I’ve just finished the second book in Mary Robinette Kowel Lady Astronaut series, The Fated Sky. This was the perfect follow-up to The Calculating Stars, one of my favorite books from last year (maybe one of my favorite books). These two books are so well researched, the world so developed, with wonderful writing to wrap it all in a gorgeous adventure.
 
The Calculating Stars concentrates on the climate changing event of the meteor strike and Elma’s struggle to be taken seriously as a mathematician physicist pilot. Elma, the Lady Astronaut, has such determination in the face of harrowing misogyny. Her anxiety is visceral—I could feel how upset she was. The completely undramatic loving relationship she has with her husband is what so many books should aspire too.
 
I gave this book to my mom to read—not a sci-fi/fantasy/alternate history reader at all—and she loved it so much she used it as her book club pick.
 
The Fated Sky concentrates less on misogyny—it’s five years later and the ladies have more than proved their skills and worth—and tackles racism while giving us an amazing adventure of what happens on the long space flight to Mars.
 
While both of these books have the larger themes of misogyny and racism, they are explored through life situations so that it’s easy to forget while reading the social issues the characters face. Yet, when you’re finished, what sticks with you as much as the adventure is those issues and how they must be faced in order to move past them.
 
These two books were wonderfully imagined and written. I can’t recommend them enough.

I’ve started a new writing group with an old friend. So far there are only three of us, but it seems to be working out well. We came up with some guidelines of what we want to accomplish, but mostly we want to support each other in our writing. The two other people are working on getting into the habit of writing. They both have projects they’d like to flesh out. I’m finishing up my fourth novel, but that doesn’t mean I don’t need some help and support too.
 
I was working with a critique group much of last year, and it was a great group, but I just wasn’t getting out of it what I needed. With my current group, my friend and I have been talking about forming a group for probably ten years. We’re just now in a place where we can find some common time.
 
So far, it’s just the kind of support I’ve been looking for—to give and receive. We’re hoping to add more members, but for now it’s just right.