Paperback
English language
Published Dec. 8, 2019 by Rebellion Publishing.
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 …
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.
I enjoyed this book, it hit a lot of my sweet spots (alternative history, early space) and I thought it was well written. I also enjoyed the show For All Mankind which had a similar feel in a way. I think if you enjoy what I do it is a should read but I could see it not being for everyone
Alternative history - a meteor hits the earth in 1952 and humanity have to get the space program working in order to survive the extinction event level weather changes. Told from the point of view of a female pilot who wants to become an astronaut. I enjoyed this book, but it didn't really pay off the initial setup? Maybe that's because it's the first in a series. It felt like it started with a bang, and then ran out of energy. Still, the main character was intriguing enough to keep me going, although her husband was just unbelievable. Too good to be true. Reminded me of the husband NPCs created by Mathew Mercer.
Kun kohtalaisen kokoinen meteoriitti kopsahtaa otsaan, eihän siitä mitään hyvää seuraa. Tällä kertaa seuraukset ovat sen verran vakavat, että ihmiskunta alkaa tosissaan valmistella maisemanvaihdosta.
Kowalin päähenkilö Elma York on matemaattinen nero, joka päätyy laskijaksi avaruusohjelmaan mutta haaveilee pääsystä astronautiksi. Matka sitä kohti kerrotaan taiten, ja siinä sivussa käsitellään myös naisten asemaa, ihonväriin kohdistuvaa syrjintää, uskontoon kohdistuvia ennakkoluuloja jne. Nämä kaikki onnistutaan upottamaan tarinan kulkuun suhteellisen sujuvasti, vaikka hetkittäin päähenkilöt vaikuttavat olevan asennemaailmaltaan hiukan aikaansa edellä.
Alternate history. What if a meteor had hit the Earth in 1952 and the space program was accelerated? I loved that the story is told through the eyes of a woman: Elma York, ex-WASP pilot, mathematician, PhD and a computer. Yes, back in the '50s without the power of digital computers the calculation were made manually by women, called "computers". So, men were engineers, women were computers. And also, men were astronauts. So the book has this cool feminist feel because women want to be astronauts too! Why not?
I was excited to share with Elma the fascination about science. In a sense the story could have been told today, when women in STEM are still a minority. Elma and her husband (Nathaniel), a rocket engineer, form an amazing couple. They have their struggles and it was so nice to see this great "nerdy" relationship. Also, I could completely relate …
Alternate history. What if a meteor had hit the Earth in 1952 and the space program was accelerated? I loved that the story is told through the eyes of a woman: Elma York, ex-WASP pilot, mathematician, PhD and a computer. Yes, back in the '50s without the power of digital computers the calculation were made manually by women, called "computers". So, men were engineers, women were computers. And also, men were astronauts. So the book has this cool feminist feel because women want to be astronauts too! Why not?
I was excited to share with Elma the fascination about science. In a sense the story could have been told today, when women in STEM are still a minority. Elma and her husband (Nathaniel), a rocket engineer, form an amazing couple. They have their struggles and it was so nice to see this great "nerdy" relationship. Also, I could completely relate to Elma's nerdiness and being completely out of place in public speaking situations: "Give me an unpowered landing and I was fine. Addressing a roomful of people? Thank you, but no."
This was the type of book that got me excited to research things like: - Who were the WASPS during Second World War? I want to see pictures! - What are the specs of T-33 and T-38 jets? - What is a Dilbert Dunker? How does it work? - What is the formula to calculate the amount of fuel needed to send a rocket to space? - How was the Apollo mission to the Moon? Now I want to see a documentary.
And this book actually ends in an almost cliffhanger, (view spoiler) I mean, I really do want to read the next one.
I was a little afraid for this book, because I had just been very impressed by [b:Cryptonomicon|816|Cryptonomicon|Neal Stephenson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327931476l/816.SY75.jpg|1166797]. It quickly established being much more fantastical than Cryptonomicon was, and much more optimistic in tone, I'd say. I think my favorite thing about this book is that the conflicts are due to people being people and overreacting or being a bit self-indulgent jerks, and not outright "villains". I'm definitely not opposed to sometime reading another book in the Lady Astronaut Universe.
The main plot element was PTSD stagefright and entirely too much time was spent on it. Not much peril for the protagonist. It felt like the scenes providing background to the stagefright were written and then edited out. The cover photo is very misleading as it is the story of one person with limited character development of others. I had high hopes after the first fifty pages but this one lost me.
Serious eye-candy, entertainment and a plain 'old fashioned' good read. This is the first space opera con alternative history I have read. I think we may have a new genre. The author hits on almost every current social issue, takes emphatic positions, and pulls it off. I'm ready to read the next in the series. But first...
I enjoyed it. Definitely one of those slower reads there's not "OMG" climax moment or anything like that, but it's an engaging read nonetheless.
A fascinating and really well written alt-history novel that really deserves its Hugo win. Characters are relatable, the social commentary is on point and the plot, despite being relatively "mundane" after the intro (or as mundane as the development of an accelerated but grounded-in-reality space program can be) moves and introduces new developments at a comfortable pace. Nice feel-good sci-fi for sure and I'll be seeking out the sequels eventually.
I spent a lot of this year reading non-fiction and historical fiction about women in WWI and WWII, resulting in a ridiculous amount of knowledge about the WASPs (and WAVEs and computers in Bletchley and...) So I was very into the concept of alt-fiction NACA recruiting WASPs as astronauts. The climate-based apocalypse hit quite close to home. I think one strength was how Kowal captures a lot of the energy at the time: focused, goal-directed, but still heavily hierarchical and sexist and really portrays a time in the US para-military well. I liked the exploration about how sexism affected white women and women of color differently. Kowal also had very good consultants for the meteorology and astrophysics. Unfortunately, the pacing was a bit off: the first third is compelling and fast, and the back two thirds definitely drags through the same problems, introducing more and more characters
Delightful, engaging, full and educational even in an alternative timeline.
3.5 rounded up.
Not the book it sets out to be. Ends up being a story of marginalized characters fighting against historical status quo, very little about space. Not sure why they needed to smash a meteorite into the Earth to tell that story? Second book rectifies this a bit, but the focus remains on examining 60s social structure through a modern lens through person-to-person conflicts.
At first this book seems like it's going to be an apocalypse narrative in the vein of [b:Seveneves|22816087|Seveneves|Neal Stephenson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1449142000l/22816087.SY75.jpg|42299347] or any Roland Emmerich movie, but it turns out to be a far more thoughtful look at the struggles marginalized groups face through the device of an accelerated space race program. It also makes a point of modeling better, healthier behaviors in personal and professional contexts, and I can only hope this is not where it is most speculative. It is well researched and contains enough technical details to ground it reality, but doesn't get bogged down in them as certain other books might. Looking forward to the seeing what challenges the Lady Astronaut overcomes next.
I loved this book from the start, and as a space enthusiast I enjoyed the alternate history it depicts, in which the space program starts earlier, and ultimately goes further than it did in our timeline. Our main character,the titular Lady Astronaut, is just a little bit too perfect. She's not just a teen genius and a WW2 pilot, she also must overcome 1950s misogyny to be allowed to go into space, and she's woke enough to fight the right of her non-white friends to do the same. All while having a perfect marriage to an equally perfect husband, and fighting anxiety and social stigma about antidepressants. I still cheered for her, but her inevitable success is nothing but predictable.
The next book is going to Mars, and I'm looking forward to it.
