The Calculating Stars

DNF - PG 32

I was so sure I would like this book, that I didn't even bother reading the sample. I mean, lady astronauts, alternate history, sci-fi, earth soon to be rendered uninhabitable. And look at that cover! What's not to love?

If I had bothered with the sample, I would have eliminated the possibility of even attempting this book. Because I knew from the first page that it wasn't for me. I was mislead as to what I thought this was going to be.

First page realizations: oh, it's told in the first person perspective. So it's not an ensemble book like the cover make me believe. Oh...When we're first introduced to out main character, she's in bed with her husband, telling us about the great sex she just had. ... So it's chick lit, not the sci-fi that I expected.

Okay, maybe it's not chick lit. I don't know what the proper definition for chick lit is. All I know is I use it for a certain grouping of books that focus on one woman, her life (to the exclusion of plot) and, especially, her sex life. I don't like chick lit. This book sounds like it's chick lit to me.

Also, I flipped through the book and everything I read decreased my interest in the book.

If I'd known what the book was - done my proper research like I've been bragging about doing! - I would never have read this book. It might be a fine book for what it is. I don't know, because what it is is something I don't like.

A quick read and I liked it. But a little slow for my taste.
Felt it got too bogged down with all the internal dialog about taking Miltown.

I thought this book started off quite strong with an alternative history plot line, where a meteorite hitting earth and the threat of an extinction event kickstarts the space program in the 1950s.

However I felt it went a little downhill a bit from there as we got stuck into the plot line of the discrimination women faced in the 1960s in the workplace (and their lack of place within it as equals). Which yes, is real and happened and it sucks but I guess it didn't feel quite uplifting to read at times..

Nonetheless an interesting book though.

Probably somewhere around 3.5 to 3.75 stars. Overall, this was a book that had a refreshingly unique premise. There were some important issues in it that were just a bit touch-and-go and weren't explored as in-depth as I would wish, and I felt like the book could do with a bit more focus and impact, but overall this was not a bad read and while the 1950s misogyny in it has softened somewhat today (though perhaps not in certain fields of study), a lot about it is sadly all too relatable.

Our protagonist is Elma York, an ex-WASP pilot for the USA during WW2 and also mathematics genius. She and her husband Nathaniel York are taking a break in the outskirts of Washington when a meteorite impacts D.C., wiping everyone and everything within a large radius. Aside from the immediate devastation, climate scientists ring the alarm bells to state that the greenhouse effect from the meteorite impact will greatly accelerate and heat up the planet, making it uninhabitable for humans. Suddenly, the space race becomes imminently important, and no longer a race as much as a collaborative international effort - if humanity is going to survive at all, colonizing other more habitable planets in space may be the only way out.

This book is set during the early 50's and reimagines how human history may have turned out if such an extinction event had happened just then, right at the beginning of the space race. Most his-fic books merely use time periods as a pretty backdrop for characters who still sound and act and think very much like they're from 21st century, but this one - doesn't, and I have to give Kowal credit for that. This also means that we see some attitudes from pretty much every character in the book that would be pretty unpalatable to us today - misogyny, racism, sexism, anti-semitism, fanatic nationalism... the works. I liked that these attitudes weren't just attributed to the antagonists of the novel while the protagonist and the people allied to her are miraculously liberal-minded just so that they'd be more appealing to a 21st century readership. While Elma is certainly feminist for her time, and her husband Nathaniel is almost unrealistically supportive of her career in STEM, both of them still occasionally slip up with thoughts that are very much of that time period. Elma gets moments where she is racked with guilt for not being a proper wife, because she's not taking care of the bills or doing house chores. Nathaniel, while supportive, sometimes still struggles to balance his support for Elma with the pressures of the all-male and misogynist environment that he works in, being the lead engineer of the IAC (the book's fictional equivalent of NASA).

I did enjoy that we saw character growth and development in the book, especially for Elma since the whole book is from her perspective. At the beginning of the book, though not actively racist, she is still fairly sheltered. The first time she enters a bar frequented by Black people with Eugene Lindholm, a Black pilot who hosts Elma and Nathaniel after they escape the devastation of the meteorite impact, Elma realises that she has never been in a room with so many Black people before, and makes some faux pas along the way. She does advocate for diversity in the Lady Astronauts being hired by the IAC, championing for Helen, a Taiwanese pilot and “computer” (a name given to mathematicians in the IAC, I suppose?) and who gets frequently passed over because she isn't white.

That being said, however, I felt that the book barely scratched the surface of these topics. A lot could have been done for a book set in the 50s, but ultimately Elma was still the white heroine of the story, set apart from her peers even though she acknowledges that they are just as deserving as her. I wouldn't usually have a problem with this because that's how most stories go, but if the topics were touched on in the book but then we still have an ending where we only have one white person winning out, the issue of racism and diversity feels like they were just shoehorned in to check mass appeal boxes. We did see Elma struggle massively against the weight of misogyny through the book, but then I think not enough was said about the privilege she had because she was 1) white and 2) married to a relatively influential engineer - both of which were briefly acknowledged but then never delved into.

