The Calculating
Stars, by Mary Robinette Kowal
This novel won the 2019 Nebula Award for Best Novel, the
2019 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, and the 2019 Hugo Award for
Best Novel, and was nominated for the 2019 Sidewise Award for Alternate
History. That's a somewhat intimidating list of endorsements to face a
reviewer!
The story begins in a different 1952, in which the east cost
of the USA is devastated by a giant meteorite strike. The first-person narrator
is Elma York, a young pilot and brilliant mathematician who works as a "computer".
She realises that the long-term impact of the strike will be runaway global
warming, culminating in the Earth becoming uninhabitable. The only solution is
to start colonies off Earth, starting with the Moon and going on to Mars, and nations
combine in a maximum effort to achieve this.
The main plot driver is Elma's determination to become an
astronaut, to achieve which she battles constantly with a misogynistic and
obstructive bureaucracy. A secondary theme is the endemic racism of the time. The
writing is very good, the characterisation oustanding for an SF novel (at a
cost – see below), the details of the mission control centre and its operations
highly convincing. I read the first 200 pages of this 500-page story in one
sitting.
However, after putting it down, I found myself slightly
reluctant to pick it up again, for reasons which took me a while to sort out.
It is a rather old-fashioned story, reminding me in its style of nuclear-war
novels I read in my youth, but that is not the main problem. One issue I had is
that it is too detailed, in
particular it dwells far too often on Elma's struggles and her problems with
anxiety; I found myself becoming increasingly impatient with the focus on
minutiae and the resulting slow pace of events.
Perhaps the main problem (which probably sounds rather odd,
given the basic plot) is that it isn't particularly science-fictional. Once the
meteorite impact and its consequences have been described (and then somewhat
neglected thereafter), the rest of the book could almost be a mainstream novel
mostly concerned with arguing how much better things could have been if women had
been treated equally. I have no argument with that thesis, but it is hammered
home relentlessly to the detriment of the balance of the story.
What I have always liked most about SF is the way it
stretches my imagination, and this just didn't happen with this book. At any
rate, my attention gradually slipped away and at page 400 I found myself asking
the deadly question: do I want to finish it, or would I prefer to read something
else? So I stopped. I can, however, fully understand why this book gained those
awards: it's just not for me.
*************************************
Dogs of War, by
Adrian Tchaikovsky
I acquired this one following enthusiastic endorsements from
other readers, but I regret to say that the story failed to engage me.
Alternate chapters are told from the viewpoint of a very-much-modified giant
dog designed as a formidable war-fighting machine, but the animal's mental
abilities and linguistic skills are those of a rather dim child. After five
chapters I decided that I had read as much of such writing as I could take, so
I stopped. Again, not for me.
*************************************
The Seven Deaths of
Evelyn Hardcastle, by Stuart Turton
This is a story with a rather strange beginning which
becomes even stranger as it progresses. The story is unlike anything else I've
read, and it is difficult to say much about it without spoilers. On the face of
it, it appears to be a historical country house murder mystery (the author was
a childhood fan of Agatha Christie) but has a couple of major twists which push
it into SFF territory. The plot is fiendishly complex and if you are the kind
of reader who has to have a clear understanding of exactly how the mechanics of
the story are working out, you will need a large sheet of paper on which to
record what each member of the fairly large cast is doing to whom; exactly
when, and why. Furthermore, you'll need to read it at least twice to get a grip
of events (after one reading, I haven't been able to answer all of my remaining
questions). Fortunately, as well as a map of the scene (not particularly
important) there is also a list of the main characters at the start (absolutely
essential – I constantly referred to it).
I'll quote the back cover blurb on the grounds that the spoilers
it contains are official!
At a party thrown by
her parents, Evelyn Hardcastle will be killed – again. She's been murdered
hundreds of time, and each day, Aiden Bishop is too late to save her. The only
way to break this cycle is to identify Evelyn's killer. But every time the day
begins again, Aiden wakes in the body of a different guest. And someone is
desperate to stop him ever escaping Blackheath.
The book (a first novel) has collected many rave reviews as
well as winning a Costa book award. Interestingly, these are all from
mainstream reviewers, not the SFF crowd. Does it deserve such praise? Yes, it
does, but it's not a quick and easy read; be prepared to settle down to some
intensive study!
