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bennysbooks 's review for:
The Calculating Stars
by Mary Robinette Kowal
The first section was a fun, apocalyptic sci-fi story, chilling and fascinating in turns. Part 2 turned out to be more of an alternate history/historical fiction about a group of female scientists battling sexism at work. I think the historical fiction crowd will have more success with this than I did.
My low rating ultimately has more to do with writing than genre expectations, though. I thought the writing was basic at best, downright cringey at worst (if I hadn't already known the author was friends with Sanderson, I would've probably still guessed by the end of the book).
My low rating ultimately has more to do with writing than genre expectations, though. I thought the writing was basic at best, downright cringey at worst (if I hadn't already known the author was friends with Sanderson, I would've probably still guessed by the end of the book).
- Sex scenes gave me massive secondhand embarrassment:
He shifted so he could reach between us. His fingers found the bright bundle of delight between my legs and... sparked my ignition sequence. Everything else could wait.
"Oh... oh God. We are Go for launch."
☹️
- Characterization was flat: the main character an anxiety-ridden Mary Sue, her husband a supportive cardboard cutout, her friends and colleagues barely more than names on paper.
- Themes explored lacked depth. Are you inclined to agree that women are as smart and capable as men, and should have equal opportunities in STEM? Then you're not going to get much else out of this. The characters are underestimated and harassed at work, so they set out to prove they deserve to taken seriously and sent into space, and it causes trouble, and then they succeed.
Which doesn't mean the story isn't worth telling, it just means it's not going to be interesting to everyone. It follows a familiar formula, which can be comforting. But I wanted more of an exploration of the consequences of having to fight for recognition; more internal and interpersonal tension; more investigation into why even in dire circumstances, and against its own best interests, the patriarchy fights to uphold itself. Or, barring that, more political tension, more science thrills. Either direction would have sufficed.
Basically what this book does most successfully is present an alternate history that is believable for the time period it is set in. If that's what you're interested in, it just might work for you.