“The Fated Sky” (Lady Astronaut No. 2) by Mary Robinette Kowal
Mary Robinette Kowal continues the grand sweep of alternate history begun in The Calculating Stars, The Fated Sky looks forward to 1961, when mankind is well-established on the moon and looking forward to its next step: journeying to, and eventually colonizing, Mars.
Of course the noted Lady Astronaut Elma York would like to go, but there’s a lot riding on whoever the International Aerospace Coalition decides to send on this historic—but potentially very dangerous—mission? Could Elma really leave behind her husband and the chance to start a family to spend several years traveling to Mars? And with the Civil Rights movement taking hold all over Earth, will the astronaut pool ever be allowed to catch up, and will these brave men and women of all races be treated equitably when they get there? This gripping look at the real conflicts behind a fantastical space race will put a new spin on our visions of what might have been.
Review
When the author was originally writing the first book she realized that it would be better as two books instead of one. And this book really does feel like the second half of a two parter (with a little bit of a time jump). There were a lot of things I enjoyed about it – especially the details about the space program the author provides. On the other hand it does have more of the same problems as the first book with regard to how various issues are handled. In this book I do believe it’s intentional that Elma is written as a well intended but clueless White woman trying to support her Black colleges. It does make sense given the setting and the characters in question but I would have preferred something different.
Though to be fair I think a lot of my reactions from having been reading a lot of fiction from authors of color (and disabled authors) who do write things differently from the start. For one thing we’d be getting more of the perspective of people who will be stuck on Earth. While this book does address the idea that there are people who will never be able to make it into space for medical reasons, it never really goes into detail. Honestly with all that’s going on right now that’s actually the more interesting story. How would we actually help the people who won’t make it off Earth. This of course includes disabled people who will even more likely be left behind. It may not be the story the author wanted to focus on but I think it’s something that could have been addressed better.
All that said I do think the books tell an interesting story about a disaster requiring extreme measures to save humanity, and I like idea of a space program actually developing faster as a result. The crew’s trip to Mars and the troubles they faced were interesting. I’m not sure how I feel about one character that Elma had to deal with that she had a history with. His background paints to someone with darker intentions but the narrative doesn’t really address that. Though it probably works within the context of the setting being in the 60s. As with the first book the author included a section at the end that detailed the historical information that is relevant to the books which I liked as well.
Warnings and additional reviews can be found on the StoryGraph page for “The Fated Sky”.
Book Details
- Author’s Website
- Mary Robinette Kowal
- Publisher / Date
- Tor Books, August 2018
- Genre
- Science Fiction, Alternate History
- Page Count
- 384
- Completion Date
- July 6, 2025