''The Calculating Stars'' is a
science fiction novel
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...
by American writer
Mary Robinette Kowal
Mary Robinette Kowal (; born February 8, 1969) is an American author and puppeteer. Originally a puppeteer by primary trade after receiving a bachelor's degree in art education, she became art director for science fiction magazines and by 2010 was ...
. The book was published by
Tor Books on July 3, 2018. It is the first book in the "
Lady Astronaut" series and is a prequel to the 2012 short story "
The Lady Astronaut of Mars
"The Lady Astronaut of Mars" is an alternate history/science fiction short story by Mary Robinette Kowal. It was first published in 2012 as part of the Audible.com anthology ''Rip-Off''.
Synopsis
Thirty years after Elma York led the first expedit ...
".
Plot
Shortly after President
Thomas Dewey
Thomas Edmund Dewey (March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971) was an American lawyer, prosecutor, and politician who served as the 47th governor of New York from 1943 to 1954. He was the Republican candidate for president in 1944 and 1948: although ...
leads the United States to victory in the
space race in 1952, a
meteorite
A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such as a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid, that originates in outer space and survives its passage through the atmosphere to reach the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the ...
strikes the
Chesapeake Bay, obliterating most of the
Eastern Seaboard. In the aftermath, the mathematician and former
Women Airforce Service Pilots pilot Elma York calculates that the resulting
climate change will make the planet uninhabitable within 50 years. The threat accelerates efforts to colonize space and leads to Elma joining the International Aerospace Coalition in its attempt to reach the Moon and then Mars.
Reception
''The Calculating Stars'' won the 2019
Nebula Award for Best Novel,
the 2019
Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, the 2019
Hugo Award for Best Novel,
[2019 Hugo Award & 1944 Retro Hugo Award Finalists]
by Cheryl Morgan, at TheHugoAwards.org; published April 2, 2019; retrieved July 23, 2019 and the 2019
Sidewise Award for Alternate History.
[2018 Sidewise Award Nominees]
at Locus; published August 19, 2019; retrieved August 20, 2019
''
Publishers Weekly'' considered it "outstanding," with Elma's personal life "provid(ing) a captivating human center to the apocalyptic background."
praised Kowal for being willing to include historically accurate racial and gender issues.
References
External links
The Calculating Stars on Kowal's website
on
Space.com We Interrupt This Broadcast prequel short story
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calculating Stars, The
2018 American novels
2018 science fiction novels
English-language novels
Hugo Award for Best Novel-winning works
Nebula Award for Best Novel-winning works
Sidewise Award for Alternate History winning works
Tor Books books