Weir began writing science fiction in his twenties and published work on his website for years. He authored a humor web comic, Casey and Andy,[NB 1] featuring fictionalized "mad scientist" versions of himself and his friends (such as writer Jennifer Brozek) from 2001 to 2008. He also briefly worked on another comic, Cheshire Crossing (bridging Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, The Wizard of Oz and Mary Poppins), from 2006 to 2008.[7] The attention these gained him has been attributed as later helping launch his writing career,[8] following his failure to publish his first novel attempt, Theft of Pride.[9] His first work to gain significant attention was "The Egg", a 2009 short story that has been adapted into a number of YouTube videos, a one-act play, and is the overarching concept of Everybody, the third album by American rapper Logic.[1][10]
Weir wrote his first published novel, The Martian, to be as scientifically accurate as possible, doing extensive research into orbital mechanics, conditions on the planet Mars, the history of human spaceflight, and botany.[6] Originally published as a free serial on his website, some readers requested he make it available on Amazon Kindle. First sold for 99 cents, the novel made it to the Kindle bestsellers list. Weir was then approached by a literary agent and sold the rights to Crown Publishing Group. The print version (slightly edited from the original) debuted at No. 12 on The New York Times bestseller list in 2014.[11]The Wall Street Journal called it "the best pure sci-fi novel in years".[12] It was adapted into a film in 2015 starring Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain.[13]
In 2015, Weir announced he was working on his second novel, provisionally titled Zhek, which he described as "a more traditional sci-fi novel with aliens, telepathy, faster-than-light travel, etc."[14] A fan-fiction story written by Weir, "Lacero", was published in the 2016 edition of Ready Player One, making it canonical to the book's fictional universe. The work functions as a prequel to the main novel.[NB 2][15] Also in 2016, Weir released The Principles of Uncertainty, a collection of short stories, on the website/app Tapas.[16]
After announcing that the Zhek project had been "back-burnered", Weir moved on to another hard sci-fi novel, Artemis, with a female protagonist, set on the Moon in the 2080s–2090s.[17] The thriller, published in 2017, follows Jazz, a 26-year-old woman constrained by her small town (which is also the only city on the Moon). In May 2017, 20th Century Fox and New Regency acquired the film rights to the book.[18] On September 26, 2017, it was announced that Phil Lord and Christopher Miller had signed on to develop and direct a film based on the novel.[19]
In 2017, CBS picked up a pilot written by Weir titled Mission Control, following a group of young NASA astronauts and scientists.[20] In May of that year, Weir collaborated with webcomic artist Sarah Andersen to reillustrate Cheshire Crossing for Tapas, before publishing it as a stand-alone graphic novel in July 2019.[21] In November 2019, a film adaptation of Cheshire Crossing was announced from Amblin Partners and Walt Disney Pictures, to be produced by Michael De Luca and written by Erin Cressida Wilson.[22]
In May 2021, Weir's third novel, Project Hail Mary, was released. It revolves around an astronaut, Ryland Grace, who wakes up from a coma on a strange spacecraft, afflicted with amnesia. It has received widespread positive reviews, winning the 2022 Audie Award for Audiobook of the Year[23] and a nomination for the 2022 Hugo Awards for Best Novel, as well as achieving the #1 spot on the New York Times Audiobook Bestseller List.[24]Ryan Gosling is slated to produce and star as Grace in a film adaption,[25] with Lord and Miller directing the project.[26]
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