Scan barcode
A review by wanderlustlover
The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal
3.0
Fall 2021 (November);
~ Hugo 2021 Novel Nomination
I wanted to like this book. I expected to like this book. This book ended up a lot of spinning my wheels stuck in a mud pit, gritting my teeth, and forcing myself hard to see it out to completion. This book has a new character, but I ended up feeling like the story retraced a lot of the same major beats everywhere in it as Alma's.
- Where Alma has anxiety, Nicole has an eating disorder.
- Nicole, also, relies on Miltown's when her life is too chaotic
- Nicole & her husband develop a code and get caught using it.
- Alma's husband downplays his hospitalization; Nicole's downplays a heart attack
I did still tear up for Estevan all over again like in the last book.
BUT. The massive problem with that is that it hit the nail on a big problem in hard. Whereas this book relies on reacting to everything that happened in [b:The Fated Sky|33081262|The Fated Sky (Lady Astronaut Universe, #2)|Mary Robinette Kowal|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1539850563l/33081262._SY75_.jpg|53736197], the prior book reacts to none of the TRULY MASSIVE things that are happening on the moon or on Earth. When I realized who egregious this error was, I sat down and mathed it, since the Mars group had direct and constant Earth/Moon contact (pre-1 week offline) up to 94% of this book. Which means the Mars crew should have been hearing about and reacting to all of that back in book 2.
The whoo-dun-it was easily predictable from the lock-in scene forward, too, which was disappointing. The drastic black mark of 1st person happened here again. When very suddenly our main characters was revealed to be a spy, who never thought about being so or using the skills of such training until said reveal, and then it's use in the narration any numbers of time after. Which. Can't. Be. Done. In. 1st. Person.
I did, also, weep for the truly horrific thing that happens to the president. Which had me the conundrum of wondering how this book could ring such tears from me, and yet I felt so little newness or connection to this newest married couple who just spotlight in for the opposite side of Fated Sky, in such a bulky unbalanced fashion.
I madly loved and lived for the radio broadcasts.
I was deeeeeeeply relieved to get to have Alma & Parker back in the epilogue, which acted exactly like the end of Book 2 in being a flash-forward to many years later (this one on Earth, whereas the last was a forwardflash to another landing on Mars with certain pivotal people on the newest crew).
~ Hugo 2021 Novel Nomination
I wanted to like this book. I expected to like this book. This book ended up a lot of spinning my wheels stuck in a mud pit, gritting my teeth, and forcing myself hard to see it out to completion. This book has a new character, but I ended up feeling like the story retraced a lot of the same major beats everywhere in it as Alma's.
- Where Alma has anxiety, Nicole has an eating disorder.
- Nicole, also, relies on Miltown's when her life is too chaotic
- Nicole & her husband develop a code and get caught using it.
- Alma's husband downplays his hospitalization; Nicole's downplays a heart attack
I did still tear up for Estevan all over again like in the last book.
BUT. The massive problem with that is that it hit the nail on a big problem in hard. Whereas this book relies on reacting to everything that happened in [b:The Fated Sky|33081262|The Fated Sky (Lady Astronaut Universe, #2)|Mary Robinette Kowal|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1539850563l/33081262._SY75_.jpg|53736197], the prior book reacts to none of the TRULY MASSIVE things that are happening on the moon or on Earth. When I realized who egregious this error was, I sat down and mathed it, since the Mars group had direct and constant Earth/Moon contact (pre-1 week offline) up to 94% of this book. Which means the Mars crew should have been hearing about and reacting to all of that back in book 2.
The whoo-dun-it was easily predictable from the lock-in scene forward, too, which was disappointing. The drastic black mark of 1st person happened here again. When very suddenly our main characters was revealed to be a spy, who never thought about being so or using the skills of such training until said reveal, and then it's use in the narration any numbers of time after. Which. Can't. Be. Done. In. 1st. Person.
I did, also, weep for the truly horrific thing that happens to the president. Which had me the conundrum of wondering how this book could ring such tears from me, and yet I felt so little newness or connection to this newest married couple who just spotlight in for the opposite side of Fated Sky, in such a bulky unbalanced fashion.
I madly loved and lived for the radio broadcasts.
I was deeeeeeeply relieved to get to have Alma & Parker back in the epilogue, which acted exactly like the end of Book 2 in being a flash-forward to many years later (this one on Earth, whereas the last was a forwardflash to another landing on Mars with certain pivotal people on the newest crew).