The Calculating Stars

trade paperback, 431 pages

English language

Published April 29, 2018 by Tom Doherty Associates.

ISBN:: 9780765378385

(2 reviews)

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, DC. The ensuing climate cataclysm will soon render 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 computer. But with so many skilled and experience 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 …

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, DC. The ensuing climate cataclysm will soon render 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 computer. But with so many skilled and experience 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.

This description comes from the publisher.

4 editions

Sami Sundell reviewed Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal

Kohti kuuta

4 stars

Kun kohtalaisen kokoinen meteoriitti kopsahtaa otsaan, eihän siitä mitään hyvää seuraa. Tällä kertaa seuraukset ovat sen verran vakavat, että ihmiskunta alkaa tosissaan valmistella maisemanvaihdosta.

Kowalin päähenkilö Elma York on matemaattinen nero, joka päätyy laskijaksi avaruusohjelmaan mutta haaveilee pääsystä astronautiksi. Matka sitä kohti kerrotaan taiten, ja siinä sivussa käsitellään myös naisten asemaa, ihonväriin kohdistuvaa syrjintää, uskontoon kohdistuvia ennakkoluuloja jne. Nämä kaikki onnistutaan upottamaan tarinan kulkuun suhteellisen sujuvasti, vaikka hetkittäin päähenkilöt vaikuttavat olevan asennemaailmaltaan hiukan aikaansa edellä.

heavyboots reviewed The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal

Simultaneously great and frustrating

3 stars

I really like her alternate timeline series; it's fascinating that in this one the women are the ones who get to go to space and that we're rushing to escape a now dying Earth. But on the other hand, she tends to be pretty blunt about beating us over the head time and again with the fight against gender and race prejudices that the characters are going through. Obviously, this is stuff that needs to be brought to light and such, but I did reach my limit usually midway through each of her books and would just want to gloss & skim any part where a character is yet again internally bemoaning the frustrations that she's having with getting everything done that needs to be done when so many people are assuming so much about her incorrectly based on gender/race. It ended up (for me) being almost as irritating as …

I really like her alternate timeline series; it's fascinating that in this one the women are the ones who get to go to space and that we're rushing to escape a now dying Earth. But on the other hand, she tends to be pretty blunt about beating us over the head time and again with the fight against gender and race prejudices that the characters are going through. Obviously, this is stuff that needs to be brought to light and such, but I did reach my limit usually midway through each of her books and would just want to gloss & skim any part where a character is yet again internally bemoaning the frustrations that she's having with getting everything done that needs to be done when so many people are assuming so much about her incorrectly based on gender/race. It ended up (for me) being almost as irritating as it was advocating. And yet I honestly don't know what I'd have the author do differently approaching the issues she's bringing to light? Anyway, just something to be aware of, but definitely not worth stopping you reading the series. It just lowered my overall score of the books slightly.