The Book Thread

[Ionathus]

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I noted and liked that in the end, he really is still a coward - faced with the opportunity to return to Earth, he stays on Tau Ceti despite its effects on his health, because going home would mean seeing how Earth had changed, who had lived or died. It was more realistic somehow than having him discover his inner hero and change that fundamental part of his character.

What I wish had been included was a far-future epilogue of sorts, where the first Eridian ship to visit Earth brings Grace's preserved body home with them.

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Far future epilogue would've been great. I think the choice to remove "what happened to Earth?" as a question was probably the right one - the book was already stuffed with so many underdeveloped Earth-based plotlines. But not resolving what happened on Earth did remove a lot of interesting opportunities. Melting Antarctica to buy time, for example, was really interesting, and I wanted to know more about those kinds of mitigation strategies.

Maybe, if Weir had all these ideas for the different Astrophage plotlines on Earth, he could've split the novel into two? The first novel can be all the juicy space plot, following Grace's journey, maybe with just a hint of backstory on the early experiments and the barebones of putting together Project Hail Mary. And then a companion novel could've tackled Earth, how they put the team together, how they mitigate the climate disaster, the aftermath of launch and waiting for the probes to return. And then the upheaval when Grace reveals his contact with intelligent life and the solution to the problem.

Lots of interesting stories, and I think they suffered for being squeezed in the cracks here and there instead of getting to breathe on their own. It would solve my complaint about the thin characterization too. Plus I'd be interested to see if Stratt really did get court-martialed for her behavior in wrangling Project Hail Mary.

As for cowardice: I disagree. I believe the ending on Erid isn't indicating his cowardice -- in fact, it's rewarding him for his bravery.

My thinking goes like this. From the first moment Grace regains his early memories and remembers it's a suicide mission, he thinks a lot about how he's never going home. It really weighs him down (even in 0g, ha ha ha). And when Rocky offers the extra fuel to get him back, he's elated. Getting to go home to Earth is a huge deal to him. The Earth memories too, they all paint a picture of a guy who never wanted to go on this mission and just wants to return to his life of comfort. When he gets tested for coma resistance, he's grumpy about it. He's very "better them than me" when he meets the volunteer astronauts. And when he's asked to fill in, he takes it poorly and, as you stated, is a coward about it. Up until Stratt just straight-up shanghaies him.

And that memory, learning that he was a coward, comes at an important moment because it's near the end, right as the Taumeboa experiment is hitting hiccups and then as they're jetting away to save their respective worlds. If you want to pick a "climax" of the book, I'd place it at the moment he realizes Rocky is in danger from the Taumeboa and chooses to go rescue his friend and an entire alien world, at the cost of (he believes) his own life. He already sent the beetles, all of them even, which fulfills the original mission parameters. Going back himself would be a bonus but isn't necessary to get Earth the info it needs -- the beetles can get there faster anyway.

So the decision is only about whether he, himself, gets to survive or not. And he decides to go save Rocky and drive him to Erid, knowing that he doesn't have remaining food for the journey back to Earth. It's only after Rocky is rescued that he realizes that his food problems aren't an issue. And in my opinion, that moment would've been stronger if we'd only had that realization once they were years en route to Erid, once he'd committed to that course of action.

So my argument is that Grace only ever wanted to go home, and he chooses to give that opportunity up to save his friend, believing that choice will kill him. And then he's rewarded for that choice by getting to live out his life on an alien world! I mean, can you imagine it? I'm not even a scientist, and I'd find that prospect hard to turn down. Grace began his career as a xenobiologist arguing that non-water-based life was possible, and he (likely) ends his life getting to study and even teach a civilization of it.

Add in that he didn't have many social or emotional connections left on Earth (especially after the time dilation of three relativistic flights), and I don't see the choice to not return as cowardice. I see why you do, but I think he already overcame his cowardice in the choice to save Rocky - his first true friend.