Mary Robinette Kowal · series
The Lady Astronaut Universe books in order
An alternate-history science-fiction series about humanity's accelerated effort to establish a spacefaring civilization after a meteorite triggers global catastrophe.
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Reading order
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Publication order
- 1 The Calculating Stars
Book 1 · novel · 2018
On a cold spring night in 1952, a huge meteorite fell to earth and obliterated much of the east coast of the United States, including Washington D.C. The ensuing climate cataclysm will soon render the earth inhospitable for humanity, as…
- 2 The Fated Sky
Book 2 · novel · 2018
*The Fated Sky* continues the grand sweep of alternate history begun in *The Calculating Stars*. It is 1961, and the International Aerospace Coalition has established a colony on the moon. Elma York, the noted Lady Astronaut, is working…
- 3 The Relentless Moon
Book 3 · novel · 2020
It's 1963, and riots and sabotage plague the space program. The climate change caused by the Meteor is becoming more and more clear, but tensions are rising, and the IAC's goal of getting humanity off Earth is threatened. Astronaut Nicole…
- 4 The Martian Contingency
Book 4 · novel · 2025
Mary Robinette Kowal returns to Mars in this latest entry to the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning Lady Astronaut series. “Kowal masters both science and historical accuracy in this alternate history adventure.”—Andy Weir, author of The…



