The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal

The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal is the third novel in the Lady Astronaut universe. I have previously read, reviewed and enjoyed the first two books: The Calculating Stars and The Fated Sky. The Relentless Moon takes place chronologically after the first two books, but follows a different character, so it almost stands alone, aside from spoiling a lot of what went before it.

The Earth is coming to the boiling point as the climate disaster of the Meteor strike becomes more and more clear, but the political situation is already overheated. Riots and sabotage plague the space program. The IAC's goal of getting as many people as possible off Earth before it becomes uninhabitable is being threatened.

Elma York is on her way to Mars, but the Moon colony is still being established. Her friend and fellow Lady Astronaut Nicole Wargin is thrilled to be one of those pioneer settlers, using her considerable flight and political skills to keep the program on track. But she is less happy that her husband, the Governor of Kansas, is considering a run for President. 

I really enjoyed this book. The protagonist is Nicole, who I only vague remember from the earlier books, but that vagueness was not at all a problem in picking up and following this new story. There were also several recurring characters who I had stronger memories of, like Nathaniel (Elma's husband), Eugene and Myrtle, and Helen. We actually got to learn a lot more about the latter three as they became increasingly central to the plot. My absolutely favourite part of the whole book was actually the epilogue, for what it sets up for future books, but of course it is a massive spoiler so I won't say any more about it.

The story follows Nicole, one of the original lady astronauts and now governor's wife as she prepares for and then goes on another mission to the moon. But recently the astronaut programme has been experiencing more failures than usual, even though their various failsafes are keeping people safe. Given reason to believe that sabotage is afoot, Nicole spends a lot of the book investigating, while hampered by a lot of things.

It was a bit sad to see that, still, even 20 years after the first book in the series, a lot of sexist jerks remain, as well as some racist jerks, which are highlighted thanks to the diverse cast in the story. That said, it was also probably fairly realistic, as were the science deniers who don't believe in the future consequences of the meteor from book one. To counteract that, some random little things that I enjoyed about the book: Nicole living anorexia was depicted very sensitively; spies and harking back to the war; a couple of minor background characters called Armstrong and Aldrin; the general scientific/engineering rigour Kowal applies to her worldbuilding.

Overall this was an excellent read and I highly recommend it to fans of the Lady Astronaut books. Especially anyone that was hesitant to pick up a book with a new protagonist, I found Nicole to be just as compelling as Elma. To new readers, I suggest starting with The Calculating Stars to better enjoy the worldbuilding and the deviations from our real-world historical timeline. I am excitedly looking forward to the next book in the series.

5 / 5 stars

First published: July 2020, Tor
Series: Lady Astronaut, book 3 of 3 so far
Format read: eARC
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

#ReadShortStories in another direction (186 to 190)

As I write the story count in the title of this blog post, I realise how close I am to hitting 200 stories read in 2018. Looks like I won't have much trouble reaching that goal and will probably end up going a bit over. While not finishing on a round number is a little disappointing, it would be weirder to stop so inorganically. Overall, it looks like this short story reading and blogging experiment has worked well and I will probably continue with it next year.

In other news, it was after the first two stories in this batch that I decided to give up on How to Fracture a Fairytale by Jane Yolen, so don't expect to see more of those stories here. You can read about why in this blog post.

Sleeping Ugly by Jane Yolen — A children’s story but an amusing remix of Sleeping Beauty. The tone worked well for this one, I thought. Source: How To Fracture A Fairy Tale by Jane Yolen

The Undine by Jane Yolen — A more depressing version of The Little Mermaid? I’m not really sure what we were meant to take from this very short story. Source: How To Fracture A Fairy Tale by Jane Yolen

Next Station, Shibuya by Iori Kusano — A lovely and faintly creepy story told in second person from the point of view of a city, abut a grad student studying historic geography through poetry. I enjoyed the calm tempo of the story and the gorgeous imagery of Tokyo. Source: https://www.apex-magazine.com/next-station-shibuya/

We Interrupt This Broadcast by Mary Robinette Kowal — A prequel short story to The Calculating Stars that had me exclaiming in disbelief. Is this cannon? I’m not sure, but it’s an interesting and quick read for people who have read the novels or the novelette (I don’t know that it stands alone nearly as well). Source: http://maryrobinettekowal.com/journal/45th-birthday-short-story-party-favour/

To Rain Upon One City by Rivqa Rafael — A story set in a future on another world, where the poor aren’t even allowed fresh water that rains outside, but must drink recycled water as they barely scrape by. The main character, despite her youth, spends most of her time looking after her mother. I liked this story and I thought the martial arts aspect was a nice distinguishing touch. Source: Resist Fascism edited by Bart R. Leib and Kay T. Holt

#ReadShortStories with slightly more variety (181 to 185)

This batch of stories is a bit less homogeneous with a poem from Uncanny that caught my eye and an unplanned re-read (my eyes just slipped and fell). Mostly I'm still making my way through How to Fracture a Fairytale by Jane Yolen.


