The Calculating Stars - 4 out of 5 Stars
Finished Mary Robinette Kowal's 2018 The Calculating Stars last night and overall I enjoyed it! It wasn't perfect, but it had a lot that I liked.
Open the book with a global disaster movie, then combine Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary with elements of Margot Lee Shetterly's Hidden Figures, which inspired the movie about the calculators of early NASA, and you get the base recipe of this book.
The story opens with the question: How would the world react if Earth was hit by an extinction-level meteor in the 1950s, before we have even been to space yet at all?
We see a glimpse of things we're seeing today, such as global unification into an International Space Agency of sorts, as well as American politics, and even climate deniers, all make their presences known as part of the story.
We follow Elma York, a genius mathematician who was a WASP during World War II and her husband, Nathaniel, who both find themselves thrust into being part of the global effort to get to space to set about colonizing other planets. The story faces the times and explores: sexism, racism, antisemitism, and more, including Elma having to recognize her own internalized racism.
There are frequent time jumps in the story as we progress years from the inciting meteor impact to the world making it to space. Often these time jumps felt like Kowal, in the effort to simplify the story, would jump time and jump to events rather than lingering on the journey Elma was going through. The book could easily have been twice as long and I think in many ways I probably would have enjoyed it more had it been.
This book falls into the competency-porn genre, alongside Andy Weir's writings. The main character is a genius and spends the story convincing others that she can be an astronaut. She is the person who realizes the true danger of the meteor and that it poses an existential threat to humanity. She, multiple times, does complicated math that is critical to the space mission. She is a person who reading on a page I ask "why don't they just listen to her?" -- and that is the entire point. The sexism she faces, even as men around her acknowledge her as extraordinary, IS the point of the story.
I won't recount the full plot, though this leads me to my core criticisms of the book, which require spoilers for me to discuss.
Spoilers warning about the wrap up of the book:
There are two men in the space program who make clear to Elma that she won't be an astronette. One does so out of sexism, and one for a past event that Elma did which the other man takes personal.
The first man is the head of the space program. He and Elma had crossed paths during the war and it turns out Elma's father had been a General during the war. We don't get the details of what happened but the man had done something and she had reported him for it. An act he held an unbreakable anger towards her for and he swears she would never go to space because of it. Elma had turned to publicity and the press in her efforts to get women (and herself) accepted as astronauts. Her campaign and her fame grew, even being called "lady astronaut" by newspapers, Life magazine, and as a guest on Mr. Wizard. This publicity and public pressure overcame his ability to deny her the role, and it was almost that he was simply left behind. No concluding confrontation. No justice meted out, beyond the act of succeeding despite him.
The second of the men is a Neal Armstrong stand-in, and the conflict centers around sexism and the fact that Elma has anxiety attacks and is prescribed a drug, Miltown. She keeps the medication a secret afraid it will keep her from potentially going to space, giving him power over her for risk of exposing her. This, and his sexism, lead him to claim she can't be trusted on a mission in case she suffers an anxiety attack in a crucial moment. It's a looming threat for much of the book. And then, when he attempts to actually use this and block her from succeeding, after all the fear and focus that has been spent on it - we suddenly find no one around her cares. She doesn't outsmart him. It just... fails.
On the one hand - it's a good message, perhaps fitting as commentary on our own mental battles against imagined evils. But, for it to disappear so easily after having been one of the major concerns of going to space left me feeling unfulfilled and disappointed.
The majority of this has been my criticisms of the book despite my giving it a high rating. I really did enjoy it and came back eager to read each chapter. The story has a lot of charm and I will check out its sequel in the future.
Giving both Characters and Plot 3's feels harsh but its where I land. The vast majority of the characters in the story are 5's, but there are some real stinkers here that I struggled with. A few key moments felt like the characters were acting purely as Kowal needed and not because of realistic and believable narrative. Looking past those though, there are several characters I adore including Elma and her core cadre.
The plot being the other mid-mark is explained with both my above spoiler laden criticisms but also because of the time jumps I mention above. There were several times I wished to see and understand more of the journey. As I think on it more, I think the criticisms I hold to this book heavily come down to what isn't there. Perhaps the editors took too much away? Who's to say.
But if my criticism of a good book is I wanted more, then it's a sign of a great book.
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Ardent Violet and the Infinite Eye (2024) - 4.5/5 Space Mechs
I've got to share how much I enjoy the second book in the Starmetal Symphony series by my friend Alex White. It's a great follow up in the series, filled with twists and turns, as well as dramatic and touching moments. Just a fun and enjoyable ride filled with memorable characters.
Just wait until you meet Scent of Rot. 🦀
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"The Ministry of Time" (2024) - 3.5 of 5 little cats
From the book listing:
A BOY MEETS A GIRL.
THE PAST MEETS THE FUTURE.
A FINGER MEETS A TRIGGER.
THE BEGINNING MEETS THE END.
ENGLAND IS FOREVER.
ENGLAND MUST FALL.
There are several ways to tell a story.
