52 - Expansive Universes - Interview with Ross Buzzell

B01_03 - Ross_Buzzell === James Horton: [00:00:00] All science fiction asks a question about humanity, usually through the lens of new challenges to be encountered in the future, whether it's to do with meeting new alien races or developing technology that changes the way we think about ourselves. Science fiction seems to ask this fundamental question. Who are My guests today and I spent some time breaking down his science fiction universe and how his love of science fueled his ideas. Forget. Worldbuilding. Let's make a universe Welcome everyone to a new episode of the WorldCraft Club podcast to show all about helping you build expansive and immersive settings that will bring your audience back time and time again. But look, my intro back there set us up. Pretty good. I said it like it was easy peasy. Craft a whole universe but i think we know there's going to be a lot more to it than that so i brought in some firepower Introduction --- Ross Buzzell: hi, my name is, [00:01:00] Ross Buzzell andwe're currently gonna be talking about the series that I'm I'm working on now called Legacy Earth. James Horton: Now Ross is getting ready to release books, seven of the series shortly it's available for pre-order. Now they'll be a link in the show notes, but he has a total of 16 planned. That's a lot of potential content, but before we get started, let's just talk about the basics. Let's hear what this book is about. Basic Description of Series --- the series follows the military career of a guy named Lance Warter. Book one starts with him in officer candidate school, which, takes place in Pensacola, Florida, where my dad went to officer candidate school. James Horton: I'm familiar with the place. That's wild. Ross Buzzell: Yeah. Yeah. And, and so like, because my, my dad was 34 years military, and so I got to sit down with him and talk to him about like his experience with OCS. And I actually put in a lot of what he experienced into book one, uh, to kind of, sort of ease people into the universe [00:02:00] because James Horton: Yeah. Easing into the Setting --- Ross Buzzell: Book one is on earth. Book two is on Mars book three, and as the books progress, it gets edges into the sort of wider and wider galaxy. So it, the, the entire series takes place over, I would say probably about 20 years, 15 to 20 years. Discussing his Dad's TrainingSerialized Book Writing --- James Horton: This universe is going to be big, not just in terms of space, but in terms of time, the intent is to spend a long while here, 15 to 20 years and a total of 16 books. The real question that I have is this. Before embarking on such a long endeavor. Where do you begin? How do you ease your audience into a setting that will expand itself so broadly Ross Buzzell: Oh, yeah. So, actually the, the best way to put it is, the first page. the first page, the main character is in a drop ship with a bunch of other cadets that are well. Cadets, they haven't been officially initiated yet. and they're going to get dropped off to get their heads shaved literally first day [00:03:00] of OCS. And, in the beginning, when you start reading it, you're like, okay, they're in a transport vessel, likely something like an AWAC and C one 30 and then the door slides open. And it's essentially it's, I don't like to make the comparison, but it's like the dropships in halo. Like it's, it's a hyper it's in comparison to our technology. It's a hyper advanced vessel, but it's a simple drop ship. And so as, they progress, like you're introduced to the technology little by little until, you know, the main character's girlfriend's like, Hey, you wanna go for a ride? And they hop into her. Oh, for lack of a better term, hover car. cuz it does take place. 25 hundreds. So it's introducing the readers into the world bit by bit by having a, of potentially familiar experience for, especially for people who [00:04:00] have gone into, into the military and then introducing them into, or introducing the readers into like familiar technology. That's just a little more advanced and then gradually like, drip feeding more and more advanced technology, to start. Writing Your First Love --- James: Ross has genre, I think can best be described as military science fiction with a touch of space opera thrown in for good measure. It's heavily influenced by games like massive fact and halo from his misspent youth. And he's seeking an audience that are interested in the same things. I think any halo players out there can recall the thrill of riding a drop ship with a bunch of Marines to be dropped off in a battle zone. And I think Ross is calling out There's a familiarity to this sort of moment, which leans into his passions and interests with the military. It leads the reader slowly but surely out of their familiar places. And into the wonder of the broader setting he's creating this introduction to his settings is a classic case of knowing your [00:05:00] audience. And I think it's a great way to introduce a broader universe by laying out the breadcrumbs of the setting. But when it comes to the WorldCraft Club, we have a very specific direction we'd like to go with worldbuilding and we always want to know. What's your fairy cake or what's the big theme or idea that you want to cover in your setting and maybe another way to put it. What's your first love. Ross Buzzell: Well, to quote, Jesse Pinkman. Yeah. ScienceI'm really big into, astronomy. Like I've the stars, planets, all that stuff. Like I'm, I've always been fascinated by it. you know, as I got older, it transitioned over into, into the periodic table of elements. Like it seems when you look at it, it's like, oh, Hey, look, there's the elements, but whenever you actually break it down, it's beautiful. a perfect example, just cuz it's my favorite element is, is boron.