Another marvelous addition to this series. Kowal has really done her homework for the science and engineering within the story, and continued to expand the cast of richly drawn characters.
[Audiobook note: Kowal again narrates her own novel and does a first rate job. She has a talent for voices that few I have heard can match.] ( )

This is a fun one. It has all of the fascinating technical details and gravitas of the first two books, with a thick layer of intrigue spread on top. I missed having Elma as a POV character, but Nichole is still brilliant and scrappy and slowly falling to pieces in her own awesome ways. And I continue to appreciate seeing married couples who have a strong relationship and don't spend the whole story bickering. ( )

Hugo and Nebula Award–winner Mary Robinette Kowal expands her Lady Astronaut alternate history series with this stellar third installment, The Relentless Moon. Set in the 1960s, The Relentless Moon takes place a decade after the devastating meteor strike that led to the creation of the International Aerospace Coalition in the first novel, The Calculating Stars.

In this book, Nicole Wargin, an ambitious, driven, and passionate Air Force pilot turned Lady Astronaut, leaves her husband, Kansas governor Kenneth Wargin, on Earth to become one of the first inhabitants of a colony on the moon. As the head of the colony’s security, Nicole works openly to establish a habitat for humanity on the moon. However, it quickly becomes clear that after a series of technical failures that could have resulted in death (as well as a polio outbreak), that there is a saboteur on the moon. Now, Nicole must work covertly to counter the efforts of the “Earth First” terrorists, who are hell-bent on sabotaging the IAC and humankind’s expansion into space while juggling her long-distance relationship, grief, and anorexia.

Like the other Lady Astronaut books, this book has wonderful science and historical content that is, for the most part, quite accurate! This book is also a fascinating portrayal of what establishing a lunar colony would be like in both technical terms and in terms of characters. The United States is employing people of color at high levels in the space program, but that doesn’t mean that everybody is happy about it. The colony is an international effort, which means that White South Africans have to respect Black leadership despite South Africa’s policy of aparthied. There are personal differences, language differences, cultural differences…it’s a miracle that the group can function at all..and when you add a saboteur among them, things are bound to get intense.

But Kowal focuses mainly on Nicole and by doing so, keeps this novel quite an intimate spacefaring journey.

Overall, I found Kowal's third novel in the Lady Astronaut series to be a wonderful blend of espionage, spacefaring adventure, and social fiction. One that is intimate, smart, and riveting.

I'm looking forward to the next book in the series if there is to be one.

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While I loved the murder/mystery angle in this book, it didn't have the same urgency the first two installments held. That said, I still found it an enjoyable and engaging read, and will continue to be a fan of these books!

Definitely give them a read! ( )

I have to admit right up front that Mary Robinette Kowal is one author whose books I will buy practically sight-unseen. This goes double for books in this series, which are already tickling my desires for hard science fiction, retro settings, alternate history and realistic space flight action. This book did not disappoint.

But it did surprise. Since I obtained the book without learning too much about it, I didn't realize that the first-person narrative had shifted to a different astronaut in the IAC, International Aerospace Coalition. The scene switches from Elma York, The Lady Astronaut, currently on her way to Mars, to Nicole Wargin, who is not only a veteran astronaut, but the wife of the governor of Kansas, who may also be considering a run for President. Nicole is just as capable as Elma, but she comes with a different set of strengths and weaknesses that the author uses to great affect throughout the story.

One of this books unique charms is that it becomes essentially a locked-room mystery. After plenty of politicking and setup on Earth and an almost routine flight to the Moon, the action is firmly set at Artemis Base, a growing and thriving outpost of mankind. The first step of our escape from a soon to be uninhabitable Earth. Soon, what seem to be a set of unrelated accidents start developing into a pattern of sabotage and attempted murder that is probably the work of an outlaw group known as Earth First. But who among the highly trained astronauts and specially picked colonists is or are the saboteurs? The clues come slowly, but compellingly. This is a great story with almost everyone acting rationally.

Recommended for fans of early space flight, NASA and good writing.

Disclosure: Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Books for providing a free copy of this book in return for my honest review. ( )