TCS: February 2019 Pick: The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal

[Trike]

She’s also a puppeteer-actor, so she has that skill set, too.

[Stephen]

Yeah. I love to do that whisperlink stuff. I do not know why, but watching that little highlighting bar cruise over words while the narrator speaks the words is Zenlike to me. it gives me a peaceful, easy feeling. And yes I did hum as I wrote that.

[Les]

The audible sale of Calculating Stars is very fortuitous. Maybe someone at Audible is a Sword and Laser fan?

Anywho, I'm happy to be on board for February's discussion :)

[Cody]

Just found this group and podcast; I was excited to join in a reading, but am in the middle of Way of Kings and didn't want to add something on top of that. Then I saw the post that it's on sale at Audible and snatched it up! Looking forward to my first read(listen) along with the group :)

[Iain]

Well it certainly starts with a bang! (nudge nudge, wink wink)

[Ruth]

Rob wrote: "This is timely, next month's pick (which starts tomorrow) The Calculating Stars is on sale on audible today: https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Calcul...

W..."

Annoyingly, this offer isn’t available in the UK!

Also annoyingly, the library is telling me that their copy of TCS is still ‘on order’, with no indication when it might arrive, even though the sequel is already on hold, waiting for me to collect it!)

The Kindle and dead tree editions are both relatively expensive atm. Eh, I’ll probably end up using an Audible credit, even though I’ve already got two audio books on the go! If the audio is good then it’ll be worth it.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I started listening this morning and the story jumps right in.

[Trike]

I grew up in Dayton and lived right next to Wright-Patterson AFB, and I can confirm that the portrayal of both is accurate.

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

Iain wrote: "Well it certainly starts with a bang! (nudge nudge, wink wink)"

Say no more ;-)

[Josh]

Trike wrote: "She’s also a puppeteer-actor, so she has that skill set, too."

Ohhhh that explains why her narration is so much better than I expected it to be! I normally shy away from audio books read by the author, but I checked out the sample and went for it. I'm glad I did! It's great she has the ability to act a bit, it gives even more insight into who she wrote these characters to be. I'm enjoying it so far.

Also, first timer here :-)

[Scott]

Josh wrote:
Ohhhh that explains why her narration is so much better than I expected it to be! I normally shy away from audio books ..."

She also narrates for other authors too, including Seanan McGuire, Neal Stephenson, and Cherie Priest, among others, so it's also a skill set she's developed professionally beyond just her own work. EDIT: I just saw Rob's comment mentioning this. Oooops.

Also, welcome :)

[Josh]

Scott wrote: "Also, welcome :)"

Thanks, Scott! Also, judging by your profile pic you're in MN also...? Can't help but feeling like this weather is straight out of this book!

[Julie]

Josh wrote: "Scott wrote: "Also, welcome :)"

Thanks, Scott! Also, judging by your profile pic you're in MN also...? Can't help but feeling like this weather is straight out of this book!"

Skies are a bit too blue.

Nearly finished. (I was fortunate enough to find a single library branch that had an available copy.)

[Scott]

Josh wrote: "Scott wrote: "Also, welcome :)"

Thanks, Scott! Also, judging by your profile pic you're in MN also...? Can't help but feeling like this weather is straight out of this book!"

Haha yup. I'm just north of the Cities. Certainly feels like it, and sounds like we're in for some more. We actually used to have some meetups in the Twin Cities, but it's been a while since the last one.

[Matthew]

Unlike ninefox gambit, I found myself unable to put this down. I found the characters to be compelling and relatable (especially Elma and her anxiety).

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Matthew wrote: "Unlike ninefox gambit, I found myself unable to put this down. I found the characters to be compelling and relatable (especially Elma and her anxiety)."

Interestingly the anxiety makes me anxious... I keep thinking come on Elma, this is why women get a bad rap!

[Shad]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Interestingly the anxiety makes me anxious... I keep thinking come on Elma, this is why women get a bad rap! "

Yet, (view spoiler)[the whole reason she has so much anxiety is because of everything she went through at Stanford (hide spoiler)].

[Iain]

Shad wrote: "Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Interestingly the anxiety makes me anxious... I keep thinking come on Elma, this is why women get a bad rap! "

Yet, [spoilers removed]."

For over a year my son upchucked due to anxiety...

[LouLouReads]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Matthew wrote: "Unlike ninefox gambit, I found myself unable to put this down. I found the characters to be compelling and relatable (especially Elma and her anxiety)."

Interestingly the anxiety m..."

Yes - I totally sympathised with her but at the same time, preconceptions about women in STEM (of which I am one) mean that I am very, very careful about showing any kind of emotion at work, so despite my best intentions I was getting frustrated with her. But anxiety *is* frustrating, and Elma was frustrated with herself, so I feel like that was probably a good narrative choice.

