Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
A Tom Doherty Associates Book
Description
Thirty years ago, Elma York led the expedition that paved the way to life on Mars. For years she's been longing to go back up there, to once more explore the stars. But there are few opportunities for an aging astronaut, even the famous Lady Astronaut of Mars. When her chance finally comes, it may be too late. Elma must decide whether to stay with her sickening husband in what will surely be the final years of his life, or to have her final adventure and plunge deeper into the well of space.
User reviews
LibraryThing member tapestry100
A quiet but moving and powerful novelette, The Lady Astronaut of Mars is the story of 63-year-old Elma, who was among the first to explore Mars, and now that she is older, she's not sure if she will ever be able to fulfill her dream of being among the stars again. When the opportunity is again
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presented to her, she must decide between the love for her husband, or her passion for the stars. This is a beautiful short story that has a surprisingly emotional impact. Highly recommended! Show Less
LibraryThing member bookczuk
I'm not a short fiction fan, plain and simple. But given the opportunity to download this Hugo nominated novella by an author I like, did just that, despite the lack of length. MRK pulled it together with the style I've come to expect from her, but I have to say, my novel-loving soul wanted a
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longer story, even so. That might have allowed more of a connection to the Dorothy/Oz bit, which was a fun element, but didn't seem to really connect to the main story arc for me. However, I am a sucker for a love story, and that was the main delight in this tale of an aging astronaut, the first female astronaut to Mars, who is once again given the opportunity to head into space. But her husband, the other half of her heart, is dying. What's a lady astronaut (of Mars) to do? Show Less
LibraryThing member ColeReadsBooks
The Lady Astronaut of Mars is a beautiful little novelette that is both sweet and sad. A must read for science fiction fans.
Synopsis:
This short story was published as part of an anthology entitled “Rip-Off!” in which all the short stories feature well-known characters in different settings.
Review:
Mary Robinette Kowal is the author of the well known “Glamourist Histories” which if you haven’t had the chance to read yet, are a beautiful series of novels set in Regency England, in which an alternative history is in place – one that is full of magic and mystery.
I recently attended the Loncon3 convention, which is the 72nd world science fiction convention. Included with the tickets is an invitation to this years Hugo awards. Looking up the list of nominations, I recognized Kowal’s name from Shades of Milk and Honey and as a result decided I just had to read this. And I’m so glad I did. The Lady Astronaut of Mars did in fact win best novelette at the awards and Kowal made a lovely speech, stating that she was inspired by her grandmother to write the story. It truly is a beautiful story, one that most certainly tugs on the heart strings – I suggest you have some tissues on hand!
Elma is watching her husband deteriorate, and the story paints a very realistic picture of what that can be like, watching someone you love fade away. It has some very haunting passages when see that she is torn between the two things she loves most in the world – space travel, which after years of being stuck on Mars she is desperate to do again, and the man she has been married to all these years.
“I wanted to get off the planet and back into space and not have to watch him die. Not have to watch him lose control of his body piece by piece. And I wanted to stay here and be with him and steal every moment left that he had breath in his body.”
The story features plenty of romance elements, science fiction elements and an alternate history thrown in as well. A lot for such a small story. It is a quick read and I definitely recommend you give it a shot, the characters feel so life like and you immediately empathize with Elma and the predicament she faces. You can also head over to tor.com, where the publishers have provided the story free of charge. Happy reading!
Synopsis:
This short story was published as part of an anthology entitled “Rip-Off!” in which all the short stories feature well-known characters in different settings.
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This features Dorothy and Auntie Em – as everyone will know, from the Wizard of Oz. It is set many years in the future in which Dorothy, now grown up has emigrated to mars after a tragic accident at her family farm. On mars she has an appointment with an elderly lady who was once a famous astronaut, and part of the reason she decides to embark on the journey to a different planet. Now retired this sixty – three-year old astronaut is given the chance to do what she loves again, but she will be gone for several years, and her husband only has one year left to live.Review:
Mary Robinette Kowal is the author of the well known “Glamourist Histories” which if you haven’t had the chance to read yet, are a beautiful series of novels set in Regency England, in which an alternative history is in place – one that is full of magic and mystery.
