The Martian Contingency
Ratings12
Average rating4.2
Added to list2026with 9 books.
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This is the fourth in the Lady Astronaut series by Mary Robinette Kowal which began in 2018 with The Calculating Stars. I have enjoyed reading each with its blend of technical details of how in 1952
a meteorite strikes the eastern seaboard of the United States. Climate change from the disaster will make the Earth uninhabitable within decades and so the world begins to embark on a plan to build habitats off earth.
The previous books have seen lunar landings, a moon platform, a Mars landing and now in the 1970s the first steps of establishing a habitat on Mars.
The satisfactions of these novels for me is seeing how the technological achievements may exceed our own but catching up on the social issues which our world has worked through with the sexism faced by our protagonist Elma York, mathematician and pilot with attitudes I wish we could believe were left in the eras covered by the books. The racism so heightened as major plot driver in the previous novel with its repercussions a major factor in this book. One of the crucial points in this novel is trying to support scientists, engineers, etc from a coalitions dispart nations all while 43 minutes from communication of earth.
I look forward to reading more about this future.
This is the fourth in the Lady Astronaut series by Mary Robinette Kowal which began in 2018 with The Calculating Stars. I have enjoyed reading each with its blend of technical details of how in 1952
a meteorite strikes the eastern seaboard of the United States. Climate change from the disaster will make the Earth uninhabitable within decades and so the world begins to embark on a plan to build habitats off earth.
The previous books have seen lunar landings, a moon platform, a Mars landing and now in the 1970s the first steps of establishing a habitat on Mars.
The satisfactions of these novels for me is seeing how the technological achievements may exceed our own but catching up on the social issues which our world has worked through with the sexism faced by our protagonist Elma York, mathematician and pilot with attitudes I wish we could believe were left in the eras covered by the books. The racism so heightened as major plot driver in the previous novel with its repercussions a major factor in this book. One of the crucial points in this novel is trying to support scientists, engineers, etc from a coalitions dispart nations all while 43 minutes from communication of earth.
I look forward to reading more about this future.
