Call number
Series
Genres
Collection
Publication
New York : Tor, a Tom Doherty Associates Book, 2020.
Description
Elma York is on her way to Mars, but the Moon colony is still being established. Fellow Lady Astronaut Nicole Wargin is thrilled to be one of those pioneer settlers, using her considerable flight and political skills to keep the program on track. But she is less happy that her husband, the Governor of Kansas, is considering a run for President. The climate disaster of the Meteor strike becomes clear as food shortages occur. Riots and sabotage plague the space program. The IAC's goal of getting as many people as possible off Earth before it becomes uninhabitable is being threatened.
Awards
Hugo Award (Nominee — Novel — 2021)
Sidewise Award (Finalist — 2020)
Dragon Award (Finalist — 2021)
Prix Actusf de l’Uchronie (Shortlist — 2023)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2020-07-14
ISBN
9781250236487
Similar in this library
User reviews
LibraryThing member Kek55
Though third in the Lady Astronaut series, this novel moves the focus to Nicole Wargin and the Moon Colony while Elma is "off camera" on the Mars mission. The narrative sucked me in completely with its blend of SF, sabouteurs, mystery and thrills. I rarely stay up late reading but Kowal kept me up
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hours past my bedtime. Show Less
LibraryThing member lavaturtle
I loved this book, set concurrently with [The Fated Sky] but focusing on a different set of characters and situation. The spy/intrigue stuff was great, and Nicole is an excellent character. Loved the ending!
LibraryThing member bgknighton
Elma York is going to Mars. Nicole Wargin is going to the Moon. Politics on Earth are getting deadly with the Earth Firster's doing their best to end the space program. The price for space travel is high but the price for failure is higher. Tensions are trying to break people but they just keep
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working the problem. These are the kind of people we need in space. A great ending to the series. Show Less
LibraryThing member SChant
Another excellent addition to the Lady Astronaut series. The main characters and their inter-personal relationships are very well drawn, the secondary cast less so but still very human rather than the cardboard cutouts one sometimes sees in a novel with such broad scope. The racist and sexist
I love the way she casually drops in names of some of the real astronauts - especially a throw-away comment about Alan Bean's artwork - a delightful hommage.
I didn't quite buy into the sabotage storyline - it just didn't seem plausible that such a wide variety of incidents, their sometimes technical nature, and access requirements to many areas of a complex system like the space programme was feasible. Let alone the fact of the culprits seemed incredible well-organised for a terrorist organisation. That aside, the story of these acts and the race to track down and ameliorate the dangers was gripping.
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attitudes of the era are still highlighted though perhaps not so strongly as in the first 2 books.I love the way she casually drops in names of some of the real astronauts - especially a throw-away comment about Alan Bean's artwork - a delightful hommage.
I didn't quite buy into the sabotage storyline - it just didn't seem plausible that such a wide variety of incidents, their sometimes technical nature, and access requirements to many areas of a complex system like the space programme was feasible. Let alone the fact of the culprits seemed incredible well-organised for a terrorist organisation. That aside, the story of these acts and the race to track down and ameliorate the dangers was gripping.
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LibraryThing member Stevil2001
The third "Lady Astronaut" book takes place in parallel to the second, showing us what was happening on the lunar base at the same time Elma York was headed for Mars. This means a new narrator, Nicole Wargin, wife of the governor of Kansas; she was a minor character who I only vaguely remember from
I found it tough to get into at first. Wargin herself I didn't find very sympathetic as a narrator, and though I think some of that might be gender bias on my part, I still wasn't enjoying the experience. I felt like her reactions to things were often off. The plot, too, took a while to become interesting; it seems as though someone is trying to sabotage the space program, but at first this is a repetitive series of dangerous incidents followed by people going, "Gosh, could there be a traitor?" But once Wargin gets into space and the polio hits the lunar colony, the book picked up steam, becoming a gripping thriller. The overall effect of the book is quite tense, and after an on-and-off start, I read it voraciously through to the end. I love space disaster stories, and this is a good one. There are also some pretty emotional beats that I did not see coming, and which really worked. The very last scene had me tearing up! And after not liking Wargin at first, I came to really understand her; Kowal does a good job of balancing all the different aspects of her psychology into a complete character.