The Foxwife by Jane Yolen — About a man and his kitsune wife, whom he treats badly once he learns of her nature. It was OK. Didn’t feel that “fractured” though. Source: How To Fracture A Fairy Tale by Jane Yolen

Smile by Beth Cato — A very short but satisfying poem about being told to smile. Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/smile/

The Lady Astronaut of Mars by Mary Robinette Kowal — A reread for me, after I finished the (first) two novels set in the same world. Interesting to see how some details transferred perfectly into the prequel novels while some minor background details had to shift. I think I enjoyed this story more the second time around, probably because I’m now more invested in the characters and not coming into it cold. Source: https://www.tor.com/2013/09/11/the-lady-astronaut-of-mars/

The Faery Flag by Jane Yolen — A young laird is led into faeryland by his dog, falls in love with a faery and... it doesn’t end badly. I guess that’s subversive but it’s not sufficiently emotive to be interesting either. Source: How To Fracture A Fairy Tale by Jane Yolen

One Old Man, with Seals by Jane Yolen — The story of an old lady living alone in a lighthouse and coming across an old man surrounded by seals. I wonder whether this story packs a more significant punch of the reader is familiar with the source material? I am not and what seemed like the punchline wasn’t very punchy. Source: How To Fracture A Fairy Tale by Jane Yolen

The Fated Sky by Mary Robinette Kowal

The Fated Sky by Mary Robinette Kowal is the sequel to The Calculating Stars, which I read and reviewed immediately prior. The Fated Sky takes place a few years after the end of The Calculating Stars and continues to follow Elma in first person. This review will contain some spoilers for the first book, but not more than if you’ve already read "The Lady Astronaut of Mars" novelette.

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.

This was an interesting sequel. It follows a very similar overall structure to the first book but rather than striving to get into space, the goal posts have shifted to Mars. Various social problems from the first book still exist to create barriers for Elma and some of her friends. While the extreme sexism has been loosened up by the passage of time and the obvious need for (female) computers to calculate orbits and trajectories, the racism has been ramped up a notch. This was, of course, a problem that existed in the first book and that was highlighted through Elma’s friendship with Myrtle and others. But now, with the introduction of a pro-apartheid South African character, everything feels worse. This book highlights a lot of the racial problems from the 60s and, in doing so, is not a comfortable read. Elma tried to do her best but, as we are often reminded, she is still a white woman. (And the laundry in space thing made me angry.)

I didn’t comment on the science when I reviewed the first book because there wasn’t anything that jumped out at me as being wrong or suspicious. In this second book there’s a little bit more to comment on, though nothing especially dire. I am a little sceptical about the use of human computers, although it’s probably more or less possible for what they’re doing, in a terrifying sort of way. The one aspect of that which particularly made me raise an eyebrow was using a sextant to sight on starts to get their position. Not because there’s anything wrong with the method but because I couldn’t help thinking that if they missed their launch window and had to delay the mission, they would have to retain to sight along a different set of stars. (They would also have time to do that, so it’s not exactly a huge problem, I just found it a little alarming.) the biggest issue, for me, was the washing machines, dryers and ovens they had aboard each of the ships going to Mars. The amount of energy those use! Especially back in the 60s when energy efficiency wasn’t a star rating on your white goods (I think). Wiki tells me they probably had solar power, even back then, but still! Think of the excess heat those machines produce! I suppose this is more an expression of horror than a complaint.

Anyway, The Fated Sky was another excellent read and I remain invested in this series. I am delighted that more books are on the way and I look forward to reading them when I can. (In the mean time I’m going to go back and reread the novelette that sparked this world.) It’s possible to read The Fated Sky without having read The Calculating Stars, but I think reading them in order will give a more enjoyable experience. I recommend this series to fans of science fiction, the development of space travel and the social history surrounding space flight development.

4.5 / 5 stars

First published: August 2018, Tor
Series: Yes. Lady Astronaut book 2 of 2 so far (with at least 2 more coming)
Format read: ePub
Source: Purchased from Apple Books

The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal

The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal is a book that I had heard a lot of good things about before I picked it up. I probably should have given in to my friends’ urging and read it sooner but I was a little bogged down in review books and other things. And it’s not as though I put it off for that long.

