For a story set in the future with elements that make it sound like it's going to have some decent reveal with the second great Mars expedition, this story remains firmly in the realm of a character study, only.There are parts of this that I do like, such as the writing and the character development, the stream of consciousness bits, the ruminations about her family and where she might come from, it is only this, however. After so much build up, I kinda wanted something a little more juicy to si...

Emily is head of housekeeping at a prestigious London hotel, soon to play host to two astronauts who will be part of a manned mission to Mars. The previous attempt – thirty years earlier – ended disastrously, killing the crew. Emily's mum, whom she calls Moolie, was also the victim of a disaster. She was a physicist, hired to analyse materials found in the aftermath of an aeroplane crash. Among them were radioactive substances which have left Moolie's system, as Emily puts it, 'riddled with wron...

Quick read. Pleasant. But no wow factor nor point of view. The blurb sums it up: "As housekeeper of the hotel where two of the astronauts will give their final press statements...finds the mission intruding upon her thoughts...."

A girl trying to find her dad. Like Mamma Mia but set in a hotel where astronauts preparing for their Mars trip. Well it is fiction and has two characters with scientific background and but is this SF? Not sure but the Hugo committee seems to think so.

“I saw them, though. I saw them at night, when I couldn’t sleep. Instead of counting chickens I would count stars, picking them out from my memory one by one, like diamonds from a black silk handkerchief.” I love this little novelette! Set in the backdrop of an astronaut mission preparing for a one-way trip to Mars, we see the story of one person who fleetingly meets the astronauts on their way. Emily works in a hotel next to Heathrow Airport where the astronauts are staying (somewhat

The most down to earth story about space travel that you'll ever read. I've liked it very much.

Emily is chief housekeeper at a hotel at Heathrow Airport at which two astronauts about to embark on a trip to Mars will be staying and giving their press conference. She was affected by the disaster of the previous, failed attempt - her mother was a materials scientist who both worked on the mission and investigated the failure - along with pollution of a further failed launch.Whilst dealing with the ramping up of the hotel in readiness of the upcoming visit, Emily is also looking after her mot...

3.5★Apart from the astronauts, not really SF-ish and clearly not about space travel, being more of a psychological/sociological work, about relationships and family and dreams, with a predictable but ok ending.

The title is very well connected to the story, but also very misleading. Apart from being in 2047 and a second mission on Mars on the way, it isn’t really sci-fi. It’s the story of Emily, her relationship with her mother who is affected by dementia and her quest (view spoiler)[in discovering who her father is (hide spoiler)].Written in first person, with reliable characters, the story is good and the writing endearing and fluent. The ending is predictable but wrapped up nicely. All in all, a qui...

Oh my. Right in the feels. I love when a seemingly small story leaves me shattered.

It is a good heartwarming story, I like the ending. But is it a SF? I have been asking this question more and more in my heart since 2015 where I started catching up reading some Hugo or Nebula nomination/winner stories.I see the story as a family drama with setting in the future where space travel to Mars is possible. But SF stories is not the story of a fictitious technology, but how the technology affects the people's life. I see People's behavior in the story are the same as in real life.

3.5 stars. Final review, first posted on Fantasy Literature. This poignant science fiction novelette is set about 60 years in our world’s future, when space travel is still difficult and often ― as in the case of an excursion to Mars that provides the backdrop for this story ― a one-way trip. Emily is the head of housekeeping for the Edison Star, a large hotel near Heathrow Airport, where two of the astronauts slated for the lifelong Mars trip will be staying for one night before they leave for

Welcome to Day 1 of my 2021 25 Days of Short Stories Christmas Advent Calendar. Each day I will be reading a short story from the collection of over 600 short stories and novellas available for free on Tor.com. This is a collection of horror, sci-fi and fantasy. I will be letting fate (and the random number generator decide what I read each day. I will add this intro to the start of each of my reviews. Day 1: The Art of Space Travel by Nina AllanWhat an amazing start to this challenge. I could n...

“It was time to shut up. For the first time in my life I was feeling another person’s pain like it was my own.” Ah. A refreshing short story, which takes the reader deep inside a character in a recognizably near future. No fantasy; very little science, but pretty of good storytelling.“What did fathers ever do for the world in any case, except saddle unsuspecting women with unwanted children?”Another markedly feminist tale. This year boasts a host of socially-relevant (and some irrelevant) topics...

3.5 starsThis is one of those layered-like-an-onion stories. And it has some great layers, especially some of the outer ones. But the ending is not nearly as surprising as the story telegraphs it should be, and there really is almost nothing there when we get to the center. It sort of ends on a whimper. Or maybe a whisper.Nonetheless, worth a read for great lines like It’s all still inside, I know it—everything she was, everything she knows, still packed tight inside her head like old newspap...

Last year I read and enjoyed Allan's The Race, so I was glad to see her on the Hugo list for Best Novelette. As with that novel, this novelette reads more like literary fiction (in a good way) with some light trappings of science fiction, which is odd because some heavily science fictional/fantastic stuff happens in both stories. A deeper question about why astronauts would agree to a one-way trip to Mars is raised, corresponding to the fact that we are all on a one way trip, whatever planet our...

A very quiet story about family ties and secrets set with the background of a space launch. Not particularly SF for an SF story, but an enjoyable character study nevertheless.

What did I expect from the story – a juicy space opera? I guess so. What did I get? A mother-daughter relationship story. Full review at my blog

A beautiful, contemplative and thoughtful gem of a novella. I love this brand of no-fireworks sci-fi. It was a pleasure to read.

I've picked up so many books centered around mysterious books lately, but what I really loved about this one was how the book in question wasn't a magical or supernatural object like many of the others. And yet it was described in such beautiful and enchanting way; I could see it clearly in my head. Even though the story is set far in the future, it tells a poignant and timeless story. However, even given its short length, it's a bit of a slow read with a lot of internal narration.Grade: B+