The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette KowalMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I enjoyed this novel. I love everything I read by Mary Robinette Kowal (this being the 5th title of hers I've read). I won't lie--it's best at the beginning and trails off (for me), but I still mostly liked it and want to read the sequel.
My bummer is that where we arrive in the last sentence is where I thought we'd be about halfway through the novel. It was the stuff that should probably come next that I was most wanting to read. Like we had an act I and act II, but no act III. (IMO, always.)
Looking back over it, evaluating it for the novel it actually is, I would say that it's a nice alternate history of America's space race, focusing on one of the first women to become trained as an astronaut. It works on that level, and I like it about 4/5 stars as that kind of novel. I thought we had been set up for an action story, more like a 50s science fiction novel, but it isn't that. Okay. That's cool. It's a bit smaller in scope; more intimate; more realistic, frankly, than I expected; and more grounded (no joke intended).
I'm betting the second book will be more like what I was looking forward to. I will definitely find out.
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