these are not good but they're fun

bitty made the jump from youtube to tiktok influencer and posts booktok thirst traps of his own husband in between pie tutorials. self diagnosed adhd that he does not treat but does mention a Lot. banned from instagram bc he got into too many fights w randos in the comments.

jack is planning on retirement any day now. he’s chill he has his books he’s gonna enroll for a history masters program after he retires and maybe get a few gigs as a color commentator. played golf with shaq once. in process of adopting a kid w bitty after failed attempt a few years ago

shitty is a lawyer for the ACLU and also does work for his state chapter of planned parenthood. they’re trying to get him to join the board but he’s resisting for time reasons. there’s a picture of him kneeling wearing a kente scarf during 2020 floating around on social media that the smh group chat spams whenever they remember it.

lardo is chilling as an artist shes pretty well known in the boston scene. she and shitty have a second apartment in nyc. professor of practice for a course at BU. shaved her head during the pandemic but it’s grown back. at least one full sleeve of tattoos. tied her tubes after having one kid, who goes to a hippie quaker private school.

holster is making gobs of money doing data analysis for the same consultant firm he worked in out of college. uses AI constantly for his work since it’s necessary and gets into fights w shitty and lardo about it sometimes. 100% on his male pattern baldness journey but will deny it to anyone who points it out. secretly is considering plugs

ransom made it to med school eventually and just finished his residency for a specialty in dermatology. makes videos on tiktok promoting his practice that go viral bc he’s hot. great work life balance and he and holster are lowkey DINK kings who have a regular rental place in the caribbean every summer.

For me as a reader, I have certain priorities and things that I liked in PHM.

I like that it's a story about sacrifice and love and teamwork.

I like that it's a story about hope in the face of terrifying adversity.

I like that it's a story about two people learning to understand each other and working together to save the universe.

I like that it's a story about two people brought together to solve a common problem, backed by millions of other people across the galaxy also trying to help (after all, one person, even a brilliant engineer like Rocky, cannot build a spaceship alone).

I like that even though the two main characters are basically platonic soulmates, they live in fundamentally incompatible worlds.

I like that it's a story about problem-solving, specifically scientific problem-solving that explains the science in a way that's understandable to me as a non-scientist.

I do like thinking about the logistics of long-term interspace travel.

I like that there's a ruthlessly efficient German lady making shit happen.

I like that Weir's writing is pretty solidly a 21st century style (I've read so much 20th century and earlier science fiction, I'm not trying to say that it's bad in any way, but if I'm looking for a readalike, the writing style is extremely important to consider for me).

I like how it's a story about first contact that is full of love and cooperation and sharing.

If you recommend me just any book set in space, or any first contact book, you're giving me a useless recommendation because those are some of the least interesting aspects of the story to me. For me, it would make just as little sense as a recommendation as if someone said "here, read this book after PHM because it also features a middle school teacher." I might like some of these other books that are being recommended, but because I like them for fundamentally different reasons, I just don't think it works as a "read this after that" kind of recommendation.