The Sword and Laser discussion
This topic is about
The Calculating Stars
note: This topic has been closed to new comments.
2019 Reads
>
TCS: February 2019 Pick: The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal
I read Calculating Stars and the sequel, Fated Sky back in September and absolutely loved them. Mary Robinette is one of my favorite authors and I’m so glad the club is finally reading one of her books.
Excellent choice! I adore this book and its sequel.Edit: Perhaps now I can get a nomination endorsement from her...
Knew I should have picked it up earlier this week when it was on sale.
Mod
Are those actual endorsements? I went looking on twitter, but apparently I no longer follow you I guess. I wasn't sure if you made up joke quotes or actually got responses from those authors on Twitter..
I almost made a comment this morning saying "MRK is going to have to update her comment"
They are 100% made up, haha. I'm not on twitter anymore. Just my poor attempt at comedy, haha.
To be a sword-wielder standing alone in the vast laser armory, with a choice to make and February pounding on the door...
Yay! I’ve had this on my TBR for awhile. I guess I’m moving it to the top of the pile. I feel a bit of shame that a girl who lives in the Rocket City with family ties to NASA hasn’t read this yet. *shame face*
Yay!! I’ve been meaning to read this :)
Wow, great timing. I have a local book club that's reading this as their SF pick next month, so two birds with one stone for once!
I read the little prequel novel on the tor website yesterday and it made me even more excited for this book pick!
Yay! Finally a Kowal book and one I haven't read yet! I just put a hold on it at my library. Fingers crossed I get it soon :)
I've also got it on hold at the library, but it looks like I'll be reading later in the month if I even get it in February. Or maybe I'll just spend the $10...
Dara wrote: "They are 100% made up, haha. I'm not on twitter anymore. Just my poor attempt at comedy, haha."Nothing poor about it - it was perfect! And what timing! I miss you on twitter, by the way, even though I don't use it much.
That's two out of two picks this year that I've already read!Actually, my review of this book is by far the most liked thing I've ever posted on Goodreads - which I feel kinda embarrassed about, because it wasn't exactly glowing.
I look forward to joining in the discussion, although I'm more likely to get started on the sequel than to join the group read this month.
Oooh this one looks good! Looking forward to reading it.
The first library system I looked in had 9 copies so there doesn't seem to be much demand at the moment. Snapped one up and hope it's going to be better than the last two picks.
Nice. I'm reading that just now anyway after I think pretty much everyone on the Incomparable's book choices of 2018 chose that. I'm really enjoying it.
I loved it and the sequel.
Perfect choice for lots of my reading challenges!
One of the best books of 2018 imo, great selection.
This has been on my reading want to list for a while. I am a happy camper.
For those interested, this book and its sequel are pre-quels to The Lady Astronaut of Mars which was the winner of the 2014 Hugo Award for Best Novelette. If you're like me, you may even have the novelette in your Hugo packet hiding in a drive on your computer. I plan to read the novelette before the prequels.
terpkristin wrote: "For those interested, this book and its sequel are pre-quels to The Lady Astronaut of Mars which was the winner of the 2014 Hugo Award for Best Novelette. If you're like me, you may even have the n..."I wouldn't recommend it. In my opinion there are spoilers for the novels in the novelette.
There's actually at least 3 Lady Astronaut short stories out there, included in Word Puppets, including one about the actual uh... inciting event of the novel.
This book is Wabash-approved: https://www.instagram.com/p/BnwIqXYlfWg/And that photo is Mary Robinette Kowal approved.🙂
Deborah wrote: "terpkristin wrote: "For those interested, this book and its sequel are pre-quels to The Lady Astronaut of Mars which was the winner of the 2014 Hugo Award for Best Novelette. If you're like me, you..."I read the Lady Astronaut novelette last year. Do they have the same chapters at the beginning? Sure feels like it.
Picks have been super convenient so far TBR wise for me. Didn't own this one yet however not from lack of trying. Going to have to place an order (and get some pre-orders in because you clearly can't just buy one book).
