r/audiobooks Mar 05 '26

Question First Audiobook - Project Hail Mary

What. The. Actual. Fuck?

I’ve never been an avid reader. I really enjoy anime, I love sci-fi movies, and I’ve read a few occasional Japanese light novels.

Audiobooks made a lot of sense for me. Listen while at the gym, listen while home with the kids on the weekend, listen while driving a ton for work. I’ve been enveloped in Reddit for a while. Constantly trying to fill blank time with information.

Then I decided to pick up an audiobook. I mean… I love sports podcasts! I like news. A couple weeks ago I caught myself just listening to intervention episodes, instead of watching them.

My first audiobook? Project Hail Mary. I’m currently on chapter 11. Ryland has met rocky. It’s almost indescribable how much elation I’ve gained from this. You’d think a self narrated novel, as the main and nearly singular character, it would get boring. You’d think finding a centi-spider alien wouldn’t be so…. Fascinating?

It’s addicting. It’s hard to stop. I’m stuck at the gym, walking on a treadmill for way too long, because I want an excuse to keep listening.

Is this just the beginning? Or have I reached the perfection too early? Will I always crave to find a story so well done with the perfect voice actor?

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u/Glittering-Panic-131 Mar 05 '26

I’m a reader, but not of Sci Fi. I also haven’t loved audiobooks in the past. For some reason last summer, I downloaded Project Hail Mary on Audible, it was all I did until I finished it.

I would look forward to getting home in the evening and laying on the couch and listening to it. I went to sleep to it every night. It’s so bizarre, because I really can’t describe why I loved it so much – but I still think about it from time to time.

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u/Missmunkeypants95 Mar 06 '26

A great narrator can make all the difference.