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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
Punch card punk. An intriguing universe. On the macro level, a meteor strike off the eastern American seaboard in 1952 takes out the east coast and brings on accelerated climate change. In addition, the US, instead of keeping Werner Von Braun on ice until the early 50's, allows Von Braun to do his thing in the late 40's and the US orbits a satellite just prior to the meteor strike in the early 50's (about 5 years earlier than the launch of Explorer 1 in 1958). The leaders of the world listen to the scientists and launch an all-out effort to get humankind into space with the goal of colonizing the moon and mars prior to global warming destroying life on earth. Imagine, US and world leaders working in collaboration and listening to scientists to do something to benefit humankind. Kinda hard to believe in this day and age, huh? Againste this background, Elma York, a former WASP pilot and mathematician and her engineer husband work for this universe's NASA. Elma wants to become an astronaut and has to deal with all the misogyny of the mid-century. An intriguing idea and a good read. I look forward to reading the other books in this series as well as other books by this author.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
For March my book club reads women's fiction or a book written by a woman. We selected this book. It was published in 2018 and proceeded to win numerous awards including the Hugo, Locus, and Nebula Awards for best novel. I finished it the night before our book club meeting this past Wednesday.
The book is an alternate history. In the spring 1952 with Dewey as president (not Truman), a meteor strikes and wipes out the entire east coast of the United States. The damage to the whole planet is so bad that the world immediately starts making plans to get off of it. Elma is the main character and narrator, a female computer (one who does math, not a machine) and former WASP pilot who dreams of becoming an astronaut.
The book starts with a bang, literally. You are dropped right into the action as the meteor hits in the first few pages. A number of the computers in the new space agency are former WASPs eager to get into space. The male leaders are eager to maintain the status quo while Elma's husband is the image of support. In this way, it was a bit cliché for me. And certain aspects of the story seemed a bit drawn out. Overall I really enjoyed the novel. It always kept me wanting to find out what happened next. I will definitely be reading the next book in the series.
My rating: 4/5
I liked this plenty well enough even though it felt a little Mary Sue-ish at times -- I mean, could Elma be any more perfect, anxiety notwithstanding? The premise is solid even if the actual effects of the Meteor were not very real in the text -- like, they can't get grapes to grow but there's always wine at gatherings? How rich are these people? It seemed like occasionally there was a reminder, but really the characters had no shortage of fuel and there was fabric for clothes and nothing felt like a disaster had struck except when Elma was suddenly oh yeah, I'm sad.
I would have liked more about the trauma of her childhood/college (as a 14 year old!!). And less rocket puns about sex, but maybe I'm just a prude? It was just cheesy and didn't serve the story to any great degree, except to once again make it clear that Nathaniel is PERFECT.
Also, I was not surprised to read in the author's note that the Judaism was researched, not lived; I can't put my finger on what wasn't quite right but there was something that seemed a little artificial. Also, Anselma? And York? Also Elma's family is clearly German and I feel like the Holocaust was weirdly not present except when it suddenly was.
Ok, I liked it while I was reading it but now I am writing about it and liking it less, although I might try the sequel anyway.
I would have liked more about the trauma of her childhood/college (as a 14 year old!!). And less rocket puns about sex, but maybe I'm just a prude? It was just cheesy and didn't serve the story to any great degree, except to once again make it clear that Nathaniel is PERFECT.
Also, I was not surprised to read in the author's note that the Judaism was researched, not lived; I can't put my finger on what wasn't quite right but there was something that seemed a little artificial. Also, Anselma? And York? Also Elma's family is clearly German and I feel like the Holocaust was weirdly not present except when it suddenly was.
Ok, I liked it while I was reading it but now I am writing about it and liking it less, although I might try the sequel anyway.
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Summary: On March 3, 1952 at exactly 9:53 am, much of the eastern coastal United States was obliterated by a meteorite. It landed in the water just off the coast of Maryland. The initial impact and fallout were sufficient to destroy Washington, D.C. and about 500 miles of the surrounding area. Earthquakes and tidal waves were felt world-wide. The enduring repercussions would be planet altering.
Elma and Nathaniel York were vacationing in a cabin in the Poconos when the meteorite struck. Nathaniel, a preeminent rocket scientist with the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and his wife, Elma, a mathematician, quickly realized the true nature of the explosion. They knew they had to make it to Elma’s small plane and to a military base to the west. They had to put their own grief aside over lost friends and family to do what they could to help.
Elma’s mathematics proved that earth was headed for a potential extinction event. The fledgling space program kicked into high gear in preparation for colonizing the moon and other planets to ensure the survival of humanity. Nathaniel became the face and voice of the program, informing and coordinating the leaders. Elma worked with the other women as a “computer”, doing calculations, programming and telemetry, a job that men considered beneath them.