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.

The Calculating Stars is set in an alternate history universe in which the space programme is accelerated and follows a woman who is married to the lead engineer of the space agency, has a PhD herself and is a pilot who wants to go into space one day. The story starts when a meteorite hits the earth and sets in motion a series on problems, starting with killing everyone in Washington DC and along most of the Northern American eastern seaboard and ending with crucial changes to the earths climate. Elma and Nathaniel are positioned closely to the people in power and play a pivotal role in the post-meteorite world, making them very interesting characters to follow.

The post-meteorite world, however, is still the 1950s with all the cultural baggage that entails. There are high barriers for women participating in the work force (even when they are already trusted to work as computers) and even higher barriers for people of colour. A lot of the story involves Elma bumping up against the glass ceiling and her friends coming up against similar or worse obstacles. The depictions of misogyny were very frustrating to read at times and when they weren’t it was only because some of the characters were darkly joking about them. The plight of the black characters was less prominent (since the story was told in first person) but more present than it could have been, which was good to see.

I enjoyed this book a lot, even after making the mistake of starting it the night before an early morning (oops). Despite a busy week without much free time I read it quickly and now I am very keen to start the sequel. The Calculating Stars doesn’t exactly end on a cliffhanger but it certainly ends before the whole story is told. Luckily these two books were released in close succession and I don’t have to wait for the sequel to become available. I highly recommend The Calculating Stars to all fans of science fiction and particularly of the early space programme and the role of women therein (not all of which is fictionalised in the book). I expect fans of Hidden Figures will find much to like here, although there is much less focus on the black characters.

5 / 5 stars

First published: July 2018, Tor
Series: yes. Book 1 of 2 so far (with two more planned)
Format read: ePub
Source: Purchased from Apple Books

Novelettes: three from the 2014 Hugo ballot

Having received the Hugo voter packet, I started reading some of the shorlisted fiction. I'm not sure if I'll end up reviewing everything, but for now I've decided to share my thoughts on three of the shortlisted novelettes. All are really excellent stories that do not make ranking them easy.

“The Lady Astronaut of Mars” by Mary Robinette Kowal 

(maryrobinettekowal.com / Tor.com, 09-2013)

A lovely story. Set in a alternate version of the 80s, on Mars, it was not quite what I expected. The bulk of the story takes place 30 years after the titular character was on the first mission to Mars. She is mostly retired but still dreams of the stars. Her husband is terminally ill and a large part of the story deals with their life choices from her point of view. Most notably, their decision not to have children because of her career. It's nice to see a story dealing with these issues; women "sacrificing" family life for their careers is not often a focus and rarely a positive one, especially when compared with male characters making the same choices. A really great story.

“The Waiting Stars” by Aliette de Bodard 

(The Other Half of the Sky, Candlemark & Gleam)

Another excellent story. It follows two threads of story: salvagers trying to revive a family ship that was relegated to a ship graveyard during a war, and a group of girls who were “rescued” during the way and brought up the Galactic way. At first it was not obvious how the two threads were related — apart from both parties being Dai Viet. Once it was revealed what the connection was, I experienced a “wow” moment as everything slotted together and the thrust of the story changed. What I had been reading as a sort of war-induced Stolen Generation type of story turned into something both completely different and chillingly not.

Cover credits: violscraper on Flickr

“The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling” by Ted Chiang 

(Subterranean, Fall 2013)

I enjoyed this story even though it was a story in a very different sense of the word. It’s told as a piece of futuristic narrative journalism, putting me in mind of #longreads type of journalistic pieces, juxtaposed with a story of the Tiv tribe in Western Africa. Jijingi of the Tiv spends time with a European missionary learning how to write. On the one hand, we have the future journalist writing about the social and personal effects of a new technology can can search ubiquitously recorded personal video logs, and on the other we have Jijingi coming to terms with the concept of writing and learning about its uses and faults as a memory aid. What starts off as an exploration of types of memory (internalised and externalised, organic and technologically assisted), turns into a discussion of the nature of truth, as the title suggests. Honestly the only slight disappointment (and I do mean slight) with this story was that the story of Jijingi was inserted by the journalist, rather than placed next to the journalist’s story by the writer (if that makes sense). I think it’s because it made the journalist seem a little too self-aware in the end. But it was still a good, thoughtful story.