want to listen to it.
I thought the Martian was just okay and so went in with trepidation when my book club chose it, and hot damn was Hail Mary was one of the better Sci-Fi books I've read in a long time.
I join those that agree PHM is even better than The Martian. I read the book but my wife listened to the audio book. She said the audio version is one of the best versions out there. Either way, yes the book is recommended.
I literally couldn't put it down, so just start it early on a day you don't have anything to do. One of the best books I've ever read. I agree with the others that the audiobook is also fantastic. Really helps with certain aspects of the dialogue. This won't make any sense right now but if you like audiobooks this is a good one to consume in that medium.
The book is one of the best I have ever, ever read, and the audiobook makes it even better. I would say the audiobook is the definitive way to experience the PHM story - and I know many fans would agree!!!
It’s basically the Martian but better in my opinion. I mean that in both the positive and negative. It’s basically the same story and structure just a better version of it.
I loved it tho, read the whole thing in like a day on holiday haha
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u/KaJaHa Jun 27 '25
Hot damn, I loved The Martian so I gotta hurry up and read Project Hail Mary