Title: The Calculating Stars (Lady Astronaut #1)

Author: Mary Robinette Kowal

Publisher: Tor Books 2018

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 431

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Spring TBR

On a cold spring night in 1952, a huge meteorite fell to earth and obliterated much of the east coast of the United States, including Washington D.C. The ensuing climate cataclysm will soon render the earth inhospitable for humanity, as the last such meteorite did for the dinosaurs. This looming threat calls for a radically accelerated effort to colonize space, and requires a much larger share of humanity to take part in the process.

Elma York’s experience as a WASP pilot and mathematician earns her a place in the International Aerospace Coalition’s attempts to put man on the moon, as a calculator. But with so many skilled and experienced women pilots and scientists involved with the program, it doesn’t take long before Elma begins to wonder why they can’t go into space, too.

Elma’s drive to become the first Lady Astronaut is so strong that even the most dearly held conventions of society may not stand a chance against her.

Overall, this book just didn’t quite land with me. I was so caught up in the weird innuendo scenes between Nathaniel and Elma and the in-your-face sexism and anti-semitism that I had trouble really connecting to the rest of the story and characters. By setting the book in the 1950s, I knew that there was going to be a lot of -ism, but the storyline really never seemed to get past it in anyway. Even Elma herself constantly exhibited micro-aggressions towards her colleagues. I expected to see growth and really didn’t get much of any. And the marriage between Nathaniel and Elma constantly annoyed me. I realize that it’s still the 1950s, but come on. We get weird foreplay scenes and then fade to black almost every other chapter. We get to see Nathaniel support Elma, but then also constantly question her abilities and role. It was like watching a very infuriating tennis match. I was not a fan of them at all. And then we get to the storyline. While I was glad that we didn’t dwell on the immediate death and destruction caused by the meteorite, I feel like the it was quickly forgotten as we focused on the day-to-day running of the space program. I wanted a bit more about what was happening to the world. We get a few tiny snippets, but Elma mostly dismissing them. I would have liked to hear more about how the impact had affected people around the world instead of focusing on the small cast of characters in Kansas City. On a last note, the pacing was really slow in the middle. I was struggling to stay with it and not turn to other books. Unfortunately, I just don’t think that this story was for me at all.

Lady Astronaut

• #1 The Calculating Stars

• #2 The Fated Sky

• #3 The Relentless Moon

Next up on the TBR pile: