The Fated Sky

Executive Summary: I liked this book more than [b:The Calculating Stars 33080122 The Calculating Stars (Lady Astronaut, #1) Mary Robinette Kowal https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1539850192s/33080122.jpg 53735352] in some ways, and less in others. Audiobook: Ms. Kowal once again does a great job narrating her own book. She does all the little things that adds that element that makes doing the audio worth it.Full ReviewI liked [b:The Calculating Stars 33080122 The Calculating Stars (Lady Astronaut, #1) Mary Robinette Kowal https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1539850192s/33080122.jpg 53735352] so much that I bought this book even before I had finished listening to that one.This one gets more in the fiction part of the sci-fi and feels much less like historical fiction than its predecessor. It's for that reason that I enjoyed the space elements a bit more.It also ramps up the social commentary a little and to me that felt forced at times compared to the last book. In particular the opening scene felt a bit over the top. Then again that is maybe the action being over the top rather than the social issues aspect. The first book felt a lot more “slice of life” amid a global crisis (with cool science). This book felt a little more “let's add some good action sequences for the inevitable movie adaptation” (with cool science).Without getting into spoiler territory I will say this is simply more of what we got in [b:The Calculating Stars 33080122 The Calculating Stars (Lady Astronaut, #1) Mary Robinette Kowal https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1539850192s/33080122.jpg 53735352] with higher stakes. I don't mean that in a bad way. I really liked that book and was happy to get more. Overall, it was still a very enjoyable sequel and I'm already looking forward to the next one.