This is the 4th book in the Lady Astronaut series - an alternate history science-fiction series, where Earth is struck by a meteor in the 1950s, which kicks off the space race as humanity, not wanting to go the way of the dinosaurs, tries to find someplace else to live other than their slowly dying planet. This 4th book is set in 1970, 18 years after the meteor struck, and follows a group of astronauts and scientists trying to establish a habitat for humanity on Mars.

I really enjoy this series. It addresses some ever-relevant societal topics in interesting ways, it has great, believable characters and great world-building. This latest books again had some great character moments that I really enjoyed, and after The Relentless Moon took us in a different direction, I was happy to be back with Elma as the main character for this one.

I especially enjoy how this series doesn't fall into the trap of being completely US-centric when dealing with a global catastrophe scenario. Here we have a truly international organization at the helm, and a diverse group of characters from various cultures and religions, all trying to pave the way for settling humanity on Mars.

The one area where I felt this book fell a little flat was the plot. It was meandering along from one problem to the next, but it never built to any sort of true climax. To me, it read more like a slice-of-life type story, even with the Martian setting - more "LIFE (...on Mars)" than "life ON MARS!"

It's been a while since I read the previous books in the series, and I didn't remember that many details, but I was able to follow along here just fine. So I think this one could be enjoyed as a standalone as well. Still, I also highly recommend the other books in the series, starting with The Calculating Stars.

Thank you to the author and the publisher, Rebellion/Solaris Books, for providing a review copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.