The Fated Sky cover art

The Fated Sky

Lady Astronaut, Book 2

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The Fated Sky

By: Mary Robinette Kowal
Narrated by: Mary Robinette Kowal
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About this listen

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.

©2018 Mary Robinette Kowal (P)2018 Audible, Inc. Hard Science Fiction Science Fiction Space Exploration Fiction Interstellar Solar System Mars

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I laughed and cried and constantly had to pause to tell my husband about the very specific and interest things Mary had written about space and its challenges. It's brilliantly read and often very frustrating to a modern day feminist but also thought provoking, empowering and certainly entertaining. Sometimes a bit far fetched, like would anyone sincerely send a racist prick on a three year long space mission in confinement? But still, strong, thoroughly researched and tied together the topics of technology, feminism, racism, neurodivergence, math, flying, family, friendship and baking into a one cohesive story, which I find a great achievement!

I'm already missing Elma

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a gripping story with many faceted characters that face social and cultural difficulties besides the herculean task of going to Mars

simply sublime

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I love this book for everything it offers. very few book have captured my imagination like this and the previous to it.
I emagend ever person, every wisp of air and every detail down to the shapes of the ships. incredibly well written and performed. I only wish I could see the stars, moon and mars in real life. The blissful parts and the horrifying.
Thank you so much Mary for making me feel a childlike wonderment!

Most astonishing book I've ever read!

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There's so much to unpack from this great story! With all the problems with things like racism and misogyny we are dealing with now in 2024, I forget how easy those were in the 1950s and 60s.

But going to Mars! Whoah!
I so see this as if it was real.

Great!

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It's rare to find the narrator of a story doing such a marvelous job as this one.

Brilliant narration which adds so much to this fascinating two part story.

Excellent story - beautifully narrated

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I enjoyed the first book in the series - a lot. This one though totally moved me!

The first book was good, this one is fabulous!

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excellent, only found out about these books 5 days ago!
please hurry with the next installment

#smartereveryday

excellent, loved every second

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This second novel in the series of the Lady Astronaut is mainly concerned with the preparations and the actual journey of the protagonist and a few other recurring characters to Mars. Besides technical and logistical concerns, the main characters also have to face political consequences, as a group of terrorists ("First Earthers") fight against the space program, that they claim mainly benefits privileged white people, and some astronauts are suspected to support them. Many prejudices and biases, including those of the Lady Astronaut herself, are exposed, and friendships are reestablished, sometimes unexpectedly, while a few people remain stubbornly hostile, obstructing everyday operations even in space. Travelling to Mars, so far away from Earth, proves quite dangerous, unexpected events further complicates it, including interrupted communications with Earth, and the story is particularly moving when the main characters succeed as much as when tragedy strikes them. The incredible era of humans on the Moon, presented as a given at the beginning of the novel, by the end of it is however subsided by a new, more amazing era for humanity.

Journey to Mars

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Read this series, over.



It's bloody great from start to finish my only concern is that these last two books set a high bar for the third.

Just swell

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Superbly written and narrated SciFi of the believable kind. I found myself investing a wealth of emotion in this brilliant novel in which Elma, the Lady Astronaut makes her first journey to Mars.

Further adventures of the Lady Astronaut

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