The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal Book Review

 The Calculating Stars 

(Lady Astronaut Universe #1)

By Mary Robinette Kowal 

Winner of Hugo, Nebula and Locus Awards for 2019.

Published Year: 2018 (Tor Books)

Page Count: 385 pages 

Medium Used : Kindle PW 

Genre : Historical Fiction, Alternate History, Science Fiction, Space Opera, Rocket Science, 2025-read. 

Rating : 4/5 

This book had my heart racing from the beginning till the end - albeit for different reasons. A meteorite strikes earth and makes it impossible for life on earth to sustain after a few years. So humanity swiftly embarks on the only alternative path they have - explore and colonize outer space. They start with the nearest planetary body, the Moon. In the process of getting started with rocket tests to the point of having astronauts step on the Moon, the team at International Aerospace Coalition (IAC) face many challenges. As they address and breathe relief after successfully handling each issue, the story progresses. The author deftly tackles issues of gender and race during the selection of astronauts into the space program. At first, women are not allowed to become astronauts. They argue that to build colonies in space, women are also paramount. Then they - the director and other executives who happen to be all male in keeping tune with the times of late 1950s - decide to select the women based on politics instead of their talents - and choose an all white women's team. The black women, even though more qualified than some of their selected white women counterparts, are ignored and passed over. 

I liked the news paper articles that let us know what is happening in the world and in the space program at the start of each chapter. Then the narration of the life events of a celebrated couple, who have survived the meteorite strike in 1952 - Elma and Nathaniel York - in the voice of Elma are gripping. Chilling and refreshing, the narrative kept me hooked,on the edge. I lost sleep reading it and my dreams were filled with women pilots and their attempts to influence the space program into accepting female astronauts. I liked how the author managed to keep the intricate and esoteric details of space travel and rocket design abstract. She was able to convey what is important to have the story moving. She is a good story teller with a grasp of her reader's vein. The narrator , Elma York, suffers from  anxiety issues stemming from a difficult childhood and upbringing. Her struggle to remain in control when panic strikes is harrowing. The story puts focus on her pressures of growing up as one girl among groups of all boys in school and college.  

I think this would have been better if it is the story of one woman and her trials in making it into space. Instead, the story is about how a group of women win by gaining entry into the space program, becoming astronauts. It didn't ring true with the narrator's personality. Maybe it is me reading this in a contorted way .. but that's what I got fresh out of wrapping the book! The main character came off self absorbed, a bit. I also got confused with the location of some characters  in the plot - there is no clarity as in where they are present .. have they been docked to the international space station or come back to earth? It would have been better if there was a better auditing to the final manuscript.