The Fated Sky (Lady Astronaut, #2) by
January 2020
I’ve enjoyed these “Lady Astronaut” books for their interesting take on alternative history and their attempt to bring some diversity to the spacefaring genre. They’re fun to read and their heart is definitely in the right place. I found this sequel to be generally even more engaging than the first book, with moments of real peril and sadness (and even horror at one point). I liked spending time on the ships headed to Mars, and I thought the depiction of that journey was generally realistic and entertaining. That said, I find the writing and character description/development in both books gratingly amateur at times. Elma’s occasional self-descriptive and self-deprecating asides to the reader (along the lines of “I’m so stupid, I know” or “Really, I’m a grown-up” - not actual quotes, but you get the idea…) come across as more childish than charming to me, and her wide-eyed naivety starts to get old after a while as well. Many of the characters seem to be either all good (hi, Saint Nathaniel!), all bad (boo, DeBeer), or all bad but then suddenly somehow okay after all even though they’re actually totally abusive (hey, Parker). And the rocket-based euphemisms for Elma and Nathaniel’s sex life made me cringe every. single. time. That probably sounds harsher than I mean it to be. The books are an enjoyable, fast read, as well as a laudable attempt to address the rampant sexism, racism and homophobia found in SF and real life alike. They may not be great literature, but not everything has to be…