There are two things that bothered me. One, I don't know why what Wargin did during the war was held back from the reader for so long; it felt contrived to do so. Two, I felt like it occasionally took the characters too long to think of solutions; four days of lost contact with Earth before someone looks through a telescope? But I liked this a lot, and in some ways it's more successful though I would say less ambitious than the first Lady Astronaut novel. I will probably put it on my Hugo nominating ballot.
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the previous books.I found it tough to get into at first. Wargin herself I didn't find very sympathetic as a narrator, and though I think some of that might be gender bias on my part, I still wasn't enjoying the experience. I felt like her reactions to things were often off. The plot, too, took a while to become interesting; it seems as though someone is trying to sabotage the space program, but at first this is a repetitive series of dangerous incidents followed by people going, "Gosh, could there be a traitor?" But once Wargin gets into space and the polio hits the lunar colony, the book picked up steam, becoming a gripping thriller. The overall effect of the book is quite tense, and after an on-and-off start, I read it voraciously through to the end. I love space disaster stories, and this is a good one. There are also some pretty emotional beats that I did not see coming, and which really worked. The very last scene had me tearing up! And after not liking Wargin at first, I came to really understand her; Kowal does a good job of balancing all the different aspects of her psychology into a complete character.
There are two things that bothered me. One, I don't know why what Wargin did during the war was held back from the reader for so long; it felt contrived to do so. Two, I felt like it occasionally took the characters too long to think of solutions; four days of lost contact with Earth before someone looks through a telescope? But I liked this a lot, and in some ways it's more successful though I would say less ambitious than the first Lady Astronaut novel. I will probably put it on my Hugo nominating ballot.
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LibraryThing member Shrike58
Pushing on with her alternate history, Kowal's focus this time around is on Nicole Wargin; space pilot, political wife, and someone who had interesting experiences in the Second World War. These aspects all become relevant as the political stresses to the the original disaster that set this chain
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of events in motion continue to unfold, including an anti-space colonization underground that sees the space effort as just so much political theater. In some ways I liked this better than the second book, and I like how Kowal is leaning more and more into the history of her story, one cover blurb makes a comparison to James Michener and that's not a bad call-out. On the other hand, Kowal notes that she turned in a manuscript that was almost twice as long as what was contracted for, so there is the threat of late Michener bloat breaking out! If you liked the first two books you have every reason to continue with the series. Show Less
LibraryThing member nbmars
This alternate history scifi novel is part of the “Lady Astronaut” series, with this third book as a companion novel to the second book, which followed the story of the first lady astronaut, Elma York, on her way to Mars.
The Relentless Moon is set in 1963. It had been 11 years since a meteor
Scientists and politicians on Earth have been working on a space program, headquartered on the moon, to get as many people off the planet as possible, since the Earth has been in a self-destruct mode since the meteor incident, with tidal waves, fires, floods, and other climate-related disasters. But a terrorist organization, nicknamed Icarus, resented the dedication of resources to the privileged few who could qualify for outer space, and its clandestine members were causing havoc wherever they could. Nicole was determined to help root them out. As she mused, opponents to relocation didn’t seem to realize that “the Earth was like the Titanic. It was going to go down. We didn’t have enough lifeboats for everybody, but that didn’t mean we shouldn’t try to save as many people as we could.”
On Nicole’s next trip to the moon, the space team experienced terrorist acts themselves for the first time, and Nicole and her colleagues desperately tried to stop the damage. The fate of the Earth was literally at stake. There was not only the matter of physical threats, which were of course of the most concern. But also, the sense of community in space was at risk as well, because of fear and suspicion spreading like a contagion after each new act suggesting treachery and treason from within their own ranks.
