After a meteorite destroys Washington DC in 1952, mathematician Elma York fights to join the space program as Earth becomes uninhabitable.
What readers are saying
★★★★★
"Kowal nails the period detail while making it feel completely relevant to today. Elma is such a great protagonist."
BookWatcher community review
★★★★☆
"The tension between the space race urgency and the sexism Elma faces makes for a genuinely gripping read."
BookWatcher community review
From Bluesky
MR
Mary Robinette Kowal
@maryrobinette.bsky.social
Five years since The Calculating Stars came out and readers are still finding it. The Lady Astronaut series started as a short story — I never expected it to become four novels. If you're just discovering it: ISBN 9781250301697