I thought it was interesting for her to discover that the rescue efforts by the government were divided along racial lines, and that she cared enough to do something about it. I appreciated that her background was Jewish, so that she would understand what it was like to come from a marginalized community.

I appreciated that she had bucked tradition and flew planes to aid the war effort.

The depiction of Elma as a young married woman trying to get her life together in the post-World War II period only to have to grapple with a large scale disaster like the meteor strike rang quite true. And in a rather cruel fake out, too, because the first one hundred pages or so is quite engaging. My body is so ready.ĭid the book deliver on any of these things? 1950s Cold War era alternate timeline? A reimagining of the space race from a female perspective, in which a plucky heroine tears down prejudices and stereotypes? Cool, smart references to Ray Bradbury, one of my favorite authors? Real science in my science fiction? Yes, yes, yes, and YES. So when I heard this novel was being published to tell the prequel story of how Elma York, the first Lady Astronaut, helped colonize Mars, I was here for it. The story won a Hugo award, which is pretty notable. It's a simple but well-written story, and I considered Elma to have both heart and gumption.

It is a continuation of a story I did like: I read the short story (called 'novelette') of Kowal's featuring the main character, Elma York. I should learn not to get my hopes up so high, but this one really pulled the wool over my eyes. I haven't been this disappointed by a book in a long time. Mary Robinette lives in Nashville with her husband Rob and over a dozen manual typewriters. She records fiction for authors such as Seanan McGuire, Cory Doctorow and John Scalzi. Her designs have garnered two UNIMA-USA Citations of Excellence, the highest award an American puppeteer can achieve. Her novel Calculating Stars is one of only eighteen novels to win the Hugo, Nebula and Locus awards in a single year.Īs a professional puppeteer and voice actor (SAG/AFTRA), Mary Robinette has performed for LazyTown (CBS), the Center for Puppetry Arts, Jim Henson Pictures, and founded Other Hand Productions. Stories have appeared in Strange Horizons, Asimov’s, several Year’s Best anthologies and her collections Word Puppets and Scenting the Dark and Other Stories. She’s a member of the award-winning podcast Writing Excuses and has received the Astounding Award for Best New Writer, four Hugo awards, the RT Reviews award for Best Fantasy Novel, the Nebula, and Locus awards. Mary Robinette Kowal is the author of the Lady Astronaut Universe and historical fantasy novels: The Glamourist Histories series and Ghost Talkers.

Calculating the stars