Mary Robinette Kowal continues the grand sweep of alternate history begun in The Calculating Stars, The Fated Sky looks forward to 1961, when mankind is well-established on the moon and looking forward to its next step: journeying to, and eventually colonizing, Mars. The Verge–Best SFF Books for August 2018 io9 –Best SFF Books for August 2018 Unbound Worlds –Best SFF Books for August 2018 … 2018
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Of course the noted Lady Astronaut Elma York would like to go, but there’s a lot riding on whoever the International Aerospace Coalition decides to send on this historic–but potentially very dangerous–mission? Could Elma really leave behind her husband and the chance to start a family to spend several years traveling to Mars? And with the Civil Rights movement taking hold all over Earth, will the astronaut pool ever be allowed to catch up, and will these brave men and women of all races be treated equitably when they get there? This gripping look at the real conflicts behind a fantastical space race will put a new spin on our visions of what might have been.
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Guys, this series is AMAZING. I was so excited to get back into this universe after THE CALCULATING STARS and this book did not disappoint. I loved every moment of this trip to Mars. It was so well thought out and plausible, human and touching. I did not want it to end. It’s official, I’m a Lady Astronaut fan! And I’m super excited to learn there’ll be a lot more books in this series. Yay!
I loved The Calculating Stars, but The Fated Sky was even better (if that’s even possible). Both of these books thrilled the space geek in me, but whereas most of The Calculating Stars action is earthbound, much of The Fated Sky’s storyline transpires during heroine Elma York’s multi-year spaceflight to Mars.
I won’t give away any spoilers, but the action does not let up and I literally read this book in eight hours straight one night while at the SIWC writing conference with Mary. The next morning at breakfast I cursed her for keeping me awake all night.
Better yet, all the action creates meaningful character development so that Elma’s fellow astronauts on the space mission and her husband back home on earth grow even more complex and fascinating.
Mary has SERIOUSLY done her research and it shows. However, she manages to express that narrative expertise without beating readers over the head with it. It is beautifully woven through the story.
As usual the idea of a complex heroine on the forefront of space exploration, and her mature, loving, and sexy relationship with her long-term husband really make this book revolutionary. I was thrilled to find out that there are going to be two more books to come in this fantastic series. Cannot wait.
The second book was better than the first. Maybe it helped that most of the story took place in a space ship with one clear goal, Mars. The narrative was more immersive than in the first book, with Elma more involved in how the story unfolds. Her cluelessness about the world outside herself wasn’t as pronounced. Still, her detachment of people meant that I wasn’t emotionally invested in other characters and their fates, with the exception of Parker, who again was the most interesting character with the best arc and true growth.
The book had finality to it, but as the original short story that launched the series is now dubbed as #4.5, I’m asuming that there will be at least two more books. With Mars being colonised, the series will likely become sci-fi than alternative history, and I’m looking forward to reading whatever comes next.
Finally! A real science fiction novel written by a smart savvy woman! No kings, no armies and battles, no fairies, swords or dragons! Just science with a wonderful dash of adventure and tension and terrific characters.
This sequel to Kowal’s The Calculating Stars (which I’m reading and loving now) is a wonder to this die-hard science fiction fan. Elma York and her fellow astronauts are headed to Mars to set up a colony. In this alternative history, set in the 1950s, Earth has been hit by a devastating meteorite which wiped out Washington, D.C. and much of the East Coast. The quickly changing weather patterns are predictive of a soon-to-be unlivable planet.
The astronauts and their earth-bound crew struggle with racial and cultural issues, climate change and the roles of women, all while trying to save humanity. Especially interesting is that Elma and her husband are Jewish, having lost most of their families to the Holocaust and the meteorite strike. The story is engaging, exciting and fresh and reminiscent of the authors I grew up reading, Clark, Heinlein, Asimov . . .
This is definitely an author I will follow. Hopefully Elma and Company will continue their adventures!!
If you’ve read The Calculating Stars, you don’t need me to tell you to pick up this next-in-series—you already have.
Really enjoyed this second title in Mary Robinette Kowal’s Lady Astronaut series. A+ for any SF series starring women, but also starring smart people being smart and doing science! In SPACE!
Sequel to “The Calculating Stars”. This time the destination is Mars, with technology that’s barely even Apollo era. (A line from Star Wars comes to mind: “You came in that? You’re braver than I thought.”) Readers of my work know I have a fondness for competent women pilots (my daughter takes her middle name from Jacqueline “Jackie” Cochran), and Kowal’s Elma York does not disappoint. And this against a skillfully constructed setting of an alternate 1950s-60s that yet has many of the prejudices of our own. Great read.