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The Calculating Stars
- A Lady Astronaut Novel
- Narrated by: Mary Robinette Kowal
- Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins
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Publisher's Summary
Mary Robinette Kowal's science fiction debut, The Calculating Stars, explores the premise behind her award-winning Lady Astronaut of Mars.
Den of Geek - Best Science Fiction Books of June 2018
Omnivoracious - Fifteen Highly Anticipated SFF Reads for Summer 2018
On a cold spring night in 1952, a huge meteorite fell to earth and obliterated much of the East Coast of the US, including Washington, DC. The ensuing climate cataclysm will soon render the 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 calculator. But with so many skilled and experienced 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.
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- Vicki Watson
- 05-09-2018
Disappointing
The story had promise but the whimpering main character and cringeworthy attempts at romantic/sex scenes almost laughable.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Jeremy
- 23-10-2018
Well paced but too hard on the messaging
An enjoyable story that set a cracking pace, with good character development. The author's narration is excellent too. However, I did feel that every 5 minutes I was being reminded of the main character's religion and that she was working really hard to overcome her anxiety. Yep, I understood the third time - don't need it a dozen more.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Mitch
- 19-05-2020
Captivating
Blown away by narration only to realise at the end it was the author. Bravo. Will be getting sequel.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 18-01-2020
colonies on the moon ?without any woman?
she could have been more forcefull fighting for woman in space and that persons of colour were being excluded
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2 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 12-05-2020
Fantastic
Absolutely fantastic book, enjoyed the gripping story, the science, and the message about resilience and overcoming the impossible (including sexism and racism).
However, the narrator (who is the author) was a bit ambitious in trying to do accents that she wasn't good at. It was jarring, because there were a lot of non-American characters who were written beautifully.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Helen
- 23-05-2019
Perfect women centred alternate timeline space drama
I loved all the new information I learnt about how women actually shaped our space timeline from this book. I heard an excellent interview from the author about all the research she does to make her characters and world building fit the time period she is writing about. I never knew much about the WASPS and all I knew about women computers came from Hidden Figures (I am not American and the space race is not taught in history class). Loved this book and will recommend it.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 05-02-2024
Main character bombed - DNF
Very rarely do I not finish a story, it's a waste of money in my mind.
But the main character's personality destroyed that thought process. I would recommend you save your money and purchase something else.
The main positive is the performance, amazingly delivered.
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- Anonymous User
- 16-11-2023
I chose to consume this book via audiobook because of the performance in the preview
Performance incredible by the author. 😍 Love the 1950s style of speaking and accents that they’ve used consistently throughout. This is the first audiobook I have ever finished. Outstanding.
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- Anonymous User
- 15-09-2023
Fantastic mix of space
Wow. Manages to combine the 1950s, space exploration, family, mathematics, planetary disaster and much more into a story that is satisfying, fun and in parts touching.
The narrator is very good and does a great job distinguishing between voices (its the author herself, who is a voice actor amongst other talents). To express strong emotion she becomes a little too breathy for me sometimes but honestly overall it's a great job.
An unusual and brilliant story, with so many elements to it. Thanks 👍🚀🌙
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- Gabriele Curwood
- 03-05-2023
Not a favourite.
Struggled to finish it. Not my idea of science fiction. Found the storyline and narration a bit twee.
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