Paperback, 384 pages
English language
Published Jan. 5, 2019 by Rebellion Publishing.
The Fated Sky continues the grand sweep of alternate history begun in The Calculating Stars. It is 1961, and the International Aerospace Coalition has established a colony on the moon. Elma York, the noted Lady Astronaut, is working on rotation, flying shuttles on the moon and returning regularly to Earth.
But humanity must get a foothold on Mars. The first exploratory mission is being planned, and none of the women astronauts is on the crew list. The International Aerospace Coalition has grave reservations about sending their "Lady Astronauts" on such a dangerous mission. The problem with that is the need for midjourney navigation calculations. The new electronic computational machines are not reliable and not easily programmed. It might be okay for a backup, but there will have to be a human computer on board. And all the computers are women.
This description comes from the publisher. The Fated Sky …
The Fated Sky continues the grand sweep of alternate history begun in The Calculating Stars. It is 1961, and the International Aerospace Coalition has established a colony on the moon. Elma York, the noted Lady Astronaut, is working on rotation, flying shuttles on the moon and returning regularly to Earth.
But humanity must get a foothold on Mars. The first exploratory mission is being planned, and none of the women astronauts is on the crew list. The International Aerospace Coalition has grave reservations about sending their "Lady Astronauts" on such a dangerous mission. The problem with that is the need for midjourney navigation calculations. The new electronic computational machines are not reliable and not easily programmed. It might be okay for a backup, but there will have to be a human computer on board. And all the computers are women.
This description comes from the publisher. The Fated Sky is the second book in the Lady Astronaut series, the first of which is The Calculating Sky.
A much more consistent read than Calculating Stars. The momentum keeps going right to the end.
Content warning Spoilers ahead!
This book is way more action-packed than the first one. It feels more sci-fy-ish with a great deal of ordinary human life details. And that makes the story and the characters feel alive. Underneath the astronaut's objective problem-solving attitude we get a glimpse of their inner world with flaws, fears, and anxiety. I emphasized with every character, even Parker ( who we all know from the first book is kind of a jerk). And it's an epic adventure: ships going on a 3-year mission to start a colony in Mars. I used my suspension of disbelief on how they created microgravity in some areas of the ship and how they could cultivate plants while on space travel. I mean, it was the 60s, could we really have come up with a ship capable of journeying for 3 years with humans inside? I like to think that we could, but deep inside it feels improbable. After I bought the idea that, yes, we could go to Mars with the technology available in the 60's, it's an amazing tale of how that trip would go. Elma York is a great character and I felt right by her side while reading. She is smart, goal-driven and extremely curious. (view spoiler) Diversity, racism and human rights discussions are intertwined with the story. There is even a Brazilian astronaut that curses in Portuguese. Anyway, highly recommended as an entertaining and exciting soft sci-fi read!