Evaluation: I had problems with this book because I didn’t like the main character, Nicole. She seemed entirely too self-absorbed, with an overriding sense of self-importance that stood in contrast to the other, more sympathetic and altruistic characters. Her health problems dominated the story, and I was alienated by her anger over other peoples’ attempts to help her.
The amount of time it took these highly qualified and intelligent people to understand there was sabotage going on seemed unrealistic, as did the somewhat ham-handed romance scenes. In addition, given the racism and sexism prevalent at that time - reflected in the story as well - it was unclear to me (although I had not read the previous books in the series) how all these women and people of color made it into the program.
When the author stuck to how the lunar colony was set up and operated, however, I enjoyed it much more. I should note my impressions seem to be in the minority; this series has been extremely well received.
The Relentless Moon is set in 1963. It had been 11 years since a meteor
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struck the East Coast in 1952 and destroyed most of it. The U.S. Capital is now in Kansas City. The focus of this book is on Nicole Wargin, wife of the Governor of Kansas. Nicole is also still serving as an astronaut although, as she often reminds us, she is over 50 years old and (secretly) suffering from arthritis, among other maladies, that if known about would end her career. Scientists and politicians on Earth have been working on a space program, headquartered on the moon, to get as many people off the planet as possible, since the Earth has been in a self-destruct mode since the meteor incident, with tidal waves, fires, floods, and other climate-related disasters. But a terrorist organization, nicknamed Icarus, resented the dedication of resources to the privileged few who could qualify for outer space, and its clandestine members were causing havoc wherever they could. Nicole was determined to help root them out. As she mused, opponents to relocation didn’t seem to realize that “the Earth was like the Titanic. It was going to go down. We didn’t have enough lifeboats for everybody, but that didn’t mean we shouldn’t try to save as many people as we could.”
On Nicole’s next trip to the moon, the space team experienced terrorist acts themselves for the first time, and Nicole and her colleagues desperately tried to stop the damage. The fate of the Earth was literally at stake. There was not only the matter of physical threats, which were of course of the most concern. But also, the sense of community in space was at risk as well, because of fear and suspicion spreading like a contagion after each new act suggesting treachery and treason from within their own ranks.
Evaluation: I had problems with this book because I didn’t like the main character, Nicole. She seemed entirely too self-absorbed, with an overriding sense of self-importance that stood in contrast to the other, more sympathetic and altruistic characters. Her health problems dominated the story, and I was alienated by her anger over other peoples’ attempts to help her.
The amount of time it took these highly qualified and intelligent people to understand there was sabotage going on seemed unrealistic, as did the somewhat ham-handed romance scenes. In addition, given the racism and sexism prevalent at that time - reflected in the story as well - it was unclear to me (although I had not read the previous books in the series) how all these women and people of color made it into the program.
When the author stuck to how the lunar colony was set up and operated, however, I enjoyed it much more. I should note my impressions seem to be in the minority; this series has been extremely well received.
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LibraryThing member Guide2
Not a continuation of the previous book: a bit of a change in scenery, main character and tone in fact. This time it's more of a mystery/spy novel. A bit longer than the previous books, but the story remains interesting pretty much the whole way.
LibraryThing member Tsana
The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal is the third novel in the Lady Astronaut universe. I have previously read, reviewed and enjoyed the first two books: The Calculating Stars and The Fated Sky. The Relentless Moon takes place chronologically after the first two books, but follows a
I really enjoyed this book. The protagonist is Nicole, who I only vague remember from the earlier books, but that vagueness was not at all a problem in picking up and following this new story. There were also several recurring characters who I had stronger memories of, like Nathaniel (Elma's husband), Eugene and Myrtle, and Helen. We actually got to learn a lot more about the latter three as they became increasingly central to the plot. My absolutely favourite part of the whole book was actually the epilogue, for what it sets up for future books, but of course it is a massive spoiler so I won't say any more about it.
