Project Hail Mary was special because it was so straightforward. It didn't try to beat you over the head with some grand message about society. It's just a science teacher doing cool stuff in space. Refreshing, in my opinion.
(WARNING: minor spoilers follow)
In a story about someone travelling to another galaxy and investigating other life forms, the thing that I struggled with the most was that the entire planet unilaterally put their faith in one person and there wasn't a giant amount of infighting and countries at each other's throats.
I also read Ministry for the Future which was pretty heavy on politics. It didn't grab me the way Project Hail Mary did, though.