Science fiction or fantasy?

My most recent reading material is Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary. Weir has a fair amount of expertise in science and engineering and it shows in his work. His first book, The Martian, got all the technical stuff right. Everything that happened in the novel matched up neatly with reality; there wasn't anything that wasn't conceivably possible just by extending current technology out a bit further: sending a manned mission to Mars, having various devices working, and sufficient dramatic elements to keep a reader interested in seeing The Hero manage to survive on a diet of potatoes far longer than one would think possible. The book was readable. I enjoyed it, but had zero interest in watching the movie. 

Project Hail Mary is similar in that all the technology and science seems plausible. No violations of known laws of physics (e.g., no sudden discoveries of a faster-than-light drive or wormhole technology), for example. It does include the discovery of a life form that seems to be impossible given the conditions where it was found, but it's not totally implausible. Scientists have found marine life at depths where the water pressure should flatten them and thriving in thermal tubes where they should be getting cooked instead of breeding. So I'm willing to accept Weir's invention of 'astrophage.' 

In short, the book should be easily classifiable as hard core, old-fashioned science fiction. There's only one small problem. The plot centers around the need to Save the Planet, a classic trope in speculative fiction. An imminent threat is discovered, more or less by accident, that has the ability to turn Earth into an ice-covered lifeless rock. And it's a threat with a short timeline. If a solution isn't found within a few years it'll be too late. This is where the book steps away from being science fiction and turns into fantasy.

Humanity's response (or at least politicians' responses) is pure wishful thinking. Elves and orcs are more grounded in reality than Weir's vision. The governments of the world throw themselves into cooperating with the effort. The Chinese, Russians, Swedes, you name it, are all united in supporting Project Hail Mary. I can slide easily into a willful suspension of disbelief when it comes to accepting a lot of things authors do -- time travel, multiple universes, you name it and I probably won't quibble -- but a united Earth? That's the proverbial bridge too far. I'd be cruising along in the book, enjoying the various things The Hero has to cope with, and then there'd be a dip into governments worldwide giving the project's administrator a blank check. No, no, no. We humans would rather die a miserable, post-apocalyptic death while shivering over a dumpster fire and cooking rats than we could ever manage to get two countries, let alone the whole world, to agree on something that everyone needs. Don't agree? Just take a look at the stellar job we're all doing on agreeing on actions to slow climate change. 

Despite the fantasy element, the book is a good read. The management of the project pops up occasionally and has me muttering, but fortunately most of the novel just focuses on The Hero and the problems he personally is trying to solve. I'm actually not quite done with it -- I read another section that had the project manager bulldozing her way through bureaucracies and enjoyable though it was to see someone ream desk monkeys it got me thinking about how thoroughly unrealistic that plot element appears to be. Which is a shame, because it really would be nice to have a Project Manager for the whole planet.