The story follows Nicole, one of the original lady astronauts and now governor's wife as she prepares for and then goes on another mission to the moon. But recently the astronaut programme has been experiencing more failures than usual, even though their various failsafes are keeping people safe. Given reason to believe that sabotage is afoot, Nicole spends a lot of the book investigating, while hampered by a lot of things.
It was a bit sad to see that, still, even 20 years after the first book in the series, a lot of sexist jerks remain, as well as some racist jerks, which are highlighted thanks to the diverse cast in the story. That said, it was also probably fairly realistic, as were the science deniers who don't believe in the future consequences of the meteor from book one. To counteract that, some random little things that I enjoyed about the book: Nicole living anorexia was depicted very sensitively; spies and harking back to the war; a couple of minor background characters called Armstrong and Aldrin; the general scientific/engineering rigour Kowal applies to her worldbuilding.
Overall this was an excellent read and I highly recommend it to fans of the Lady Astronaut books. Especially anyone that was hesitant to pick up a book with a new protagonist, I found Nicole to be just as compelling as Elma. To new readers, I suggest starting with The Calculating Stars to better enjoy the worldbuilding and the deviations from our real-world historical timeline. I am excitedly looking forward to the next book in the series.
5 / 5 stars
You can read more of my reviews on my blog.
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different character, so it almost stands alone, aside from spoiling a lot of what went before it.I really enjoyed this book. The protagonist is Nicole, who I only vague remember from the earlier books, but that vagueness was not at all a problem in picking up and following this new story. There were also several recurring characters who I had stronger memories of, like Nathaniel (Elma's husband), Eugene and Myrtle, and Helen. We actually got to learn a lot more about the latter three as they became increasingly central to the plot. My absolutely favourite part of the whole book was actually the epilogue, for what it sets up for future books, but of course it is a massive spoiler so I won't say any more about it.
The story follows Nicole, one of the original lady astronauts and now governor's wife as she prepares for and then goes on another mission to the moon. But recently the astronaut programme has been experiencing more failures than usual, even though their various failsafes are keeping people safe. Given reason to believe that sabotage is afoot, Nicole spends a lot of the book investigating, while hampered by a lot of things.
It was a bit sad to see that, still, even 20 years after the first book in the series, a lot of sexist jerks remain, as well as some racist jerks, which are highlighted thanks to the diverse cast in the story. That said, it was also probably fairly realistic, as were the science deniers who don't believe in the future consequences of the meteor from book one. To counteract that, some random little things that I enjoyed about the book: Nicole living anorexia was depicted very sensitively; spies and harking back to the war; a couple of minor background characters called Armstrong and Aldrin; the general scientific/engineering rigour Kowal applies to her worldbuilding.
Overall this was an excellent read and I highly recommend it to fans of the Lady Astronaut books. Especially anyone that was hesitant to pick up a book with a new protagonist, I found Nicole to be just as compelling as Elma. To new readers, I suggest starting with The Calculating Stars to better enjoy the worldbuilding and the deviations from our real-world historical timeline. I am excitedly looking forward to the next book in the series.
5 / 5 stars
You can read more of my reviews on my blog.
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LibraryThing member infjsarah
The Lady Astronaut series has been really entertaining. Easy to read. I thoroughly enjoyed this 3rd entry also. Recommend the series.
LibraryThing member renbedell
The third book in the Lady Astronaut series follows a different protagonist and happens around the same time as the second book. It follows a woman working on the Moon to create a colony. The story is great, with the plot being about a spy trying to sabotage the mission. You could read this book as
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a standalone, as it doesn't require much prior knowledge of the first two books. Show Less
LibraryThing member krau0098
Series Info/Source: This is the third book in the Lady Astronaut series. I borrowed this as an ebook from the library.
Thoughts: I wasn’t quite sure how to feel when we left Elma and Nathaniel behind for this book and instead pivoted to Nicole and her husband. However, it ended up being my
We find out a lot about Nicole’s history in this book and she is way more interesting of a character than I was expecting. Although I generally dislike politicians, I ended up loving her sweet but driven husband. Of course there was also her old cat, I love when cats are included.