[Elizabeth]

I also got really anxious by the anxiety, even though Elma's anxiety manifests complete different to mine, and on a deeper level I know I shouldn't get upset by it. It's good to have representations of Actual Humans in the narrative.

[terpkristin]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Matthew wrote: "Unlike ninefox gambit, I found myself unable to put this down. I found the characters to be compelling and relatable (especially Elma and her anxiety)."

Interestingly the anxiety makes me anxious... I keep thinking come on Elma, this is why women get a bad rap!"

BUT IT'S REAL. Before I started meditating regularly, I'd have panic attacks up to a few times a week. I can't begin to discuss the things I "can't" do at work and how freaking grateful I am that I have an office with a door. How many of my male colleagues get "emotional" and they're called "passionate" where if I raise my voice, I'm "hysterical" or "aggressive". Dilbert, oddly enough, sums some of it up well.. https://dilbert.com/strip/2015-07-17

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

terpkristin wrote: "Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Matthew wrote: "Unlike ninefox gambit, I found myself unable to put this down. I found the characters to be compelling and relatable (especially Elma and her anxiety)."..."

I understand there is a double standard. I understand anxiety is real. But there’s something about only giving it to the female character.....

[terpkristin]

In fairness, we don't know. We're seeing it from Elma's point of view, and it's not like most people want to admit that they have anxiety issues, ESPECIALLY when it could ground you. For all we know, some of the other characters (male) have anxiety issues, too. Maybe MRK will write a book from one of their points of view and we'd find out...maybe that's a good question for her. Off to that thread! ;)

[Shad]

Don't forget that this book is set 60 years ago. There is a lot more awareness and sensitivity to anxiety today than there would have been back then. At times, the book seemed to be a little too sensitive to anxiety issues for the time.

[AndrewP]

Shad wrote: "Don't forget that this book is set 60 years ago. There is a lot more awareness and sensitivity to anxiety today than there would have been back then. At times, the book seemed to be a little too se..."

Yeah I think that too but I'm willing to let it slide on account of it being an alternative timeline.

[David H.]

For some reason, I think she only puts it in her notes for the second book not TCS, but she mentions the Miltowns and their history, which I found absolutely fascinating.

[Dara]

I did as well. Despite working in pharmacy for 13 years, I had no idea about Miltown.

[Shad]

Shad wrote: "Don't forget that this book is set 60 years ago. There is a lot more awareness and sensitivity to anxiety today than there would have been back then. At times, the book seemed to be a little too se..."

Just listened to the interview with MRK and this comment was off. It was fascinating that the side effects of Milltown lead to a lot of the stigma associated with medication for anxiety issues.

[Priscilla]

Can I just say as a Brazilian woman, how freaking cool and exciting it was to see that representation in this book? I was so happy when I read that!

[Bryan]

5 Stars, This was a great book, and the best book pick so far for 2019. OK since March's pick was early it Ties 5 Starts with Harry Potter as well.

[Melissa]

I finally got this from the library. A quick read and a good read. Enjoyed it immensely.

[Cory]

Thank you so much for this selection! This book was great, and the sequel is even better. I've never been much of a sci-fi reader, but this one has prompted me to branch out into the genre a bit more.

[Tomas]

I love Mary's tweets about her puppet making that's taken out of context and becomes hilarious.

Example
"Can't bone the polar bear today after all. I'm too dilated to focus."

[Cody]

Finished the audio book yesterday. First book I've ever done solely on audio. I enjoyed it; a very fun listen. I'll have to checkout the sequel at some point.

[Dominik]

Just finished today. Very well written, though I came close to lemming it a few times because it was just legitimately very depressing in some places, especially early on. I'm glad I stuck with it, though, and actually punched the air when (view spoiler)[she "outed" herself re: her anxiety and everybody just went "Huh. Okay anyway, you're awesome and you're going to make an amazing astronaut." (hide spoiler)] I'll have to check out the sequel.

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

The sequel The Fated Sky is much better than TCS

and I loved TCS (4 Stars) :-)

[Hyena]

So I tried re-creating a two-stage orbit in Kerbal Space Program using older rockets. Very hard to do. Had a number of poor kerbals with forced re-entry. Good job ladies!

[terpkristin]

Hyena wrote: "So I tried re-creating a two-stage orbit in Kerbal Space Program using older rockets. Very hard to do. Had a number of poor kerbals with forced re-entry. Good job ladies!"

When KSP first came out, one of the parts analysis guys I work with played a lot and was like "now I know what you do!"

If only it were that glamorous.