‘The Second World’ shows how humanity makes mistakes in futuristic society
By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, published November 22, 2025
Jake Korell’s debut novel ‘The Second World’ envisions a newly independent Mars shaped by real space-policy debates, near-future technology, and the very human absurdities we’ll bring with us when we leave Earth.
What happens when humanity finally builds a civilization on another planet, and immediately repeats its old mistakes? That question drives ‘The Second World’, the sharp, satirical debut from writer Jake Korell. Set against the rise of a breakaway Martian nation, the story follows Flip Buchanan, son of the colony’s most powerful leader, as he navigates two chaotic decades of scientific breakthroughs, political theater, and cultural growing pains on the Red Planet.
Korell grounds his humor in real near-future science. His Mars isn’t a distant fantasy but a logical extension of the conversations happening right now in space exploration, from private-sector expansion to the ethics of off-world settlement. By keeping the technology plausible and the human behavior all too familiar, Korell creates a world that feels both futuristic and uncomfortably recognizable.
The result is a story that treats space exploration seriously while embracing the absurdity of human nature. Blending the scientific accessibility of Andy Weir with the satirical edge of Vonnegut, Korell imagines a Mars shaped as much by physics as by politics, ego, and ambition.
In our Q&A below, he discusses the science, the satire, and the real policy debates that inspired ‘The Second World,’ which is available in Feburary 2026.
Space: ‘The Second World’ uses Mars as both a literal and symbolic frontier. What drew you to Mars specifically, and how did you balance real space-science plausibility with satire and speculative fiction?
Korell: I’ve always loved anything related to outer space. It activates the farthest reaches of our imagination—the vastness, the weird physics, the unknown. The future has that same built-in sense of wonder, the same limitless possibilities. But in storytelling, if you push too far ahead or veer too far away from what we’ve actually observed in the universe, things can become abstract and less relatable. A near-future Mars felt like the perfect middle ground, especially since people are already making plans to colonize. It’s a whole other planet, but still our next-door neighbor—relatively speaking. Building a world on the Red Planet gave me immense creative freedom while keeping everything tethered to our own experience…
Continue/Read Original Article Here: ‘The Second World’ shows how humanity makes mistakes in futuristic society | Space
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