[00:06:00] I wrote a story when I was 14, 15. the story will kind of be a rabbit hole to, kinda get away from this. So I'm not gonna go into it a whole lot, but, um, created this planet, created these characters, cuz I didn't know that Krypton was a noble gas and whenever I found out the Krypton was a noble gas, I'm like, Hey, what sounds like a good planet name? Ross Buzzell: And I came across boron. I was like, that's fantastic. So I created this universe and everything and then I actually started doing research into boron and it is amazing. It's an electron deficient element, meaning it takes on the characteristics of things that it gets put in. So Boro, carbide, it's boron and carbon mixed together. It becomes so hard. They use it as tank armor. Because of boron's, electron deficiency, it's excellent at neutralizing radiation. So if you look in like sunscreens and stuff, a[00:07:00] James Horton: It's got boron! Yep. boron is in sunscreens. if you use, foundation it's what makes your, gives your foundation SPF. It is so versatile that it is literally in everything and every time it bonds with something, it does something completely different. James Horton: it's the corn syrup at the periodic table. Ross Buzzell: only pardon the language, but infinitely more badass. Yes, exactly. James Horton: more badass than corn syrup you say! Get Ross Buzzell: That. Yep. That's kind of my roundabout way of answering. Like what got me into the world is looking at the technology that we have now and taking it to its logical conclusion in 500 years. I mean, go back with where we are, go back to the 15 hundreds and you bring something as simple as a phone. They will worship you as a God. So whenever I was looking at, at, you know, worldbuilding [00:08:00] for this new future, given I, admit what I've written will probably be where we're at in about a hundred years, we'll probably be light years past where, in 500 years where, where the book takes place, but the big thing, at least in the, the beginning of the series is. I instead of looking at like elements and stuff like that, I looked at genetic engineering and where we're at on that James Horton: Yeah. Ross Buzzell: took that to its its logical conclusion to kind of anchor back to the point of this podcast, a worldbuilding trope and it's a slow drip worldbuilding trope of genetic engineering that will go through all 16 books. Worldbuilding Thread That Winds Through the SeriesGood Wrap up for First Love Segment --- James: It seems appropriate that Ross, his first love with this setting is science. But who could have seen boron coming from a mile away? It seems like Ross loves speculating, imagining the potential of something. If boron could be this [00:09:00] flexible, what could become of an earth shaking idea, like genetic engineering or manipulation. This theme is baked through his series and slowly grows throughout its run. One of the things I always find interesting about broader science fiction settings. Like this one is that they often grapple with humanity's place in a wider universe. A lot of science fiction has a story that it wants to tell about us and who we are. So I asked What's the story you want to tell about humanity? What do you think humanity needs to learn as Looks further a field Science Fiction Often is Posing A Tech Related Question about Humanity, what's your question? --- Yeah. So honestly, the, the biggest thing, I want to address as far as like, what is, or who is humanity is as humanity steps into the galactic stage, they find out that not only are they not alone in the universe, [00:10:00] they're an infant with a handgun compared to the other races. Human SupremacyMass Effect's Worldbuilding - InfluencesqMos Aisley - References in the Series --- There is a faction. They're called Velos They're a faction of as. Well, as Lance puts them they're space Nazis, they're, uh, all about genetic superiority. When they stumble on something that's a bigger threat to the wider galaxy instead of being like, "Hey guys, let's work together". They're like, "oh, Hey, let's build the ship and just save all the genetically pure humans". Ross Buzzell: So like, there is a, there is as part of worldbuilding that struggle between a faction of humanity. That is humanity should be on top. And the main character who's like, I've got a diverse crew of absolutely amazing alien crew mates. I've got a, trainer who there, his species is called Jerog there anthropomorphized axolotls more or less. especially book [00:11:00] eight. Really the one that I'm working on now is that final struggle of can the good of humanity actually finally beat back the bad of humanity before they do irreparable