This story mainly revolves around the Earth First group and their increasingly violent acts of terrorism. Nicole gets pulled in to serve as a secret agent to uncover the source behind the acts of terrorism happening in the IAC. Much of the story is a bit of a “who dun it” but on the moon with many more complications.
This story happens while Elma is traveling to Mars, so we get a lot of events filled in that happened during that time. We find out exactly what happened to Nathaniel while Elma was gone and what really happened on Earth during the communication blackout with Earth.
There were parts of this story that made me cry and parts that made me laugh. Nicole goes through so much and is so tough. I loved that the fate of her cat was also addressed, because you don’t want to forget the cat!
My Summary (5/5): Overall I absolutely loved this book. The characters are amazing and the alternate historical world created here is absolutely stunning. I was just incredibly engaged, entertained, and impressed by the whole story. I can’t wait for the next book to be released. I am also planning on picking up some other series by Kowal, what a great writer!
Thoughts: I wasn’t quite sure how to feel when we left Elma and Nathaniel behind for this book and instead pivoted to Nicole and her husband. However, it ended up being my
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absolute favorite book in this series so far. Things started a bit shaky for me with all the politics (I don’t enjoy political stories), however once Nicole gets back up onto the Moon things really get intense.We find out a lot about Nicole’s history in this book and she is way more interesting of a character than I was expecting. Although I generally dislike politicians, I ended up loving her sweet but driven husband. Of course there was also her old cat, I love when cats are included.
This story mainly revolves around the Earth First group and their increasingly violent acts of terrorism. Nicole gets pulled in to serve as a secret agent to uncover the source behind the acts of terrorism happening in the IAC. Much of the story is a bit of a “who dun it” but on the moon with many more complications.
This story happens while Elma is traveling to Mars, so we get a lot of events filled in that happened during that time. We find out exactly what happened to Nathaniel while Elma was gone and what really happened on Earth during the communication blackout with Earth.
There were parts of this story that made me cry and parts that made me laugh. Nicole goes through so much and is so tough. I loved that the fate of her cat was also addressed, because you don’t want to forget the cat!
My Summary (5/5): Overall I absolutely loved this book. The characters are amazing and the alternate historical world created here is absolutely stunning. I was just incredibly engaged, entertained, and impressed by the whole story. I can’t wait for the next book to be released. I am also planning on picking up some other series by Kowal, what a great writer!
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LibraryThing member ladycato
When I started reading, I was jolted that this book shifted in perspective to Nicole Wargin rather than following Elma York as it had for the previous two books, but there was nothing to worry about. This book is brilliant and emotional, addressing matters of hard science within what is, at heart,
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like a closed room murder mystery but set on a lunar base. I won't give away details of the book; this is the third in a series that truly requires reading the previous books to get the scope of what is happening. I read most of this on a cross-country flight, and there was a point at 60% that almost made me bust out sobbing right in the middle of the cabin. (Note: sobbing in a mask is not ideal and is best avoided.) The very end also made me tear up. What a book. What a series. Show Less
LibraryThing member theWallflower
This is the third book in the Lady Astronaut series, but it’s really more like book 2.5. Except there already was a 2.5–the novella “The Lady Astronaut of Mars”. Except THAT takes place after book two and this one takes place at the same time as book two, so this is really book two-two. Or
Like I said, this takes place over the events of book two. In that book, we followed Alma as she makes her multi-year trip to colonize Mars. In this one, we find out what happens back on Earth during that time. And what happens is lots of turmoil. This was probably influenced by being written over 2016-2021 (also known as “that whole thing”).
Earth is coming to terms with the fact that the world is ending and very few of them are going to get deported to space to survive. They’re getting left behind, they’re suffering from lack of food, lack of housing, climate change, and so on. They think too much money is being spent on the space program and not enough on the people at home. So the answer is domestic terrorism. What does that sound like?
