Project Hail Mary, Weir - B+

        Only twice before in nine years have I posted a science fiction novel on this blog, and this is the first one set in outer space. The author wrote 'The Martian,' and in this book tackles a possible human extinction event. It becomes apparent to scientists that the sun is losing its power, emitting less heat, and setting the earth on course to be 10 degrees colder in 25 years. Food sources will be so disrupted that a substantial portion of the race will starve. The problem appears to be infrared emissions from nebulae spanning the the solar system. Under the auspices of the UN, the world's powers set up a team that captures the emissions and labels them astrophage. After intensive analysis, the conclusion is to travel to the one solar system,  13 light-years away, that has not been impacted by the astrophage and try to sort out why it hasn't been effected. A three person crew is sent on a suicide mission to garner the solution and send back small probes with the hoped for answer. When Ryland Grace comes out of his induced coma, he learns that his two colleagues are dead. When he arrives at his destination, he realizes that there is another spaceship there. He makes contact with, and starts to work with, an astronaut from the planet Erid. Together, they determine how to eradicate the astrophage and, as a bonus, create enough fuel for Grace to get back to the Earth. He sends off the probes and begins the long flight home. About a month into his return, he realizes that they made a mistake and that the Eridian ship was not going to be able to make it all the way. Does he divert to Erid and help his colleague and billions of Eridians or does he keep going? A special thanks to Wendell Erwin, who I know I actually got all of the science in this bit of science fiction.