Quick & Dirty: Thrilling story about the potential end of earth while dealing with sexism and racism prevalent in the 1950s-60s.

The Review:
The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal is the first in a duology about the Lady Astronaut. It is an alternate history science fiction novel. After reading the synopsis, I didn’t know if I would like this novel. It is basically an end of the world story, and these kinds of stories terrify me. I hate thinking about it let alone reading about it. I am also slightly terrified of space. I was more than surprised when I found myself thoroughly enjoying the story and not wanting to stop reading.

Elma York and her husband, Nathaniel, are taking a much-needed vacation away from Washington, D.C. and NACA (our worlds equivalent of NASA) when a large meteorite destroys most of the east coast. Making their way west, Elma and her husband use their considerable smarts to investigate the meteor and how it will impact life from now on. Elma makes the stunning revelation that earth will undergo an extinction event in 40-60 years. It will be too hot to sustain life. Since Elma and Nathan both worked at NACA they take their findings and urge the President to fight for colonizing space. The International Aerospace Coalition is developed and run by many countries to work together in the space race.

This story is set in the 1950s, which does slightly defer from our own timeline of the space race and NASA but that is due to The Lady Astronaut of Mars novelette. Plus, events have to be sped up in order to colonize space in time before earth is no longer habitable. A lot of stereotypes, racism and prejudices are still the same unfortunately. Elma spends a bulk of her time fighting for the rights of women and blacks (only after it was pointed out to her though) to be included in the Astronaut program. On top of that, she must deal with a co-worker from her past who is actively trying to sabotage her entrance in the astronaut program.

Elma is a smart woman. She knows and loves to do her numbers. She is a mathematician and in that time all she is good for is computing numbers so she is called a Computer. You can feel her excitement when she’s in her number’s element. She is extremely excited about space so much so I definitely felt her excitement but I’m still not sold on the space ride up. Elma does have one phobia. She doesn’t like to be in the spotlight. She overly stresses out until she throws up. She will often recite number sequences to help her anxiety. I only had one problem with this anxiety dilemma, she has to know that if she is one of the first women astronauts then she will definitely be in the spotlight. I understand that she wants to go into space so bad but she has to understand that she will be singled out no matter what. She does eventually try to get help for her anxiety problem so that helps a bit. Elma is also Jewish. Her heritage is brought up a lot and how it plays into her daily life. I really enjoyed seeing this aspect of her character.

One of the interesting things that I personally liked but probably not too many others is that this book is mostly set in Kansas. The nation’s capital is moved to Kansas City, Kansas after Washington, D.C. is destroyed. The only survivor was the Secretary of Agriculture who was in Kansas at the time of the disaster. Plus, the IAC wanted flat farm lands to fly the rockets over that they were testing. I am from Kansas so it is nice to see it show up in books, especially when it wasn’t being made fun of.

Overall, I really enjoyed this alternate history story. Sadly, it feels like it could have been all too real. I was surprised by the ending, I didn’t realize that it was a duology until I finished reading it. This story terrifies me but I loved it and I have already recommended it. This isn’t my usual favorite but I can’t wait to read The Fated Sky and see how Elma’s story plays out. If you want a story that fights for female rights, you must pick The Calculating Stars up!

The Calculating Stars is an alternate history with a very strong female protagonist that is pushing the gender boundaries of her time. The premise is that a meteorite struck there earth with catastrophic consequences.The initial destruction was obvious, as it wiped out much of the east coast, either from the initial impact or the flooding that occurred after. However, our protagonist does some impressive calculations and determines that what they’ve seen so far is nothing compared to what is to come. And with the most dire consequences set years down the road, convincing people to take the threat seriously can be a challenge (and likely even more so when you are a woman trying to do the convincing). There is a very real threat that the earth may not be inhabitable in the future, so Elma and others (including her engineer husband), work on a plan to start colonization outside of earth.

The thought of going into space is terribly exciting for Elma. She was a pilot in the war, part of the group of women trained to help shuttle aircraft around. It’s an elite group, but no where near equal standing to their male counterparts. The book deals with both racism and sexism and trying to break through boundaries to allow women and minorities to participate in roles previously reserved for white men. The role of astronaut is one of these roles, and logically for any colonization to live past the initial generation, they must include women. Sounds like a no brainer, right? Well, even with this, there is still a great deal of resistance.

Once again, Kowal displays her skill at setting a strong atmosphere for a historical setting. The 1950s in this story may differ from our own history, but it still very much captures the time period in a way that feels effortless on Kowal’s part. Meaning, as a reader I just get it without noticing the process, which is wonderful because then everything remains about the story.

I love Elma’s personality. She has a true love of math and has a very impressive talent in the area, able to do complex calculations in her head at impressive speeds. Her weakness really is more on the social side of things. She suffers from anxiety, but not from the pressures of being a pilot or having to quickly calculate the best trajectory given conditions and fuel. Math is actually calming for her, it centers her and keeps her focused. Ask her to talk to reporters or put her on the spot with a group of observers, then she can panic to the point of making herself ill. I am not to either extreme as Elma, but I have always loved math, and do find it calming, and I find people stressful, so I really relate to her.

