Books Like Project Hail Mary: Smart, Hopeful Science Fiction

Leviathan Wakes opens The Expanse with a missing-girl case and a salvage crew that stumbles onto something that could end the solar system. Like Project Hail Mary, it pairs hard-SF plausibility with genuine page-by-page momentum — capable people solving escalating problems in a universe whose rules bite back. Where Weir gives you one resourceful mind, Corey gives you a noir detective, a wisecracking ship's crew, and a system-wide conspiracy. For that same 'one more chapter' propulsion at a grander scale, start here.