K3+ - ERASMO ACOSTA
The colonization of Mars resulted in a catastrophic failure.
With an ever increasing population and the question of global changes, one man stumbles across something that could be the salvation of the human race.
Could this, in fact, be the key to the exploding future of mankind?
Scorned by the reality of corporate indifference, Federico never imagined he would dream again. Yet when a new opportunity is offered to him, he soon finds himself a leading figure on the Space Initiative, a small group of adventurers, set on realizing the full potential of mankind and allowing humanity to tap into unlimited resources and stretch across the universe.
As expansion reaches further and further into the final frontier, millions evacuate Earth for life in a utopia absent of inequality, exploitation, and cruelty. When new factions arise, the burning question is whether or not Earth will even survive.
When tensions get out of control and billions are put at risk, the fate of both Earth and humanity will be decided.
Erasmo Acosta was born in Cantura, Venezuela, and moved to the United States in 1996 to pursue a software engineering career, sponsored by a small Silicon Valley company. He retired to Portland, Oregon, in 2020 after achieving 32 successful years in the industry. In 2015, Acosta became interested in the implications of the Fermi Paradox as it relates to the prospects of finding another civilization in the universe. Further research into Futurism, upcoming technologies, and the works of American physicist Gerard O’Neill, led him to write K3+. The dystopian novel explores human migration, triggered by inequality and climate change, to rotating habitats in space, based on many currently available technologies. Acosta tells the story of how humanity moved past the unsettling times we live in to a post-scarcity and egalitarian society—absent of fear, uncertainty, inequality, and despair.
Welcome to Martin Matthews Writes!
Thanks, Martin, so glad to be here. I'm excited to be sharing about myself and my book.
Well, we’re excited too. Tell us a little about yourself first.
Well, I'm actually from Venezuela, but I came to the US in the late 90's to pursue engineering. It's something I devoted much of my life to this, but circumstances led to me retiring and soon after, I really went all in exploring science. In the last few years, my beliefs and points of view have dynamically shifted on a future perspective. I really believe in this personally, which is a huge part of why I wrote my book. Even though it's science fiction, I feel that it has real possibilities and I hope to inspire the world through it.
Tell us a little about your book.
K3+ is a science fiction story geared toward adults. It's the story of how humanity gets past these troubling times, to build a purely egalitarian post-scarcity civilization in space. It begins with climate change and economic inequality coalescing into a dystopia that triggers a massive exodus to space colonies (aka rotating habitats). Centuries later, people living in space establish a utopian society, while those left on Earth continue to struggle. As migration to space continues, nations on Earth begin to collapse due to underpopulation, making the ultimate conflict inevitable.
Anyone who worries about the future should read my novel. These are troubling times of great anxiety, but I want to send the message that we can survive this and the future is nothing but bright. The enabling technologies are discussed in a light/colloquial manner allowing the average person to understand the concepts, however hyperlinks (instead of footnotes) all over the book allow more informed readers (or those so inclined) to dive deeper.
I feel that this is the only book I'll write, but I also feel that it's a really important one for the world.
Well, if you’re only going to read one book, you might as well make it a good one! Introduce us to some of your characters.
The book is full of a range of characters, but the primary focus is on Federico as he experiences the expansion and dynamic changes that occur. I drew on personal experiences, and borrowed from others, to bring some of the characters to life. Yasmin is an amalgam of 4 different people I knew. Other characters are completely organic, and materialized as the narrative evolved. Kaira was inspired on a dear friend’s daughter. Len is probably the most diverse individual, due to the fact I merged two separate characters into one.
One of my early editors recommended I give SueLing more agency, so she would raise to the plot. Enzo was conjured out of the need to make Federico’s work more real. I didn’t want a single character to be “the hero”. You’ll see many of the characters throughout the story, rise above the main character.
Where did the idea for this book come from?
I watched a YouTube video that discussed both the Fermi Paradox and Dyson Swarms. It had a profound personal impact, leading me to drop some of my most deeply held beliefs. Less than two years later, after plenty of research on these and many other subjects, I started writing the K3+ book.
For those wondering, the Fermi Paradox is an idea put forward by physicist Enrico Fermi, speculating that humans could be the only civilization in our galaxy. Back in the fifties, he estimated that it would take a technologically advanced civilization, at our level, just a pinch of cosmic time to colonize the entire Milky Way—even without faster-than-light travel capability.
During a lunch at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Fermi brought this idea to some of his colleagues but died of cancer soon after, without having the opportunity to publish a paper in the subject. However, Fermi’s argument was so powerful that, instead of fading away, it strengthened over time and is still known as the Fermi paradox.
As I was writing, I studied the works of scientists like Gerard O’Neill, Seth Shostak, and Neil deGrasse Tyson. In addition, I dug into technologies like vertical farming, aeroponic irrigation, closed-loop technologies to recycle air and water, propulsion systems, artificial wombs, genetic engineering, aging, neural interfaces, evolution, and quantum computing, to name a few.
This created a very clear vision in my mind both for the book and the possibilities for humanity's future.
Is there a message behind your book? What is it?
We have many of the technologies necessary to build a post-scarcity utopia for the entire human species. But stuck with business as usual, fawning over war, and competing against each other, we fail to look outside the box and follow the bigger plan. I truly believe that space offers virtually unlimited resources for humanity to break free from our home planet. But we’re limited to the visions of different space race tycoons, which completely suck the air out of the debate, and whose ultimate goals are control and domination. If we had the will and vision to get past our biases, we could see the first thousand-people space colony within four decades.
Share with us some of your biggest influences.
For the writing specifically, Isaac Asimov, Larry Niven, and Arthur Clarke are my childhood heroes. I make references to them throughout the story. J. K. Rowling had a different kind of influence. Ever since reading the Philosopher’s Stone—I read all seven books many times—I was deeply impressed by her light and easy-to-digest style. The interactions between Fedrix & SueLing are an example.
What are you currently reading?
I'm not deeply focused on something at the moment, but I frequently enjoy similar science fiction such as The Martian and Ringworld.
Are you working on another novel? Can you tell us anything about it?: I'm not working on any more books for now. My main focus is promoting K3+, sharing my vision with the world, and hopefully starting a movement. I am, however, publishing related articles on Medium.
What is the main point you want to establish with the book?
We can’t give everyone on Earth an upper middle-class life, without burning our planet to hell in the process (building houses, cars, iPhones, etc). But in space, with virtually unlimited resources, this is possible. We must not allow a tiny minority to seize control of those resources, and establish a mega-empire, to tyrannize the rest of humanity for centuries. Space must be free and open for all. Egalitarianism must be the founding principle of the new order.
How can this book, even though fiction, make an impact in society?
Our short term profit system is destroying the planet, and creating a level of inequality not seen since feudalism. K3+ is a reminder that we can, and must, do better.
Based on the Fermi Paradox, there is a possibility that we are the only civilization in this corner of the universe. We have a responsibility to not destroy ourselves, by blindly continuing on our current path.
I hope it can help usher an awakening. Rotating habitats, not planets, can bring a utopia for humanity. We have all the pieces of the puzzle, and space has the resources. Rather than a mindless greed, a bigger plan for the entire human species.
Thanks for stopping by and chatting with me today, good sir!
Thanks so much for joining me and please do check out the book!