The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal 4*s

[MargieD2017]

I enjoyed this read. The author has done a terrific job of portraying a 1950's time frame with the development of a space flight plan intended to provide the world with a planet evacuation path. I especially enjoyed the main female character's fight to be an astronaut during the 50's when women belonged in the kitchen regardless of their math prodigy skills. She struggles against this bias and with her own handicap. The intertwining of these three elements built a character with whom you couldn't help but empathize.

The story launches quickly with a devastating meteor strike that forces the need to evacuate the planet. The development of space flight is well done with the insertion of real 'Cape Canaveral control language' and the use of real physic equations making it all that more real and believable. A job well done.