Hold the Starships -- an Interview with Kim Stanley Robinson on Mars Settlement, Socialists in Space, Extraterrestrial Intelligence, Immortality, and the Purpose of Science Fiction
Kim Stanley Robinson, 2017, photo by Gage Skidmore, Wikicommons Kim Stanley Robinson is one of the most respected contemporary sf writers. While his Mars trilogy, completed in 1992, inspired Mars settlement enthusiasts, his more recent work, often depicting the ramifications of global warming, is part of the “cli-fi” (climate fiction) movement. I conversed with him via email in spring 2019, while researching Star Settlers: The Billionaires, Geniuses, and Crazed Visionaries Out to Conquer the Universe (Pegasus Books, forthcoming August, 2020). My main interest was in his 2015 novel Aurora which describes a failed mission to settle a distant star system, leading the protagonist to conclude that star settling was ill-advised. As it turns out, KSR has never been set on conquering the universe. Does Aurora fairly sum up your views on the limitations of interstellar travel for humanity? Or are you describing just one possible outcome of the effort to set...