I finally finished this book, taking my sweet time doing so (I blame Balatro for that at least some, but not entirely.) Truth is that the story did not grab me until the final act. There, it swept me in, and I quickly tore through the final pages.
Looking back, I had found a handful of turns of phrase which I highlighted. Most are spoiler-laden so I won't share them here, but here are a few choices ones.
In a discussion about religion:
Belief has very little to do with rationale. Why demand a map for uncharted territory?
Next is a line that I thought this was an interesting social observation.
Most friendship quartets don't function in squares but in lines
And lastly this line:
Most things don't happen. Mostly the universe is parking space
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"The woman who revolutionized the fantasy genre is finally getting her due"
Think of your favorite fantasy or science fiction novel. You'll know the author and title, of course. But can you think of its editor or publisher?
In publishing, the people who work behind the scenes rarely get their due. But on Oct. 1, 2024, at least, one industry pioneer got the limelight. On that day, PBS aired "Judy-Lynn del Rey: The Galaxy Gal," the first episode of its new documentary series "Renegades," which highlights little-known historical figures with disabilities.
A woman with dwarfism, Judy-Lynn del Rey was best known for founding Del Rey Books, a science fiction and fantasy imprint that turned fantasy in particular into a major publishing category.
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Artemis by Andy Weir - 3/5 Oxygen Tanks
So I finally read Andy Weir's 2017 novel, Artemis. It follows Jazz, who lives on the moon colony with the book's title, Artemis. I am a big fan of the near-future science fiction genre and I think Weir delivers on it better than most, however I struggle with the plot of Artemis a few times along the way. There is, to me, a gaping "feel good" plot hole with the resolution of the story and it really soured the book for me.
Interestingly, this is a book I thought I had started previously and was immensely turned off from but when I came back to it recently, I had zero memory of any of it and went along for the ride.
It's a fine read and it's an interesting plot that is only doable through this near-future sci-fi genre, but yeah - bring along a healthy suspension of disbelief and just go for the ride.
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The Abyss (1989) - 3/5 Stars
I definitely had confused this and Sphere in my head over the years. But it was a fine movie, though the ending definitely left me unsatisfied.
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A reading guide for Frank Herbert & Dune
Originally I found this on Facebook. Linked the original thread on Reddit for those curious. Of the following options, I lean towards #1 or #3. It's been a longtime since I read God Emperor of Dune, maybe it's time I go back and do this four-book run again...
But seriously, don't read the Brian Herbert books. The ROI is very low.
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Contact (1997) - 5/5 Stars
The universe is a pretty big place. If it's just us, seems like an awful waste of space.
I love this movie. It's truly fantastic and nails the hopeful dream of science, and the headwinds it faces at every step of the way. I apparently hadn't spoken of my love of this movie to Katie before, but I would consider this movie among my top 10 science fiction films of all time, possibly higher.
Of course the movie is based on the book written by Carl Sagan. Sagan didn't live long enough to see the movie, but he worked on the film and reportedly did his best to keep it heavily based in science.
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Kalki 2898 AD looks awesome as hell!
This is being hailed as the most expensive movie ever to come out of Bollywood. And from this trailer, it looks awesome and I am definitely going to try and see it.
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Listening to 'Project Hail Mary'
I started listening to Project Hail Mary's audiobook today. I had rewatched The Martian over the weekend and decided to pull the trigger on the audiobook and, as expected, I'm really enjoying it. The narrator's voice is super familiar so I came home and looked him up: Ray Porter.
I am not sure why though. I looked up his IMDB and there's no credits which would make sense (sure, I've watched Shameless and Almost Famous, but there's no way those are how I know his name.) So then I start looking up his book credits in case I've heard him narrate anything else. And I finally figured it out.
He read The Cartel by Don Winslow which was an audiobook I listened to a few years ago and really enjoyed the narration as well.
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Sci fi novelist Iain M. Banks hits ChatGPT on the head 18 years ago
Found on this blog, and reposted here for my own records.
From Algebraist by Iain M. Banks, 2005
"You know, you seem alive to me…. Are you sure you might not be alive and sentient…?"
"Of course not!" the old man said scornfully, "I am able to give the appearance of life without being alive. It is not especially difficult."
"How do you do this?"
"By being able to access my memories, by having trillions of facts and works and books and recordings and sentences and words and definitions at my disposal. I am the sum of all my memories, plus the application of certain rules from a substantial command-set. I am blessed with the ability to think extremely quickly, so I am able to listen to what you, as a conscious, sentient being, are saying and then respond in a way that makes sense to you, answering your questions, following your meaning, anticipating your thoughts.
"However, all this is simply the result of programs—programs written by sentient beings—sifting through earlier examples of conversations and exchanges which I have stored within my memories and selecting those which seem most appropriate as templates. This process sounds mysterious but is merely complicated. It begins with something as simple you saying 'Hello' and me replying 'Hello,' or choosing something similar according to whatever else I might know about you, and extends to a reply as involved as, well, this one."
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