I asked myself, well, what happened to all the Black and brown people? Oh, wait, they got left behind on Earth. You know, there's very much white people who are in the spaceships and on the - you know, terraforming Mars, that sort of thing.

But I also, I guess, more broadly wanted to get at - you know, the vast majority of stories set in space that I've read or that I'd seen on TV or in a film, you know, are particularly monochrome. ONYEBUCHI: I really wanted to, you know, get at the intersection socioeconomically of a lot of these divides.

Why was it so important to you to explore that disparity? And I know we mentioned wealth, but we should just be super-clear here that it's Black and brown people who are left behind. SUMMERS: So in 'Goliath,' there are some pretty clear divides on who gets to leave Earth and who has to stay. TOCHI ONYEBUCHI: Thank you for having me. This is the world author Tochi Onyebuchi imagines in his new book, 'Goliath.' It's a haunting take on a future that is caused by events that feel all too real right now.Īnd Tochi Onyebuchi joins us now from his home in New Haven, Conn. Only an affluent few are able to escape to the shiny new colonies, while those with less privilege are stuck on an increasingly hostile Earth, living with the consequences of climate change and struggling to survive. Picture a not too distant future, one where humans leave this planet and move to live in space colonies - well, some humans.

Goliath a novel by tochi onyebuchi