Ruth (tilltab) Ashworth wrote: "Nothing poor about it - it was perfect! And what timing! I miss you on twitter, by the way, even though I don't use it much."Thank you so much! :-D I have weeks of ads I've written to post in the Quick Burns. Stay tuned! :-)
And awww! Twitter became too much of a toxic cesspool for me. So I peaced out.
I can understand that. X
Cool. Mary Robinette Kowal is a presenter on my (other) favourite podcast, Writing Excuses, so I’ve heard her talking a lot about her process of writing this book (eg interviewing astronauts) but I haven’t got around to reading it yet.
Picked it when it was a Kindle deal earlier this month! I am a big fan of the $2.99 price point !!!!! got this book just because of the price point and the cover ! Sir Thomas the Hesitant and the Table of Less Valued Knights
Awesome choice! I really enjoyed reading it and can't wait to read The Fated Sky.
David wrote: "There's actually at least 3 Lady Astronaut short stories out there, included in Word Puppets, including one about the actual uh... inciting event of the novel."Literally, this is how I discovered Mary and the fact that this novel was a thing. I spent the other morning reading through a ton of her short stories. ALL of which are available on Tor's website.
Ruth wrote: "Cool. Mary Robinette Kowal is a presenter on my (other) favourite podcast, Writing Excuses, so I’ve heard her talking a lot about her process of writing this book (eg interviewing astronauts) but I..."Speaking of, they go into the writing of this book in this episode: https://writingexcuses.com/2018/07/29...
Spoilers within, so read the book first.
Mary does the narration herself for the audiobook and it's really good.
Perfect timing in that I picked this up when it was on sale. And I've been wanting to get to this for some time.
Mod
I haven't started the book yet, but I already find the title of this whole series to be redundant.
Matt wrote: "I haven't started the book yet, but I already find the title of this whole series to be redundant."Heh. You have no idea yet.
Rob wrote: "You should have just stayed up reading instead. :-P"I tried, Rob. I really did my best, and was full of regrets and coffee at work the next morning.
Mod
I tried, Rob. I really did my best, and was full of regrets and coffee at work the next morning."
haha..
Hello all. First time getting involved with he group. I do need some guidance. Just got the book and already started reading it. What happens next?
Hi Yaniv. Welcome! We usually hold off making threads until the month starts, with the exception of the kick off thread where we get excited for the pick. This is to give folks time to finish the current book before new discussions begin (as I understand it, this is more a courtesy than a strict rule though) . Once the first rolls around, folks will start making threads to discuss various bits of the book, and you are welcome to make your own - make sure your title for the thread begins with the book initials, in this case TCS. We don't have a set structure to the monthly discussions, so just drop in with whatever grabs your interests. Oh, and use of spoiler tags when needed is generally appreciated. :)
Yaniv wrote: "Hello all. First time getting involved with he group. I do need some guidance. Just got the book and already started reading it. What happens next?"What Ruth said.
To see how it usually goes, you can take a look at the current discussions for this month’s read of Ninefox Gambit: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...
Mod
For additional questions about the monthly pick, you can see the FAQ thread here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
And for general posting rules, you can see the FAQ here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Deborah wrote: "I wouldn't recommend it. In my opinion there are spoilers for the novels in the novelette."YMMV. I didn't mind reading it first. I like reading things in publication order first (then going back and doing suggested orders on subsequent read throughs) unless an author specifically recommends against it.
Mod
When I did this book I did the audio and it was fantastic. Normally I'm not a huge fan of authors reading their own books, and this is one of those exceptions.
Of course MRK does narration for other people's books as well so that may be part of the reason why.
This topic has been frozen by the moderator. No new comments can be posted.
The Sword and Laser
Books mentioned in this topic
The Fated Sky (other topics)The Calculating Stars (other topics)
The Calculating Stars (other topics)
Word Puppets (other topics)
Sir Thomas the Hesitant and the Table of Less Valued Knights (other topics)
More...
Tom will be picking a Sword book for March in return, while we conduct our March Madness tournament for the April pick.