Nicole Wargin, a side character in the two other books, takes center stage in this one. About half the story is much like the others — expanding space colonization, fun with science, life with the colonists, dealing with the inherent racism and sexism of the period. And the other half is uncovering who is attempting to sabotage everything, because there’s a mole on the moon. (Moon mole? Molemen from the Moon? Wasn’t that a MST3K movie?) That deals with issues of knowing who to trust, fighting with the external need to prove oneself just as capable as men while sabotaging the self.
Nicole is not Alma York. For one thing, while York had to deal with crippling anxiety, Wargin has anorexia. York’s husband is a mathematician while Wargin’s is the governor of the state with the new U.S. Capital and site of the American space program. Wargin is not Jewish. Thus the problems are different. Nicole has to deal with the political ramifications of all her actions, that her marriage might be falling apart because they are too busy for each other. But both are competent, and there’s nothing wrong with competent heroes.
That doesn’t mean Nicole’s not just as interesting as York. She’s just different. This going to be more about a woman who is confident in her skin, more confident about yelling at people. But her big problem is her reach exceeds her grasp. About the half the time, the problems that occur happen because she jumped into the situation before she fully thought it out (which illustrates a big difference between her and Alma York).
The biggest problem is that it’s so long, but so good. I think several “incidents” on the moon were unnecessary and could have been cut. Maybe I have a short attention span. It moves fairly fast but it’s a long journey. The crux of the story is a mystery. And drawn-out mysteries tend to grate on me. There’s a lot to deal with in this book. (Is there such a thing as “situation soup”?) I don’t think this can serve as a standalone, but if you enjoyed any of the first two books, you’ll like this. But you’ll probably grow as impatient as I did.
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book 2.75? I don’t know. I’m getting off track.Like I said, this takes place over the events of book two. In that book, we followed Alma as she makes her multi-year trip to colonize Mars. In this one, we find out what happens back on Earth during that time. And what happens is lots of turmoil. This was probably influenced by being written over 2016-2021 (also known as “that whole thing”).
Earth is coming to terms with the fact that the world is ending and very few of them are going to get deported to space to survive. They’re getting left behind, they’re suffering from lack of food, lack of housing, climate change, and so on. They think too much money is being spent on the space program and not enough on the people at home. So the answer is domestic terrorism. What does that sound like?
Nicole Wargin, a side character in the two other books, takes center stage in this one. About half the story is much like the others — expanding space colonization, fun with science, life with the colonists, dealing with the inherent racism and sexism of the period. And the other half is uncovering who is attempting to sabotage everything, because there’s a mole on the moon. (Moon mole? Molemen from the Moon? Wasn’t that a MST3K movie?) That deals with issues of knowing who to trust, fighting with the external need to prove oneself just as capable as men while sabotaging the self.
Nicole is not Alma York. For one thing, while York had to deal with crippling anxiety, Wargin has anorexia. York’s husband is a mathematician while Wargin’s is the governor of the state with the new U.S. Capital and site of the American space program. Wargin is not Jewish. Thus the problems are different. Nicole has to deal with the political ramifications of all her actions, that her marriage might be falling apart because they are too busy for each other. But both are competent, and there’s nothing wrong with competent heroes.
That doesn’t mean Nicole’s not just as interesting as York. She’s just different. This going to be more about a woman who is confident in her skin, more confident about yelling at people. But her big problem is her reach exceeds her grasp. About the half the time, the problems that occur happen because she jumped into the situation before she fully thought it out (which illustrates a big difference between her and Alma York).
The biggest problem is that it’s so long, but so good. I think several “incidents” on the moon were unnecessary and could have been cut. Maybe I have a short attention span. It moves fairly fast but it’s a long journey. The crux of the story is a mystery. And drawn-out mysteries tend to grate on me. There’s a lot to deal with in this book. (Is there such a thing as “situation soup”?) I don’t think this can serve as a standalone, but if you enjoyed any of the first two books, you’ll like this. But you’ll probably grow as impatient as I did.
