The Lady Astronaut of Mars: A Tor.Com Original

Mary Robinette Kowal

May 2014 · Sold by Tor Books

About this ebook

Winner: 2014 Hugo Award for Best Novelette

Thirty years ago, Elma York led the expedition that paved the way to life on Mars. For years she's been longing to go back up there, to once more explore the stars. But there are few opportunities for an aging astronaut, even the famous Lady Astronaut of Mars. When her chance finally comes, it may be too late. Elma must decide whether to stay with her sickening husband in what will surely be the final years of his life, or to have her final adventure and plunge deeper into the well of space.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Ratings and reviews

I was caught by this story by surprise. I was expecting something more hardcore SciFi, but as with any good SciFi stories the focus is on the characters. And big kudos to Macmillan for providing this with no DRM.

You rarely get such a vivid feeling of being present within the setting the writer paints.

That was absolutely fantastic. Please write more. You have a fan for life.

About the author

Hugo-award winning author, Mary Robinette Kowal is a novelist and professional puppeteer. Her debut novel Shades of Milk and Honey (Tor 2010) was nominated for the 2010 Nebula Award for Best Novel. In 2008 she won the Campbell Award for Best New Writer, while three of her short fiction works have been nominated for the Hugo Award: "Evil Robot Monkey" in 2009 and "For Want of a Nail" in 2011, which won the Hugo for short story that year, and "The Lady Astronaut of Mars" in 2014. Her stories have appeared in Strange Horizons, Asimov's, and several Year's Best anthologies, as well as in her collection Scenting the Dark and Other Stories from Subterranean Press.