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The Calculating Stars (Lady Astronaut Universe, #1)

Mary Robinette Kowal

Start date: May 21, 2019

Finish date: June 12, 2019

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Dec 30, 2024 Candice Kamencik rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, historical-fiction, will-not-continue

2.5 rounded up to 3, because it wasn't a bad book, it just wasn't what I was looking for.

This book is MUCH more historical/alternate reality fiction than Sci Fi. If you want to only define sci fi as the bare bones minimum of "fiction with some amount of science in it), sure, but even looking at Sci Fi broadly as a reading genre, this is very light on that.

What is billed as the main story line (catastrophic meteor impact endangering the world requires focus and rapid advancement in space travel i 2.5 rounded up to 3, because it wasn't a bad book, it just wasn't what I was looking for.

This book is MUCH more historical/alternate reality fiction than Sci Fi. If you want to only define sci fi as the bare bones minimum of "fiction with some amount of science in it), sure, but even looking at Sci Fi broadly as a reading genre, this is very light on that.

What is billed as the main story line (catastrophic meteor impact endangering the world requires focus and rapid advancement in space travel in order to colonize new worlds) sees very little actual play time in this book, as the idea of the event itself is just used as a the reason for events. This listed synopsis looks to be the overarching story of the entire series, not of this book specifically. In this first installment, you get the meteor impact (which is really well done, it made the beginning of the book very engaging), but as soon as that is over, the rest of the book is just alternate history, but very light even on the "alternate" part as it's more just a sped up version of our actual space program events anyway. Womp womp. It's really just a chick lit book about one woman's work in the beginning of the space program - that's it.

The saving grace of this book was the characters. The MC and her husband were very well written, multi faced, and relatable. They dealt with emotions in a human fashion, had their outbursts and worries, and we just very real, which was great. The supporting characters were well done as well; none of them faded into the background, and their "screen time" was well written and personable. Really well done with character development, and for that alone I'd be interested in looking into the author's other works, but I won't be continuing this series.

I really was looking forward to the an alternate reality version of space colonization that just isn't here. Slight spoiler here, not of plot, just on where in the timeline into space exploration this book stops - a moon landing. One moon landing. And the "win" of the book is that (view spoiler) But that's it, that's how far they get in this entire book, a moon landing. lol There is zero colonization, and not even much talk or even planning about it, except to use it as a plot pusher of "if we're going to eventually colonize space, you need to let women go too eventually!"

So, if you'd like to read a version of history where they were SLIGHTLY, very, very slightly less sexist towards women in STEM during the post WW2 and cold war era - this might be for you! lol The blatant sexism is still there, and pretty accurate, along with the rampant racism of the time, so again, the "alternate" timeline is very loosely used here as it's relatively accurate in regards to societal norms, which is the point, and really what the book is actually about. Ergo, the reason why I've said it's less sci fi and more historical chit lit fiction really. I do give props to the author for taking the opportunity to use her platform to point out the racism of the time, and doing so without making the MC out to have "white savior" complex though. The MC does completely admit that if the lack of inclusion of non-white women wasn't pointed out to her, she probably wouldn't have picked it up on her own, which I thought was a very good way to handle the issue. Once it's brought to her attention, she does become more aware on her own after that, which does give the book a more inclusive woman's rights type feel instead of it being WASP-esque, which I appreciated. You can actually argue there's a nice juxtaposition played here with words, as the author being intersectional and inclusive played the idea of WASP (well do-to white women who are usually pro woman's rights, but not really concerned about everyone) vs the WASPs (civilian women pilots who flew military aircraft during World War 2) mentioned heavily in the book.

So, like I said, great author and writing, just the story wasn't for me. If you're a historical fiction reader or chick lit reader who is looking to dip your toe in Sci Fi, this may interest you. If you like historical fiction done well, this is definitely for you! If you're looking for actual sci fi or space exploration, you may want to give this a pass. ...more

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Jul 12, 2020 Arindam rated it really liked it

Shelves: space, apocalyptic, alternate-history, girl-power

I'll limit the comments because the book was so inspiring and magnificent. Just one thing to consider - I understand the need to go to space if you know that because of the climate factors, Earth will be inhabitable in a few decades. But isn't terra-forming Moon or Mars or any other planet a more cumbersome task than stabilizing the climate patterns on Earth through similar terraforming exercises? ...more

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