I recently attended the Loncon3 convention, which is the 72nd world science fiction convention. Included with the tickets is an invitation to this years Hugo awards. Looking up the list of nominations, I recognized Kowal’s name from Shades of Milk and Honey and as a result decided I just had to read this. And I’m so glad I did. The Lady Astronaut of Mars did in fact win best novelette at the awards and Kowal made a lovely speech, stating that she was inspired by her grandmother to write the story. It truly is a beautiful story, one that most certainly tugs on the heart strings – I suggest you have some tissues on hand!
Elma is watching her husband deteriorate, and the story paints a very realistic picture of what that can be like, watching someone you love fade away. It has some very haunting passages when see that she is torn between the two things she loves most in the world – space travel, which after years of being stuck on Mars she is desperate to do again, and the man she has been married to all these years.
“I wanted to get off the planet and back into space and not have to watch him die. Not have to watch him lose control of his body piece by piece. And I wanted to stay here and be with him and steal every moment left that he had breath in his body.”
The story features plenty of romance elements, science fiction elements and an alternate history thrown in as well. A lot for such a small story. It is a quick read and I definitely recommend you give it a shot, the characters feel so life like and you immediately empathize with Elma and the predicament she faces. You can also head over to tor.com, where the publishers have provided the story free of charge. Happy reading!
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LibraryThing member KLmesoftly
A beautiful, heartwrenching story about aging with loved ones and the little details that memories latch onto - the particular sound of a word out of a friend's mouth, a color, a craft project made decades previous. From the twee Wizard of Oz-inspired opening (apparently this was written originally
The ending lines will stick with me for a long time.
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for an anthology of pop culture-inspired fiction) I would never have expected something as emotionally-gripping as this story quickly became. The ending lines will stick with me for a long time.
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LibraryThing member imyril
This is a Tor short, and it's a delightful and moving little gem. Elma is the eponymous Lady Astronaut - now in her 60s, but still dreaming of space flight. Once the poster girl of the colonisation programme, she may have one last shot at flying through the dark as mankind reaches beyond our solar
I found this careful, simple and moving - a pleasure to read, with only the Wizard of Oz cross-over elements leaving me a little confused (apparently this was originally written for an anthology called Rip Off, that took well-known characters and placed them in other contexts) although thankfully they didn't distract from or undermine the main story.
Lovely, although it did feel like it could have been the beginning of a book rather than a short story - although it is complete in itself, and packs a solid emotional punch.
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system in search of new planets to inhabit. But the cost is high, and the story focuses on her inner conflict, alternating her current situation with memories of that first mission to Mars.I found this careful, simple and moving - a pleasure to read, with only the Wizard of Oz cross-over elements leaving me a little confused (apparently this was originally written for an anthology called Rip Off, that took well-known characters and placed them in other contexts) although thankfully they didn't distract from or undermine the main story.
Lovely, although it did feel like it could have been the beginning of a book rather than a short story - although it is complete in itself, and packs a solid emotional punch.
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LibraryThing member sturlington
In the minority, I didn't find this short very impactful or memorable. Perhaps I just didn't understand enough about the (alternate?) universe it was taking place in to get invested.
Read in 2015.
Read in 2015.
LibraryThing member shaunesay
Very good, but a hard read right now for me having just lost my Dad, watching my grandparents get older and my own life decisions.
LibraryThing member LisCarey
Emma York led the expedition that paved the way for human life on Mars--thirty years ago. Now, much as she'd like to fly again, she's living on Mars, caring for her dying husband, and old enough that though she stays on the rolls, she know she has no realistic chance of once again crewing a
Then a habitable planet is discovered in another solar system, and the first trip is going to be long and difficult in ways subsequent trips won't be. NASA has very good reasons for wanting to send an older astronaut, and someone who is very good PR.
Emma York is older, experienced, level-headed--and a popular, beloved public figure. NASA wants her to go.
And she wants to go. She wants very much to go. Except for one thing.
Her husband is dying. It'll be a year before she leaves, if she the takes the job. Her husband might die by then--or he might not. They have no children. She might be leaving him to die alone.
Emma, her husband, their doctor, and their boss are all well and sympathetically portrayed. This is both a genuinely science-fictional story, and a compelling character study. What will Emma do? What should she do? What is the right thing?
It's a novelette, not a long read, and well worth your time. Strongly recommended.
I bought this story.
