The Calculating Stars
On a cold spring night in 1952, a huge meteorite fell to Earth and obliterated much of the east coast of the United States, including Washington, DC. The ensuing climate cataclysm will soon render Earth inhospitable for humanity, as the last such meteorite did for the dinosaurs. This looming threat calls for a radically accelerated effort to colonize space, and requires a much larger share of humanity to take part in the process. Elma York's experience as a WASP pilot and mathematician earns her a place in the International Aerospace Coalition's attempts to put man on the moon, as a computer. But with so many skilled and experience women pilots and scientists involved with the program, it doesn't take long before Elma begins to wonder why they can't go into space, too. Elma's drive to become the first Lady Astronaut is so strong that even the most dearly held conventions of society may not stand a chance against her. This description comes from the publisher.
Stats for nerds
8recommend
14mentions
14people
2018–2026years
57% recommend29% neutral14% critical
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Thanks, that's a very specific list.
I was personally not a fan of the Three Body Problem (apart from the vivid flashback to the Cultural Revolution) because of the language (not clear whether it suffered in translation or whether it was the writing style of the original), and because the physics of it seemed ludicrous to me. But it's one of those "grand idea" series that to me would clearly qualify as winner tier, and it had many fans from across the political spectrum and quite a bit of commercial success.
Blackout/All Clear has been criticized for being rather loose with historical and cultural details, and for splitting up what might have fit into a single novel into two books, but I thought it was an excellent book otherwise.
I thought both the Ancillary Justice trilogy and the A Memory Called Empire trilogy were amazing works. I disagreed with the hectoring pro-Human Spaceflight messaging of The Calculating Stars, but as a book, I again thought it was good.
I was a fan of Anathem, Ninefox Gambit, and The Goblin Emperor (which was my preference to win that year) as well; could not get into Too Like the Lightning at all (but had no doubt that it belonged).
- Children of Time (Adrian Tchaikovsky), The Expanse (James S. A. Corey), Broken Earth (N. K. Jemisin), Locked Tomb (Tamsyn Muir), A Memory Called Empire (Arkady Martine), Murderbot (Martha Wells), The Light Brigade (Kameron Hurley), The Wayfarers series (Becky Chambers), and The Calculating Stars (Mary Robinette Kowal) are some of my favorites. Brandon Sanderson’s Skyward series is also worth a read.
- I loved The Calculating Stars.
Books do exist that are objectively bad, but consider that maybe this time - and other times - this is just a matter of taste. (And it's entirely possible that the folks who pick out Hugo winners don't match yours, and that's fine.)
- If you're interested about that, the "The Calculating Stars" book talks a bit about it. It's really nice to read !
- I just finished The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal. It is a fantastic piece of alternate history science fiction that I highly recommend.
I mention it because the premise is that a meteorite hits the earth off the east coast of the United States and what the after-effects of such an event would be. It's horrific. A slow death at first that rapidly increases over a period of 50 years. It would be paradoxical because the immediate effects would be cold but the long-term effects would be a planet so hot that it couldn't sustain life.
Our global response to COVID has proven that we wouldn't be able to handle such a thing. How would you convince people that, sure, it's cold now but it's going to get hotter in 3-4 years? A LOT hotter. We can't even get these people to not freak out over having to wear a tiny piece of fabric in Costco!
We know something like this is going to happen. It's just a matter of when. Spending money to get off the earth could very well be the best way to save the species.
- Try cranking up the replay speed. I usually listen at 1.5x - 2x. Every now and then I'll hit a great book with a good narrator and slow down to listen.
A recent favourite was The Calculating Stars written and narrated by Mary Robinette Kowal, a former puppeteer and long-time podcaster. Her performance was enthralling and fast-paced, so I listed at 1.0x.
