Play Book Tag discussion

The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal - 4* - My Review

This alternate history opens with a disaster when a meteorite hits the Chesapeake Bay in 1952, which triggers climate change that will make the earth uninhabitable. Mathematician and pilot Elma York and her physicist husband Nathaniel are lucky to escape the disaster. They both work in the space program and soon plans are underway to establish a lunar colony as a backup plan for human survival. Elma wants to become an astronaut but (initially) women are not being accepted.

The story is narrated by Elma in first person, and one of the highlights is her professional development. The author includes plenty of mathematics, aviation, and space science, which I always enjoy. The narrative switches between Elma’s personal life and the progress of the lunar colonization project. Alternate history is a great vehicle for this story since there is no need to be historically accurate. It is an entertaining novel that addresses ongoing contemporary issues such as sexism, racism, and other social issues.

Glad you liked this - I did when my Feminerdy Book Club read it. I haven't read further in the series, yet. Too many books, not enough time.

I probably won't read the sequels but I'm generally not a reader of series.

I liked this, but not enough to read the sequels; I read it when it was new--I see I posted the review in September of 2018 and that's the year it came out, so I was correct. No sequels were out yet :)

I enjoyed this when I read it, but i didn’t retain enough to read a sequel now. Either I thought it was fluff, or I didn’t allow time in between books to think about it. If it was last year, it was reason #2.

Added - I just read my old review (yep, 2024) and I wonder if it might be worth a reread (on fast speed). It might all come rushing back. If anyone was raving about the sequel it might be worth the time so I could read the sequel next month. Maybe someday.

I have read three of these. If I'm remembering correctly, each one focuses on a different character.

I think I rated the 2nd and 3rd books better than the first. Trying to load to check, but GR is slow... Yes, confirmed. I rated both the 2nd and 3rd books higher than the first.

I thought the first part - the disaster - was excellent but the rest wasn't compelling enough to get me to read sequels.