Saturn Run

Reading Guide Questions for SATURN RUN
 
1. As John Sandford and Ctein mention in their final note, Saturn Run relies on “real science and real technology, extrapolated as realistically as we could.” In what ways does this directive apply to the genre of science fiction as you imagine it? In what ways does it diverge?
 
2. How much of science fiction is about predicting the future and how much is about posing questions about the present? Where do you believe the line is drawn in Saturn Run?
 
3. Did you catch any references in Saturn Run to other works of science fiction? Hint: The number 42.
 
4. Knowing how closely Sandford and Ctein relied on present-day rocket science, what would your own time line be for further space exploration? Where do you think human beings, as a species, will travel to next?
 
5.  In Saturn Run, the potential existence of alien life-forms has an immediate and dramatic impact on global politics. Do you believe John Sandford and Ctein got it right? How would you expect national governments, as you know them today, to react?