The Calculating Stars
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4.5 • 20 Ratings
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- £5.99
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
WINNER OF THE HUGO, NEBULA AND LOCUS AWARDS
One woman. One mission. One chance to save the world.
It’s 1952, and the world as we know it is gone. A meteorite has destroyed Washington DC, triggering extinction-level global warming. To save humanity, the world unites to form the International Aerospace Coalition. Its mission: to colonise first the Moon, then Mars.
Elma York, World War Two pilot and mathematician, dreams of becoming an astronaut – but prejudice has kept her grounded. Now nothing – and no man – will stop her from reaching for the stars.
‘Kowal masters both science and historical accuracy in this alternate history adventure.’ – Andy Weir
“In The Calculating Stars, Mary Robinette Kowal imagines an alternate history of spaceflight that reminds me of everything I loved about Hidden Figures.” ? Cady Coleman, Astronaut
“This is what NASA never had, a heroine with attitude.”?The Wall Street Journal
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Kowal's outstanding prequel to her Hugo-winning novelette "The Lady Astronaut of Mars" shows the alternate history that created a mid-20th-century Mars colony. In 1952, mathematician and pilot Elma York is on vacation with her rocket scientist husband, Nathaniel, when a meteor strikes Chesapeake Bay, obliterating most of the East Coast. Elma quickly realizes that this is an extinction event, and that the only option for humanity's survival is off-world colonization. In a compelling parallel to our own history, Elma, who is Jewish, fights to have women of all races and backgrounds included in the burgeoning space program, squaring off against patriarchal attitudes, her own anxiety, and an adversary from her past service as a war pilot. Kowal explores a wide range of issues including religion, grief, survivor's guilt, mental health, racism, misogyny, and globalism without sermonising or subsuming the characters and plot. Elma's struggles with her own prejudices and relationships, including her relationship with herself, provide a captivating human center to the apocalyptic background. Readers will thrill to the story of this "lady astronaut" and eagerly anticipate the promised sequels.