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spaceship.Then a habitable planet is discovered in another solar system, and the first trip is going to be long and difficult in ways subsequent trips won't be. NASA has very good reasons for wanting to send an older astronaut, and someone who is very good PR.
Emma York is older, experienced, level-headed--and a popular, beloved public figure. NASA wants her to go.
And she wants to go. She wants very much to go. Except for one thing.
Her husband is dying. It'll be a year before she leaves, if she the takes the job. Her husband might die by then--or he might not. They have no children. She might be leaving him to die alone.
Emma, her husband, their doctor, and their boss are all well and sympathetically portrayed. This is both a genuinely science-fictional story, and a compelling character study. What will Emma do? What should she do? What is the right thing?
It's a novelette, not a long read, and well worth your time. Strongly recommended.
I bought this story.
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LibraryThing member tldegray
Show of hands: who remembers punch cards? They were so great for grocery lists and notes.
I'm puzzling over the Dorothy connection. They're not in Kansas anymore? I mean, I see why the character exists in the story, but why is it Dorothy, with her Uncle Henry and her Auntie Em? Anyone?
So, basically,
I'm puzzling over the Dorothy connection. They're not in Kansas anymore? I mean, I see why the character exists in the story, but why is it Dorothy, with her Uncle Henry and her Auntie Em? Anyone?
So, basically,
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I loved this. I loved this a lot, a lot, a lot. Aging, losing family members to age, not having children to care for you or your spouse when you age, still wanting to work and be valuable and follow your dreams despite your age and trying to balance that with your responsibilities. It pushed all my buttons. Probably my #2, though I'll really have to consider this and "The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling" again before deciding. Show Less
LibraryThing member Stevil2001
This novelette was the first-written story in Kowal's "punchcard punk" Lady Astronaut series, but it is set last. Unavoidably, as she clearly tweaked aspects of it when it came time to write the full-length novels, this story jars, and I think I would have been better off reading it in publication
The broad details line up with the later-written novels, but it doesn't quite fit. This story says Elma used to have a habit of folding paper eagles out of discarded punch cards, something she never actually does in the prequel duology. This story riffs on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, with an orphan named Dorothy on a Kansas farm with an uncle named Henry and an aunt named Em; no one comments on what a weird coincidence that is. It must be meant to be a literary device, not a literal thing, but that's not the tone of the very grounded novels. (The character of Dorothy also appears in The Calculating Stars, but the Oz elements are downplayed.) I think worst of all is that the entire plot of the novelette revolves around whether Elma will go through a "tesseract field" to another star system, a fanciful thing that doesn't fit with the hard sf approach of the novels. As a result, it's hard to buy the emotional dilemma upon which the entire novelette rests.
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order, rather than chronological order.The broad details line up with the later-written novels, but it doesn't quite fit. This story says Elma used to have a habit of folding paper eagles out of discarded punch cards, something she never actually does in the prequel duology. This story riffs on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, with an orphan named Dorothy on a Kansas farm with an uncle named Henry and an aunt named Em; no one comments on what a weird coincidence that is. It must be meant to be a literary device, not a literal thing, but that's not the tone of the very grounded novels. (The character of Dorothy also appears in The Calculating Stars, but the Oz elements are downplayed.) I think worst of all is that the entire plot of the novelette revolves around whether Elma will go through a "tesseract field" to another star system, a fanciful thing that doesn't fit with the hard sf approach of the novels. As a result, it's hard to buy the emotional dilemma upon which the entire novelette rests.
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LibraryThing member bookbrig
This is so good, and today was maybe the worst possible day for me to read it. I cried a lot.
LibraryThing member infjsarah
This is the very short story that led to the Lady Astronaut series (which is very enjoyable). It is short and is the end of the story so I wouldn't recommedn starting here.
LibraryThing member Zoes_Human
Beautiful, amazing, and a heartbreaker. Have a tissue on hand.
LibraryThing member Treebeard_404
Touching short story that forms the basis for MRK's upcoming series.
Awards
Hugo Award (Nominee — Novelette — 2014)
Locus Award (Finalist — Novelette — 2013)
Original publication date
2013
ISBN
9781466873827
Local notes
Lady Astronaut, 2.5
DDC/MDS
| Fic SF Kowal |
Other editions
Lady Astronaut Of Mars by Mary Robinette Kowal (Ebook)
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