I didn’t read any of the other books in this series, but I’ve seen Kowal state that this was intended to be readable as a standalone, too. I certainly didn’t feel like I had missed anything from the previous novels. From what I understand, the narrator of this book (Nicole) is not the same narrator as in the others. Personally, I enjoyed this book so much partly because of Nicole, so I’m not sure I would have reacted quite the same to the other books.
This book offers a sort of alternate history, wherein meteors had previously hit the earth, urging developments in space travel. A colony is being established on the moon, with further flights even heading for Mars. Nicole, one of the first female astronauts, still travels to the moon despite being over fifty years old now and the wife of the governor of Kansas. This particular book is set in the 1960s, partially on earth, and partially on the moon.
Nicole’s character is fascinating in so many ways. Her relationship with her husband Kenneth, for example, and her role in all the politics around his role. She’s also one of few female astronauts, as well as being a little older than most, but with relatively high ranking due to her experience. Finally – and this is where I strongly relate to her – Nicole has anorexia. She manages it most of the time (with the help of Kenneth) but of course has the occasional slip-ups. The way in which the disorder sneaks its way into her life, particularly in times of distress, is very realistic. It’s not always an overt desire to lose weight or starve oneself. It is often simply forgetting to eat, or making excuses, or physically feeling unable to. This can lead to a devastating downward spiral – as Nicole well knows.
It should definitely be noted here that Nicole’s anorexia is in no way the main aspect of the story, or of her character. It affects a lot of things, sure, but it’s not the main story. It’s just a part of her life. I very much appreciated how Kowal did this.
As for the plot, the simplest way of describing it is that there is possibly a saboteur – or group of saboteurs – on the moon. Things have been going wrong with spacecraft, and now there are problems on the moon, too. Further, a Polio outbreak suddenly occurs, which is a bit of a nightmare in a small, close colony. Finally, Kenneth decides to run for president, and Nicole has a lot of personal issues to deal with while trying to hunt down the saboteur.
It’s a pretty wild ride. It’s long, but I didn’t find myself getting bored. There were times where I maybe felt a tiny bit lost, especially where a lot of space jargon was used, but most of the time I managed to follow along quite well. 4.5 stars!
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