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A review by storytimed
The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal
3.0
I mean, obviously there's a bit more in-between
Basically the meteor kicks up a massive atmospheric cloud that is an obvious metaphor for global warming and makes it very important for the US to start planning to colonize space
However, although the space details were fun, I really do believe that a big meteor taking out MOST OF THE US GOVERNMENT as well as millions of people in the 1950s would have stronger historical effects than just "space cool" lol
Like, what about............. agriculture.................. which is very prominent in the Southeast
And although I generally like Kowal's writing style, I don't really like her characterization types?
She likes writing about shy, bookish geniuses with one-dimensional perfect loving husbands who I invariably fail to care about
It worked well in her Glamorist Histories series mostly, I think, because she could borrow from Austen and Regency tropes
When she's trying to apply the same perfect-protagonist vibes to a more modern US setting, it just feels Off
Like, her protagonist here is a Jewish woman (awesome) who faces a little bit of anti-Semitism (so we can acknowledge that was a thing historically) that is immediately forgotten so she can be a massive celebrity (what?) and then Very Carefully Uses Her Privilege so the coalition of astronauts can be multiracial (in the 50s...?)
I mean yes, this is a fun book and it's nice to have a low-racism alternate history, but introducing racism and then having it immediately dismissed bc of her Nice White Ladyism feels a lot like she's trying to have it both ways
Her protagonist is also a math genius and a former WASP pilot and the daughter of a US Army General who personally knows Dwight Eisenhower
Which like, I get that irl astronauts need all that background, but all that combined with an aw-shucks-lil-ol-me attitude kind of gets annoying
Anyway I read this book in a night bc it was pleasant enough, but instead of getting the next book in the series I judiciously spoiled myself
And found that
1) the misogynist dude with a clearly signaled redemption arc is not gay like I thought but has manpain because his wife has polio
2) as it becomes increasingly clear that the planet will be less livable, a group of activists angry that rich people are fucking off to Mars and leaving them in an increasingly hostile landscape start protesting the money spent on the space race.......... and they are the bad guys (???)
So yeah I have no interest in continuing this series