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LibraryThing member James_Knupp
MRK's third novel in the Lady Astronaut series is an interesting change of pace from the first two. Taking place simultaneously as the second book but from a radically different perspective, The Relentless Moon is more of a whodunit crisis novel and in my opinion, delves much deeper into dealing
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with personal demons and emotions. I think Relentless Moon is a step up from The Fated Sky, but still slightly behind The Calculating Stars. Nicole Wargin is a more relatable character to me than Elma York, but the sense of discovery and wonder we get with Dr. York in her adventures is much more engaging. Show Less
LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
The background of this story is the ongoing politics of humanity having to move into space and the hard choices that have to be made, however most of the story is occupied by a murder mystery. There are a variety of people determined to get in the way of humanity going to space, skeptics abound.
I enjoyed the read, complete on it's own but also a good part of the series.
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Nichole Wargin is dealing with her dual lives, both of which have issues she has to deal with, particularly when the sabotage causes her to have to deal with injuries both new and old, som psychological and some physical.I enjoyed the read, complete on it's own but also a good part of the series.
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LibraryThing member zot79
I have to admit right up front that Mary Robinette Kowal is one author whose books I will buy practically sight-unseen. This goes double for books in this series, which are already tickling my desires for hard science fiction, retro settings, alternate history and realistic space flight action.
But it did surprise. Since I obtained the book without learning too much about it, I didn't realize that the first-person narrative had shifted to a different astronaut in the IAC, International Aerospace Coalition. The scene switches from Elma York, The Lady Astronaut, currently on her way to Mars, to Nicole Wargin, who is not only a veteran astronaut, but the wife of the governor of Kansas, who may also be considering a run for President. Nicole is just as capable as Elma, but she comes with a different set of strengths and weaknesses that the author uses to great affect throughout the story.
One of this books unique charms is that it becomes essentially a locked-room mystery. After plenty of politicking and setup on Earth and an almost routine flight to the Moon, the action is firmly set at Artemis Base, a growing and thriving outpost of mankind. The first step of our escape from a soon to be uninhabitable Earth. Soon, what seem to be a set of unrelated accidents start developing into a pattern of sabotage and attempted murder that is probably the work of an outlaw group known as Earth First. But who among the highly trained astronauts and specially picked colonists is or are the saboteurs? The clues come slowly, but compellingly. This is a great story with almost everyone acting rationally.
Recommended for fans of early space flight, NASA and good writing.
Disclosure: Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Books for providing a free copy of this book in return for my honest review.
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This book did not disappoint.But it did surprise. Since I obtained the book without learning too much about it, I didn't realize that the first-person narrative had shifted to a different astronaut in the IAC, International Aerospace Coalition. The scene switches from Elma York, The Lady Astronaut, currently on her way to Mars, to Nicole Wargin, who is not only a veteran astronaut, but the wife of the governor of Kansas, who may also be considering a run for President. Nicole is just as capable as Elma, but she comes with a different set of strengths and weaknesses that the author uses to great affect throughout the story.
One of this books unique charms is that it becomes essentially a locked-room mystery. After plenty of politicking and setup on Earth and an almost routine flight to the Moon, the action is firmly set at Artemis Base, a growing and thriving outpost of mankind. The first step of our escape from a soon to be uninhabitable Earth. Soon, what seem to be a set of unrelated accidents start developing into a pattern of sabotage and attempted murder that is probably the work of an outlaw group known as Earth First. But who among the highly trained astronauts and specially picked colonists is or are the saboteurs? The clues come slowly, but compellingly. This is a great story with almost everyone acting rationally.
Recommended for fans of early space flight, NASA and good writing.
Disclosure: Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Books for providing a free copy of this book in return for my honest review.
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LibraryThing member Treebeard_404
Another marvelous addition to this series. Kowal has really done her homework for the science and engineering within the story, and continued to expand the cast of richly drawn characters.
[Audiobook note: Kowal again narrates her own novel and does a first rate job. She has a talent for voices
[Audiobook note: Kowal again narrates her own novel and does a first rate job. She has a talent for voices
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that few I have heard can match.] Show Less