Ex Urbe Ad Astra Ep. 2: Mars & How To Help Science Fiction Writers With Science, With Astrogeologist Jonathan Sneed

08/26/21 • 79 min

Jonathan Sneed is an astrogeologist and expert in Mars wind and erosional science. He also consults with science fiction authors, and has the skill of giving the sort of answers to science questions that are useful when writing fiction.

Numerous topics covered include - open questions in Mars science; panspermia; wind tunnels; and how entertainment technology is often ahead of technology made for any other industry. Also weird ideas for novels such as: an alien animal species that incorporates knowledge from brains through digestion; why a savannah planet can't work and how to make it work anyway; and a ninja in Florence! All this and much more.

As mentioned in the episode, he has a guest post on Ex Urbe, "What Color Is Pluto?"

As mentioned in the episode, he has a guest post on Ex Urbe, "What Color Is Pluto?"

Previous Episode

Ex Urbe Ad Astra Bonus Episode 1: Complicity

In this bonus episode, Ada Palmer and Jo Walton have a craft of writing discussion of complicity, i.e. when and how the author gets the reader or audience on the side of characters they would not expect to root for, and how that can be used in fiction.

Next Episode

Ex Urbe Ad Astra Bonus Ep. 2: Manga for non-manga readers

This will probably become a series of occasional bonus episodes in which Ada Palmer and Jo Walton discuss manga and anime with an eye to its innovations, cultural norms, and wider implications for the media landscape. - Gender and age marketing categories in manga. - Translation of Japanese onomatopoeia (sound-effect words). - The influence of organized communities of fandom on a medium. - A story-formula and set of character archetypes called "moe" (MO-ay). - Moe's reliable merchandising profit, resulting in more moe. - Availability of manga on devices both broadening and narrowing market categories. And more!