Another huge part that didn't work for me in this book were the really awkward intimate scenes. I'm totally fine with sex scenes when they make sense for the plot but it just didn't really feel necessary at all in this book, and there were so many! Not only that, but they were all bogged down by really, really cringey maths and rocket-inspired sexual innuendo. E.g. ”I'll have to see how good you are at launching rockets.” Oh my god, I get it, Elma and Nathaniel are a very, unrealistically happily married couple whose sex drives are always on high. It just felt like very out of place, and also detracted from the other more important issues I'd have liked to see discussed more in the book, as I mentioned above.

We also have our primary antagonist for the book, Lt Parker, misogynist supreme and primary obstacle in Elma's way. I appreciate that Kowal tried to give him some depth instead of being a cartoon villain, but I also felt like he flip-flopped a lot between being weirdly tolerable and even giving Elma some opportunities, to downright blackmailing her and then actively trying to leak potentially damaging information about her to the press. It was all very confusing.

I also felt like the ending could've been more fully fleshed out - everything felt a bit too rushed and convenient to get the nice ending that we expected. In particular, I was very surprised that we didn't even get to see a last farewell scene between Elma and Nathaniel, considering how much intimacy we've been seeing from them through the book. However, I also really liked how we saw Elma's anxiety play out in the way she kept having thoughts about it could be the last time she talked to this person, or the last time she did this thing, in the days and moments leading up to her first space flight. It was incredibly relatable for me as someone who also has those anxious thoughts leading up to an event that I'm fearful and anxious about, so I appreciated the accuracy of that.

Ultimately, it was entertaining enough. I may pick up the next book but probably not so soon.

I liked the premise. I liked the way it highlighted sexism, misogyny and racism in the 50s. I enjoyed some of the set pieces of the story.

But for the most part I didn't enjoy the pace, didn't really connect with the characters, and the soft sex scenes were horrendously cringy with their space/engineer innuendos which made me eye roll. I'm not sure I'll pursue the series, which is a shame as I enjoyed the novella.

Mediocre space book. More interpersonal drama than like external plot that i was expecting and hoping for. Might return to Barnes & Noble idk

“Do you remember where you were when the Meteor hit? I've never understood why people phrase it as a question, because of course you remember.”

Oh, wow. I loved this book! The combination of space program and the 1950s was fascinating. I loved Elma and Nathaniel, and many of the other women computers, pilots and trainee astronauts. I really didn't like Parker.

Mary Robinette Kowal is one of my favourite authors and this is one of her best, in my opinion.

This was my first time reading an alternate history novel and I was not disappointed. While there were differences, some of the issues and real life people mentioned/involved remained accurate. I will definitely be continuing the series!

Very good story. The characters were believable and the situations kept me interested.

Felt like i was reading an autobiography even though it was fictional. An interesting read about a mathematician/pilot's journey to becoming an astronaut while also living in the aftermath of a meteorite landing that caused a natural disaster. All set in the 1950s.

I enjoyed it. Definitely one of those slower reads there's not “OMG” climax moment or anything like that, but it's an engaging read nonetheless.

I don't know why I put off reading this for so long, because it's amazing.

I spent a lot of this year reading non-fiction and historical fiction about women in WWI and WWII, resulting in a ridiculous amount of knowledge about the WASPs (and WAVEs and computers in Bletchley and...) So I was very into the concept of alt-fiction NACA recruiting WASPs as astronauts. The climate-based apocalypse hit quite close to home. I think one strength was how Kowal captures a lot of the energy at the time: focused, goal-directed, but still heavily hierarchical and sexist and really portrays a time in the US para-military well. I liked the exploration about how sexism affected white women and women of color differently. Kowal also had very good consultants for the meteorology and astrophysics. Unfortunately, the pacing was a bit off: the first third is compelling and fast, and the back two thirds definitely drags through the same problems, introducing more and more characters

I loved ‘Hidden Figures' and was hoping for more of the same; however, I couldn't get on with the characters and slow plot and for the first time in a long time I gave up on a book after reading a third of it.

Fantastic mix of Seveneves and Hidden Figures, and the audio version is by the author herself. Highly recommended!

ezért a tweetért jöttem:
“Nathaniel York is too perfect to be realistic.”Dear reviewer, I am so sorry for the relationships you've had in your life. Nathaniel is based on my relationship with my husband.Neither are perfect, but both are supportive. Supportive is a real thing.Sincerely, Me
és az ötvenes évek masszív nőgyűlölő hozzáállásáért maradtam.
nem, de komolyan, rengetegszer robbanásveszélybe került a fejem, és érthetetlen, hogy bírtak nők ebben a visszataszító miliőben létezni.
amúgy meg nekem is borzasztóan tele van a mamuszom az életképtelen kapcsolatokkal képernyőn és könyvekben egyaránt. mr. gatwooddal már évek óta ezen hőzöngünk egymásnak, hogy miért nem képes senki sem normális, működő párkapcsolatokat írni. na és ehhez képest valóban üdítő változatosság ez a történet, meg egyébként is nagyon szuperül megírt az egész. az utóbbi időben nagy kedvencemmé vált az alternatív történelem mint műfaj és ez egy kis űrutazással, valamint nagyon klassz főszereplővel és elég jó mellékkarakterekkel megfűszerezve remek olvasmány volt.

valamint sűrűn ajánlom a tweet folytatását is: https://twitter.com/MaryRobinette/status/1171195473467772928

Really enjoyed the premise and plot, but some occasionally yikes writing.

