The Martian Contingency

The tense fourth alternate history in Kowal’s Hugo Award–winning Lady Astronaut series (after The Relentless Moon) traces the dicey late 1960s Second Expedition to establish a human settlement on Mars. After 26 million people were killed by a 1952 meteor strike that set off catastrophic global warming, scientists recruited from across the world constructed the Martian Bradbury Base in 1963. It was piloted to the red planet by Elma York, aka “Lady Astronaut,” a Jewish aviator and mathematician who became the public face of the space program during WWII. Deeply in love with her husband Nathaniel, a space engineer, Elma at 48 is now second in command for the Second Mars Expedition, this time with the intent of settling the red planet for good. Soon after setting foot on Mars’s sulfurous surface, however, Elma’s lifelong conviction that something always goes wrong is confirmed by unsettling discoveries about the fate of the first expedition. Now Elma must overcome hot flashes, sexism, racial tensions, and political machinations to find out what happened. Though Elma occasionally comes off as preachy, it’s a pleasure to watch this hypercompetent woman succeed. Kowal’s fans will not be disappointed. (Mar.)