Reviews

The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal

andreacpowers's review against another edition

Moving to DNF. I grew up when women were treated as having nothing to contribute and I just can't take reading about it.

aido_potato's review against another edition

2.0

The books started really well, but the more I read the more it bored me. It generally lacks imagination and is full of unneeded fluff. The protagonist is painfully bad at thinking about anyone but herself, a problem which is especially apparent as she is continually surprised by her long time friends different experiences of the world due to their race.

Contrived writing and dialogue, annoying relationships, and boring plot. I stopped near the end because I simply did not care anymore.

borjabilbao's review against another edition

2.0

Mi reseña de hace unos años...

http://www.callesdetinta.com/2018/11/the-calculating-stars-de-mary-robinette.html

massivepizzacrust's review against another edition

adventurous tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Very enjoyable but I struggled with just how much time we spent with the main character's anxiety. I wish we had spent just a bit of that time developing the other characters and the world, though I know this time really helped us understand how severely limiting her anxiety was for her. But I felt like the side characters were a bit 2-dimensional. 

umar_l's review against another edition

2.0

I went in with high hopes, really looking forward to enjoying this critically acclaimed book. However, it seemed that nothing was happening till Chapter 1o and either the pacing was too inconsistent or maybe it was the narrator for the Audible book that just made me lose interest. Several big logic gaps pulled me out of the story with a sense of disbelief that this is not how the characters would act/react.

I might give the written version a try. I'm seeing other folks who ended up shelving this on their Did Not Finish pile.

liedora's review against another edition

5.0

What a great alternate history this is, and definitely an engaging read. The characters are well written and some are likable, while others are just plain mean.

I think I'll be purchasing this and the follow ons to add to my personal shelf.

research_department's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful informative

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Stats: alternate history science fiction, single first person POV, Jewish main character, depictions of sexism and racism.

The premise is that in an alternate history 1950s, a meteorite strikes the Chesapeake Bay and causes an extinction event, leading to acceleration of attempts to get into space, so that the moon and mars can be colonized before Earth is unihabitable.  The protagonist is a “computer” at the space agency, a pilot, and wants to become an astronaut, despite the sexism of the time.  

I cannot independently speak to how plausible it is, but in an endnote Kowal outlines the efforts to which she has gone to in order to “play fair with the science” (as she says).  She had a team of people, including pilots, historians, astronauts, astronautical engineers, doctors, and astronomers, among others helping her, although she admits that there are places that she “cheated.”  This book is reminiscent of Hidden Figures in feel, but she had been writing this before either the book or the movie came out.

This caught me right away and kept me absorbed the entire book.  I was invested in the protagonist and her struggles.  I have some questions about how accurately the panic attacks rep is handled.  The explanation for why she has panic attacks doesn’t seem realistic to me.  And, her approach (as a pilot) to dealing with her panic attacks, doesn’t match what I would have expected a pilot to do given what I know of recent FAA policies (which might not have been in place in the 1950s).  However, none of that interfered with my enjoyment of the story.  I think that Kowal does an excellent job of balancing character development, an array of intersectional issues (racism and religion are touched on, as well as sexism), and the hard science fiction of the technical details of the space effort.  I look forward to reading the next book in the series!

tnyla's review against another edition

Did not like narrator, will try later as physical book

egwilk28's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The civil rights movement b plot was far more interesting to me than the main plot but tbh I was obsessed with the whole set up of the alternate history setting. I thought the dialogues about mc’s whiteness and emerging consciousness about racial inequities and not wanting to be a white savior to the black women also fighting for her cause were well written. I was very disappointed when antisemitism was used at like the peak conflict moment after the mc being jewish was written well for the entire rest of the book and then the antisemitism was totally dismissed afterwards like girl no you should not be friends with her nasty ass wtf!!!! This book DID make me feel like I should be medicated for anxiety. Also so straight it was cringe LOL

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny and Antisemitism

bhgold1711's review against another edition

fast-paced

3.0

I like this book, but I think I liked it more the first time. It's not bad, but it feels very basic in some ways. The characters don't necessarily have a ton of depth, and while the science is cool, I don't feel like that made up for a fairly basic plot and conflicts.