Point of View

The book is narrated in two timelines by first-person narrator Ryland Grace, a junior high school science teacher who becomes involved in a global effort to stop an alien life form called Astrophage from destroying the sun. In the first timeline, narrated in present tense, Ryland is aboard the Hail Mary as the only living member of a team of astronauts sent to space to learn why a star called Tau Ceti is not affected by Astrophage. The second timeline, narrated in past tense, features flashbacks to Ryland's life before the mission began. In the novel's opening scene, Ryland awakens from a coma with amnesia, and the memories depicted in the flashbacks help him piece together who he is and what he needs to know to make the mission a success.

The flashbacks to the past also reveal Ryland's motivations. When he remembers that he...