This week, some sci-fi with The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal; and two gay romances, Green Tea and Pink Apples, a short, sweet contemporary from R. Cooper and the werewolfy Night Shift Series from T. A. Moore.
The Calculating Stars (Lady Astronaut Universe #1) by Mary Robinette Kowal
The premis of this story is that a metorite hits Earth in the 1950s. It asks the question what happens next?
It’s told from the POV of a well off, educated, married female pilot with wartime flying experience.
I found it fascinating. I was irritated on behalf of the MC by the intrangency of the male establishment in recognising the skills and experience women could bring to the operation to save the earth’s population. And I was cross about the assumptions made about their competence.
I was completely sucked in by the question of how a situation like this would have been dealt with given the tech of seventy years ago. I have always been told–and believe–that the perfect sci-fi story takes one or two aspects of life as we know it and asks what if? And this book does it perfectly.
It’s probably the only historical science fiction story I’ve ever read and I recommend it!
Green Tea and Pink Apples by R. Cooper
Another comforting read from R. Cooper, who is rapidly becoming one of my favourite writers.
This is a gentle short contemporary about two men who have known each other for years and who finally find their way toward each other. It’s a beautifully drawn picture of perfectly ordinary humanity and I loved it. Everything I read by this author makes me like their work more.
The Night Shift series by T. A. Moore
I’ve read the first two of these in quick succession this week. They’re definitely not stand alone – they both end on cliffhangers, so if that bugs you, steer well clear. I really liked the format though, it has the feel of a newspaper or TV tune-in-next-week serial that worked very well for me.
The world is a reversal of the usual small population of werewolves universe. Wolves are in the majority, and the Night Shift, where one of our MCs works, are all drawn from the twenty percent of the population who are null and stay sensible instead of changing. Wolves have no memory of the savage things they do over the nights of the full moon, which can include eating their spouse and children. Of course, our MC falls for a wolf, who is also an asshole in human form. They are thrown together in an attempt to solve police corruption, against a background of unsupportive colleagues and lots of snark.
I loved the world-building, which is steady and leaves a lot behind the scenes that is drip-fed in. I am having a mild amount of trouble suspending my disbelief about how society evolved to the point where they have mobile phones etc if most of the population are busy tearing each other apart for a few nights every month, but not to the point of it stopping me really enjoying the story!
The third one is out later this month and I’m really looking forward to it. Recommend!