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A review by research_department
The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal
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.
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!