Overall I felt this was a very enjoyable read. In the beginning I was a bit concerned that some of the messages might feel a bit heavy handed, but as the story progressed, and I became more invested, I quickly forgot about that and everything became about the characters and the story. If you enjoyed Kowal’s other books, I do recommend this. It’s different from Glamourist Histories, maybe not quite a light or fun, but still engaging with a wonderful historical feel.

5 Reasons To Read The Calculating Stars
It's About The Women... Obviously
The book illustrates the hostile environment for women trying to break into ‘men’s fields’ – trying to be anything other than what they were supposed to be in the 50’s and 60’s. Even though it’s set in a fictional timeline that diverges from ours when the meteor falls, the ladies' fight was probably much like it was in reality back in the day. What I like about this book especially though, is that it accelerates the timeline, because of the main plot event – an actual ticking clock for how long people have on Earth. But that's not what the novel focuses on. It has many things it discusses, but the top priority here is still women and women's fight to be allowed to take their position in society. I especially liked how often there were scenes where women would attest to how smart and capable they were. And that was not at the expense of belittling the men. Very inspiring!
Another thing I really connected to was Elma's experience of being the single girl in her university class. It was the same for me – in my class of engineers, there were 99 boys and me (literally). Yet, I could tell how much things have changed! Yes, I would get laughter and catcalls when I solved maths at the board, but those boys knew I could do it better than them. They were half in jest, there was no real hatred. They didn't claim they could out-math me. They didn't try to put me down (apart from several passive aggressive remarks down the road), and neither did the teachers. For Elma, and surely for most women of her time, this was not the case. But these women broached the way for me. And I'm incredibly thankful. Even if in the end I didn't choose to become a scientist or work in the field of my major, it is good to know I had the freedom to.

Racism Discussion And Other Diversity Talk

Racism also gets a lot of attention in this book. It's illustrated by the little things – the little things which probably hurt the most. Like how the black communities aren't banned from getting on the same rescue flights as the white people, but they are simply just not notified WHERE to get on the places, so they always miss the evacuations. Or how a black friend will always find you a decent airplane mechanic despite every single one you find in the yellow pages turning you down. Why? Because black mechanics are not listed in the yellow pages. This and many other similar examples of the small (or not so small) unkindnesses paid to people of color paints a vivid picture of how things worked in the 50's. It also raises awareness of the way things SHOULDN'T be and what we still need to get better at.

The International Cast

Which brings me to the next thing. It’s not just about people of color. It’s also about various internationals, some of them not even being Americans, but just scientists who joined forces to work on the spaceflight projects together with the US. What I liked about this the most is how much respect people of other religions and cultures are paid – I don’t really know whether this would have been the case in the real 50’s USA. For example, I was very touched when reading the sequence of one of the rocket launches – the countdown being delayed, and the team trying to reschedule it, respecting the time one of the pilots will need to say his prayers (the pilot was a Muslim). It was very respectful and beautiful.

Great Anxiety Rep

The main character, Elma, suffers from pretty intense anxiety. She wasn't always like this. But the university experiences of men putting her down made her really afraid to speak out, to be an authority, to be a voice in front of people. Which is tough, cause she inadvertently becomes one – she's seen on TV, in newspapers. And it's a fame she absolutely deserves, although she does not think so. Elma also deals with her anxiety incredibly well. Which is also realistic, because part of the people with anxiety never show it. They masterfully disguise it, perform even better than expected, but at the expense of their well-being later on (I am speaking from my own experience). I could relate so well to Elma and I loved it.

A Good, Loving Marriage

Being a lady astronaut, furthering women's stance on society in this book doesn't mean the end of a family life. Being a smart woman doesn't mean she can not be loved my a man. Elma is displayed as having a lovely husband (who even cooks for their family a lot), who is both loving and understanding, and YES – they have a healthy sexual life! He is also kind and attentive, and understanding of the struggles Elma faces as a woman in her job and professional life. It's really good to see it represented like that. A woman having a career does not mean the end of her personal life, or vice versa.

Overall...

It's a wonderful book! Although you should keep in mind that it is not upbeat because of what the women faced in their work. I can't think of any particular triggers to warn you about, but the main character does suffer severe anxiety and fears crowds, so keep in mind there will be descriptions of that. And, of course, as the book starts out, there will be descriptions of destruction and death as the meteor falls.

I thank Tor Books for giving me a free copy of the book in exchange to my honest opinion. Receiving the book for free does not affect my opinion.

Speculative fiction at its best. We find ourselves in a post WWII world almost like our own, which has been struck by a meteor that will lead to complete global extinction. The world must work together to save us from certain doom. This book touches on issues such as race, gender, sexism. The social issues faced by the characters are perfect for our current time.