Truly enjoyed this book as it handled so many different social issues well and accurately. That said, I find the American history on social issues to be overwhelming and utterly depressing these days. I am glad for a book like this that hopes for and strives for better.

An alternate history where in 1952 a meteoroid triggers climate change early and energizes the race to leave the planet. Math wizz, physicist and WASP pilot Elma York has her eyes set on becoming an astronaut. But it's still the 50ies and tradition and sexism stand in her way.

Well, this was an entertaining and addictive easy read, I even want to read the next one!

Not as good as the reviews and the Incomparable podcast led me to believe, but still enjoyable enough that I finished it.

4 stars, Metaphorosis Reviews

Summary:

A meteorite strike in the mid-20th century brings on a climate change crisis, and an opportunity for a female pilot to become an astronaut, if she can get past cultural and institutional barriers.
Review:

I've been aware of Mary Robinette Kowal, but not yet been drawn to any of her books. It seems now that this may have been a mistake. The Calculating Stars isn't a perfect book, but it's a good one. It's the kind of hard SF that we don't see much anymore. While I was disappointed to find that Kowal claims to “understand none of” the orbital equations in the book, she presents them credibly, and I wouldn't have doubted her ability had she not herself admitted the lack.

It took me a while to get into the book. While it starts well, it veers quickly into a kind of progressive Right Stuff atmosphere that put me off, even allowing for the period and pseudo-military context. Eventually, though, they get past that.

The book kicks off with a familiar concept – a Hammer of God-style meteorite strike. But that's really just to fork the timeline to an alternate reality. The rest of the book is a hopeful (or perhaps idealized) women's perspective on the space race that's a little more along the Stephen Baxter line (but with emotions). The narrator is perhaps a bit too much of a poly-math to be credible in the way the book seems to aim for, but is otherwise within the bounds of fiction. I had more trouble with the narrator's character, which I found inconsistent – sometimes brave and outspoken, sometimes quiet and unassuming – even allowing again for the period, and for the character's anxiety. The problem was compounded for me by central couple's domestic life – a marital union so blissful and devoid of tension as to strain credulity. Even when one of the couple does get a teense grouchy, they immediately and invariably apologize, and all is well again. Even in conditions of high strain, neither ever puts a foot wrong, and neither holds a grudge. That's a problem, because while the focus of the book is clearly on the narrator, Kowal makes her marriage an integral, central part of the story, and it can't really hold the weight. The book's also a little heavy on the soft-focus sex for my taste, but that's a quibble.

Overall, this is a well, written, credible hard SF look at an alternate history of the space race, and deserving of attention. I'll be interested in the next book in the series, and Ms. Kowal's other work.

The Calculating Stars is more like historical fiction than sci-fi, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. It is very much a reimagining of the Apollo-era space program, if the need to go to space were due to global climate change, rather than a pissing match with the Soviet Union. The plot centers around the discrimination towards women entering into the space program—frustrating in the sense of “why does the world suck”, and relevant in today's political climate (still, unfortunately). I thought that the “romantic” subplot was unnecessary, though.

4 stars

I listened to the audio-book of this, which is superbly narrated and without a doubt added to the experience. In any event, this is now confidently joins The Martian on my list “must-read fictional books about the space exploration”.

Although it is an alternative history novel, it mirrors the real-world closely enough to feel solidly grounded in reality. The trials and tribulations facing female astronauts in the 1950's, had circumstances created the opportunity to override society's expectations, is well-captured. My only concern is whether the sequel, which diverges further from historical reality, will feel as authentic, but the reviews lead me to be hopeful.

Strongly recommended (especially the audio-book!).

This is a remarkably well-researched book. Reading it, I was deeply impressed by how it remains a character-driven narrative with (to my layman's eyes at least) spot-on science that never breaks the flow of the narrative. I feel like occasionally the marginalization of women and people of color got a little heavy-handed, but never inaccurate. It might be because it was told through the lens of a white woman that sometimes issues of race feel a little less natural, but Kowal does a good job of having Elma check her privilege often in a way that does feel mostly natural. Elma is a good example of a character who is not racist, who genuinely believes people are equal, but was raised in such a way that she forgets to consider other perspectives regularly. It happens a lot, which I think is accurate, but I'm not used to reading it which is why it maybe felt preachy to me.

I would also add that Elma and Nathaniel are maybe one of the best couples I've every read. Smart, supportive, open and understanding. Relationships don't have to be the drama!

I will probably continue on in this series because it is such a dramatic balance of science and story-telling.