Lj Book Bingo Reading Game - C is for the Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal

[byslantedlight]

That's so much better! The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal was a fab read, and I definitely recommend it. It's an alternative history version of the 1950s/1960s quest to send humans into space - with an emphasis on the point that the quest was in fact originally to send (white) man (and literally "man") into space, but what might have happened if the women pilots and engineers (known as computers, although the men were known as engineers) were able to make their presence felt and get into space too. Another twist is that this quest has been expedited by the fact that a meteorite has hit the earth, triggering massive climate change that may turn out to be an extinction event. The clock is ticking - the trouble is it's ticking slowly, and humans forget things quickly, especially when it's politics and when they might have to make sacrifices to address those things.

We follow the story through the eyes of Elma Yorke - Dr Elma Yorke - an ex-WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilot) married to a rocket engineer, who works as a computer before the mechanical computers we know were properly up and running, alongside other computers on the new space programme. They're all fighting to be recognised alongside the men, especially as the ultimate goal of the space programme is to save humankind by colonising the moon and other planets. After all, how can do that if women aren't allowed to go into space?

Mary Robinette Kowal has done two things really well in this book - told a story involving characters we can like and care about, and based it on actual research via real people (who she credits properly at the end) that doesn't read as "look, I've done my research", because it's written so naturally into the story and characters. I absolutely held my breath through the launch sequences, and felt all elated and tear-y when the rockets sped successfully through the atmosphere, as if I was right there. Spot on.

Turns out there's a whole series of "lady astronaut" books, and I'm just hoping that the second one is as good. I may have ordered it from Wordery.com about half an hour after finishing the first one... *vbg*

Comments

[tinturtle]

Not very closely related to anything in your post, but the phrase "lady astronaut" made me think of it:
When my mother was growing up in the American South in the 50s and 60s, there were "lady doctors" (doctors who were women), there were "lady doctors" (gynecologists), and sometimes there were "lady lady doctors" (gynecologists who were women).

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

The book sounds really interesting. And I like how she used the real life "computers" for the female astronauts.

[keli]

That sounds really interesting! Glad you enjoyed it.