The Calculating Stars (Lady Astronaut Universe, #1) in Beyond Reality

Nov 21, 2018 Sarah rated it it was amazing

Shelves: sf, alternate-history

A terrific alternate history of space with science that felt accurate and a great protagonist. My one or two minor issues didn't diminish my enjoyment of a book that manages to be both dark and joyful. Now to get my hands on the sequel. ...more

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Nov 10, 2019 Matt rated it liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction

“The Calculating Stars” is a story of a woman who wants to be an astronaut, and she gets her wish because a meteorite crashes into the earth dooming the human race to extinction. You might suppose that the later part of that sentence would be treated as the more important part, but you’d be wrong. This isn’t the story of the greatest disaster that every befell the human race. This is a story that is, for better or worse, definitely centered on that one woman’s feelings.

The conceit of the story i ...more

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Jul 10, 2018 Kerry rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2018, 8-out-of-10, sf

I very much enjoyed Kowal's The Lady Astronaut of Mars, so I was excited to see this and a sequel were coming out. When my "great book budget squeeze" occurred, I cancelled my pre-orders and decided to order books more selectively. I got to read part of the first chapter of the book online (on Tor.com I think) and it immediately became a pre-order again.

I was reading Persepolis Rising and found it full of horrible people doing horrible things, while being smug but reasonable and hiding their hor ...more

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Nov 18, 2019 Wealhtheow rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical, sci-fi

Elma is a brilliant mathematician on a romantic getaway with her husband when a meteorite strikes the earth. She rapidly calculates that the environmental impact of this will be an extinction level event. Luckily, at least some of Earth's leaders are convinced, and they begin initiatives to colonize the Moon and Mars, and to ameliorate the climate effects on Earth. Both Elma and her engineer husband are intimately part of the space program, and fight to keep it going and as meritocratic as possi ...more

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Oct 06, 2018 Christine rated it liked it

I liked the concept and one of my reading "buddies" loved this book; I was disappointed as it wasn't what I expected. This is an alternate history of spaceflight starting in the 50s with a meteorite hitting off the East Coast. I had a lot of trouble with the way the women were treated (but having grown up in the 50s and 60s, I know this was true). NOt really SciFi except for the meteorite and different politicians. I doube I'll read the next volumes ...more

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