Best Books
Books Like Project Hail Mary: Smart, Funny Sci-Fi
Quick answer
Read The Martian by Andy Weir next. Same author, same structure: a competent narrator solves one scientific problem at a time, explains the science in plain English, and cracks jokes the whole way through.
The 3-book shortlist: The Martian (the obvious next read), Mickey7 by Edward Ashton (closest alien-buddy, found-crew energy, now a Robert Pattinson film) and All Systems Red by Martha Wells (a grumpy, competent narrator with the same dry humor, in novella form).
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Project Hail Mary works because Ryland Grace is likable, the science is explained like you're smart but not a physicist, and the stakes (save humanity, alone, with amnesia) never stop a joke from landing. That combination is rarer than it sounds, so the seven books below are the ones we could verify actually deliver it — we'd rather hand you seven solid picks than pad the list with ones that only share a spaceship.
How We Chose
Every pick had to share at least two of: a problem-solving narrator who thinks out loud, real (or real-feeling) science, humor that doesn't undercut the stakes, or a nonhuman companion with genuine personality. We checked every year and series status against Wikipedia and Open Library as of October 2026, and left out several commonly recommended titles (Hyperion, The Expanse) that are excellent but don't actually share Project Hail Mary's voice or structure.
1. The Martian by Andy Weir
Astronaut Mark Watney is stranded alone on Mars and has to keep himself alive using nothing but his training, duct tape, and sarcasm, logged day by day until help can arrive.
- Who it's for: anyone who wants exactly what Project Hail Mary does, from the author who invented the formula.
- What it's like: a one-man survival story told almost entirely through log entries, funnier and more procedural than most disaster fiction.
- Series status: standalone; no sequel.
- Where to start: The Martian (2011).
2. Mickey7 by Edward Ashton
On a colony mission, Mickey is an “Expendable”: when he dies doing a dangerous job, a new body gets printed with most of his memories intact. Then a mix-up leaves two Mickeys alive at once.
- Who it's for: readers who want Project Hail Mary's mix of hard-ish sci-fi concept and genuine warmth, including an alien-contact plot in the back half.
- What it's like: wry, first-person, and more character-driven than action-driven, with real stakes about what makes you still "you."
- Series status: followed by one sequel novel, Antimatter Blues (2023). Also now a film, Mickey 17, directed by Bong Joon Ho, starring Robert Pattinson (released March 2025).
- Where to start: Mickey7 (2022).
3. All Systems Red by Martha Wells
A security android that calls itself Murderbot has hacked its own governing module and mostly just wants to be left alone to watch soap operas — but its human clients keep getting into trouble.
- Who it's for: readers who loved Ryland Grace's internal voice and want that same dry, self-deprecating competence in a shorter read.
- What it's like: fast, funny novellas with a narrator who solves problems methodically while complaining about people the whole time.
- Series status: ongoing Murderbot Diaries, several novellas plus full novels including Network Effect (2020) and System Collapse (2023); also an Apple TV+ series starring Alexander Skarsgard (premiered May 2025).
- Where to start: All Systems Red (2017).
4. The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
A guy who loses his job during the pandemic takes a strange new gig that turns out to involve caring for building-sized creatures in a parallel Earth.
- Who it's for: readers who want Project Hail Mary's breezy, upbeat tone more than its hard science — this is comfort-food sci-fi with real wonder in it.
- What it's like: fast, dialogue-heavy, and consistently funny, closer to a hangout book than a survival thriller.
- Series status: standalone, Scalzi's first in several years outside his ongoing series.
- Where to start: The Kaiju Preservation Society (2022).
5. Old Man's War by John Scalzi
Seventy-five-year-olds can enlist to fight an interstellar war in exchange for a new, enhanced body — they just don't find out the details of the trade until they've already signed up.
- Who it's for: readers who want Scalzi's same humor applied to military sci-fi with more plot and world-building than Kaiju.
- What it's like: brisk, quippy, and plotted around a clear problem-of-the-chapter structure.
- Series status: ongoing, seven books as of 2026, from Old Man's War (2005) to The Shattering Peace (2025).
- Where to start: Old Man's War (2005).
6. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
The multi-species crew of a tunneling ship takes on a dangerous long-haul job, and the book spends most of its time on how they get along — or don't — along the way.
- Who it's for: readers who loved the found-family, problem-solving-crew feeling more than the solo-survival angle.
- What it's like: gentle, character-first science fiction with low violence and a strong sense of optimism, often called "hopepunk."
- Series status: complete 4-book Wayfarers series (2014–2021); each book can be read as a standalone entry point.
- Where to start: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (2014).
7. Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
A terraforming experiment goes sideways and ends up uplifting spiders instead of monkeys, and the novel follows their civilization evolving in parallel with the last remnants of humanity searching for a new home.
- Who it's for: readers who want Project Hail Mary's big, optimistic ideas about alien intelligence taken even further, with a slower, more literary pace.
- What it's like: ambitious hard sci-fi that treats its non-human characters as genuinely alien rather than humans in costumes — the same spirit as Rocky, scaled up to a civilization.
- Series status: ongoing; won the 2016 Arthur C. Clarke Award, followed by Children of Ruin (2019) and Children of Memory (2022).
- Where to start: Children of Time (2015).
If You Only Read One
Read The Martian if you want exactly more Andy Weir. Read Mickey7 if the Rocky friendship was your favorite part. Read The Kaiju Preservation Society if you just want something fun and don't need the hard science.
Want film status on Project Hail Mary itself? It's already out: released March 20, 2026, directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, starring Ryan Gosling. Browse more picks on our best book lists hub.
FAQ
What should I read after Project Hail Mary?
The Martian is the obvious next step since it's by the same author with the same one-problem-at-a-time structure. For something with Rocky-style alien-buddy chemistry, try Mickey7.
Is there a Project Hail Mary movie?
Yes. It was released March 20, 2026, directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, starring Ryan Gosling as Ryland Grace and Sandra Huller.
Is Project Hail Mary a series?
No, it's a standalone novel, same as Andy Weir's The Martian. Weir has not announced a sequel.
What is a funny sci-fi book like Project Hail Mary?
The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi and All Systems Red by Martha Wells both share Project Hail Mary's dry, competent-narrator humor.
Are there books like Project Hail Mary with an alien friendship?
Mickey7 has the closest equivalent to Rocky's alien-buddy dynamic, though it's a different kind of story overall.
Seven books, one shared obsession with a likable narrator solving impossible problems out loud. Start with The Martian.
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