Years after a meteorite strike obliterated Washington, D.C.—triggering an extinction-level global warming event—Earth’s survivors have started an international effort to establish homes on space stations and the Moon.
The next step – Mars.
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| March 2025; Tor Books; 978-1250237040 audio, ebook, print (400 pages); science fiction |
Remember National Read a Book Day a couple of weeks ago? We recommended short fiction that you could read in a day, but since I had a three-day weekend, I picked up one of the longer novels that I've been wanting to read for so long: Mary Robinette Kowal's The Martian Contingency. It came out last year, but after waiting nearly 5 years for it, what was another year?
From past experience with this series, I knew once I picked it up, I wouldn't want to put it down. I started it first thing Saturday morning and was finished with it Sunday night (I did stay up late to finish it since I didn't have to work the next day).
I started this series back in 2018 when I reviewed the audiobooks of The Calculating Stars and The Fated Sky for Audible. I wouldn't have normally selected these books for myself, but my post-apocalyptic fiction book club had introduced me to alternate history, and I was interested in trying more of the genre. I'm so glad I picked them. My book club loved The Calculating Stars as well.
Then it was a long 2 year wait for the next book in the series, The Relentless Moon. I love Elma York, and I wasn't sure changing the character focus would work for me, but I loved Nicole. I might have loved Nicole a little more than Elma (I noted in my review that her naivete wore on my nerves.)
And then 5 years later a fourth book hits the shelf. I was super excited to read it, but it got pushed to the bottom of my TBR. I kept thinking I would get ahead on my review copies (yeah, right) and find time to read it. I'm glad I waited for a long weekend.
It has been a long time since I read The Fated Sky, and a lot of what goes on in this book references the mission from that book. It was about the first people to settle on Mars, and this is the second mission to Mars. If you haven't read The Fated Sky or if it has been a while, I recommend reading it first. I spent too much time trying to figure out what I was supposed to already have known about the first mission.
The Martian Contingency picks up after The Relentless Moon. The events of that book are mentioned, but it isn't as important to have read it before picking up this book.
Since this is alternate history, the events that follow the meteor are not necessarily the same as those that we experienced in real life, like the Vietnam War. Yet, it does appear that some of the social change mirrors our own history. There seemed to be a lot more about sex in this book (nothing too graphic, but a lot of innuendo). There are more married couples on this mission, as they are expected to remain on Mars to establish the new civilization. But I also realized that we are in the 1960s, and perhaps this was a reflection of the sexual revolution.
This book is a little bit of a genre mashup. There's science fiction, alternative history/historical fiction, women's fiction, and then there is the mystery. There is a group on Earth that is opposed to the space program and thinks that everyone should be focused on saving Earth. When things start going wrong and Elma notices oddities left behind by the first mission, she has to wonder if a saboteur is among them.
The book ends in a way that could be wrapping up the series or gearing it up for a new generation of Lady Astronauts. I'm definitely hoping for the latter.
Buy The Martian Contingency at Amazon
P.S. If you are a cat person, you have to check out Mary Robinette's social media for her cat Elsie (@ElsieWants on most social channels).
Donna Huber is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour.
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