Book Club - Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

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In this episode of Literature on the Rocks…

we’re heading back to space for our Project Hail Mary book club, and this one gets deep. Sure, it’s a sci-fi survival story but it’s also about friendship, sacrifice, and using humor to survive both alien microbes and emotional damage.

We dive into the real science that powers the plot—did we follow all of it? Not exactly. Did it still make us feel smarter just for trying? Definitely. We also talk about the heart of the story: the unshakable bond between Ryland and Rocky. Their friendship had us feeling all kinds of feelings.

And then there’s Grace’s big choice. Would we have stayed behind? Would you? Let’s just say we had thoughts.

To go with this cosmic conversation, we’ve whipped up a glowing, booze-free version of our cocktail that’s still got all the sparkle and zero chance of a hangover.

Rocky’s Mocky Mocktail Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 oz blue sports drink (like Gatorade Glacier Freeze)

• 2 oz coconut water

• 1 oz lime juice

• 2 oz tonic water (for that blacklight-friendly sci-fi glow)

• Splash of grenadine

• Ice

• Rim with edible glitter or sugar for extra sparkle

Directions:

Shake everything but the tonic and grenadine with ice. Strain into a glitter-rimmed glass, top with tonic, then drizzle in the grenadine. Watch it glow like an Erid sunrise—and sip while decoding alien math.

Listen in, laugh with us, and cry about spider-crab besties. And don’t forget to answer the prompts—we want to know how you felt about the science, the sacrifice, and the sass.