Elma and her fellow workers dreamed of more than being just computers. They wanted to go into space. They met all the requirements that the exclusively white male astronauts did. But even a chunk of the planet getting blown up didn’t budge the immovable forces of misogyny and bigotry.
Comments: I saw this title mentioned on Library Journal’s July Book Pulse and jumped on it. I love hard SF and I have such a hard time finding recent books in that genre. The novel also adeptly deals with the topics of racism and sexism of the 1950’s. (Problems which unfortunately continue to persist).
In the author’s Acknowledgements and Historical Notes, she names the people who gave her technical advice and the numerous publications she used as sources. The Calculating Stars is a well-researched Alternative History novel. It is the first in a two part “Lady Astronaut” series. The second book, The Fated Sky, has an expected publication date of August 31, 2018. I eagerly look forward to reading that one!
Elma and Nathaniel York were vacationing in a cabin in the Poconos when the meteorite struck. Nathaniel, a preeminent rocket scientist with the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and his wife, Elma, a mathematician, quickly realized the true nature of the explosion. They knew they had to make it to Elma’s small plane and to a military base to the west. They had to put their own grief aside over lost friends and family to do what they could to help.
Elma’s mathematics proved that earth was headed for a potential extinction event. The fledgling space program kicked into high gear in preparation for colonizing the moon and other planets to ensure the survival of humanity. Nathaniel became the face and voice of the program, informing and coordinating the leaders. Elma worked with the other women as a “computer”, doing calculations, programming and telemetry, a job that men considered beneath them.
Elma and her fellow workers dreamed of more than being just computers. They wanted to go into space. They met all the requirements that the exclusively white male astronauts did. But even a chunk of the planet getting blown up didn’t budge the immovable forces of misogyny and bigotry.
Comments: I saw this title mentioned on Library Journal’s July Book Pulse and jumped on it. I love hard SF and I have such a hard time finding recent books in that genre. The novel also adeptly deals with the topics of racism and sexism of the 1950’s. (Problems which unfortunately continue to persist).
In the author’s Acknowledgements and Historical Notes, she names the people who gave her technical advice and the numerous publications she used as sources. The Calculating Stars is a well-researched Alternative History novel. It is the first in a two part “Lady Astronaut” series. The second book, The Fated Sky, has an expected publication date of August 31, 2018. I eagerly look forward to reading that one!
adventurous
hopeful
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was alright. I think I was most bothered by this being toted as a science fiction book and I found the science fiction aspect to be wildly lacking. Yes it's a fiction book and yes there was some science in there, but overall, it was more about this woman's journey to break into a men's program. Which sounds like I should be a fan of, as well. But the journey fell flat for me.
Characters: 5*
Plot: 4.5*
Universe: 5*
An interesting apocalyptic tale that is well written and fraught with excitement. I can definitely see why the book has won so many awards and I'll happily read further books in the series to see where it goes from here.
In a SciFi apocalypse, it is hard to shove the event itself into the background, but this book does that which partially accounts for the subtraction of the fifth star. The sexism and racism of the 50s takes full center stage in this story. The characters themselves have depth, but they are clearly placed into the narrative and rarely deviate from those lanes nor do they show much growth where they learn from those around them (well, except for the protagonist of course).
Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed the story, I'd just like the antagonist and others in the story to also show some growth.
Please read [b:We Interrupt This Broadcast|41076478|We Interrupt This Broadcast|Mary Robinette Kowal|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|64173463] after you read this book. It is a 5 minute read and is listed as a prequel, but you should absolutely read it afterwards and not before.
Plot: 4.5*
Universe: 5*
An interesting apocalyptic tale that is well written and fraught with excitement. I can definitely see why the book has won so many awards and I'll happily read further books in the series to see where it goes from here.
In a SciFi apocalypse, it is hard to shove the event itself into the background, but this book does that which partially accounts for the subtraction of the fifth star. The sexism and racism of the 50s takes full center stage in this story. The characters themselves have depth, but they are clearly placed into the narrative and rarely deviate from those lanes nor do they show much growth where they learn from those around them (well, except for the protagonist of course).
Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed the story, I'd just like the antagonist and others in the story to also show some growth.
Please read [b:We Interrupt This Broadcast|41076478|We Interrupt This Broadcast|Mary Robinette Kowal|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|64173463] after you read this book. It is a 5 minute read and is listed as a prequel, but you should absolutely read it afterwards and not before.
Yikes. Starts super-promising then falls apart in every conceivable way. But what stopped me cold was the extremely bad sex writing. Laugh out loud terrible. Not that there's a lot of it. But whoa. Contest-level bad. Added to an increasingly insufferable heroine and multiple stock characters -- just wow.