damage. Humans Demonstrating Their Capacity --- James: The notion of human superiority is definitely present in a lot of science fiction cannon. When alien races are It harkens to this reflexive, xenophobia humans tend to feel it can be leveraged as powerful commentary on the human condition. Which brings us into the next question. Would this ride array of alien races that he's tapped into? It creates this broader setting and leads us to ask, you know, where do they come from? As a bit of level setting here, I had referenced another setting, gene Roddenberry star Trek universe, where several alien races appear. There's another useful trope that Ross Leibert is here in giving his races a side characteristic that helps the reader to place them in [00:12:00] the universe. I referenced the frankie in particular they're a money hungry wealth hungry race in star trek who are always looking for a way to make money out of a situation. It's this point where I asked the fundamental question, how do you go about introducing these races? Ross has method here is interesting and hearkens back as far as many evil practices during negotiationI'm glad you asked that because,Yeah. In book two. That's when the first alien race is introduced. And it is a diplomatic mission. Be like, Hey, you guys have officially colonized your entire solar system. Ross Buzzell: We see that this installation on Mars, which has been completely terraformed at this point, which with environmental storytelling, I showed how Mars died in the first place. and it has to do with that really big,canyon that just like stretches the entire length of the planet. But they show up and they're like, Hey, we, how we do diplomatic [00:13:00] or get diplomatic missions like this as our race is we trade. and it's kind of a hint back to like, ward hostage situations back in like the, the 16 of 14, 15 hundreds where, they're like, Hey, I'm the diplomat. This is my child. Bring them to your ship, show them your ship, show them your people, show them your ways you are the diplomat. Give me your child or your right hand person. Ross Buzzell: We will take them onto our ship. You will, they will get to see our people get to see our ways. So, right off the bat, because Lance's dad is high up military guy, he ended up by happen chance being the diplomat. So Lance got shoved over to the Gallio ship where over, I would say probably about 80% of the book takes place where he's learning the Gallio culture. He's learning games that the Gallio play. he's interacting [00:14:00] with different races. There's a, a race called the Perune they're inspired by electric heels. James Horton: Yeah. Ross Buzzell: Their people are because they can generate electricity. So, well, they're just naturally really gifted with electronics. So like the entire electronic division are these eellike people that they're just good there. and then there's oh, the Tardigs, which are, do you know what a tardigrade is James Horton: Are they not, are they the water bears Ross Buzzell: the water bears? Yeah, so essentially the tard eggs are, they're a water bear, but made like nine feet tall. and without like the pulsating face, like more of an actual face. James Horton: Okay. Yeah. That's that's that's nightmare fuel. Ross Buzzell: Yeah. Yeah. And, they're gentle giants. I mean, they can most definitely wreck stuff when things go sideways, but they have adopted the [00:15:00] role of, well, the ones who aren't in the criminal and the world have adopt naturally adopted a role of like a protector, so security. and so, and it is just because if someone comes in shooting, like the first time that one of the main characters who has a rail gun. Shotgun is the human weapon. So like, if you know anything about rail guns, so those things are terrifyingly powerful. Ross Buzzell: Well, the first time you read a meet a Tardig not wearing any armor, gets a rail gun shotgun blast straight to the chest, and it doesn't do anything to them. but they're like naturally benevolent. they look horrifying, James Horton: yeah, Ross Buzzell: they're they're protectors. So it's kinda go back to, answer your question. I try to give each race a, a side characteristic that they're naturally more adept to. James Horton: yeah, Ross Buzzell: but they're not like the, the Ferenghi or whatever they are James Horton: For Ferenghi. Yeah. Ross Buzzell: [00:16:00] Ferenghi Yeah. they're not like the, Ferenghi, like I don't, except there is one race that, that is very kind of one dimensional, like the for, um, but they're not greedy. They're sociopaths to the point where. They won't even interact with each other. And if they do it's 100%, how can you serve me? And then how can I kill you? And like, to the point where if one shows up on a ship, everyone's like, Nope, get him off the ship. We don't want him here. He's going to do something horrible. And every single time they do something horrible. so aside from this Vicari, I try and make 'em where just like, just like humans, like you don't ever see a super scrawny dude as a bouncer at a club. It's always a big guy. So it's the, the way that I, I made the races is they're all very diverse. But they, James Horton: The all plays, [00:17:00] these different unique roles Ross Buzzell: they naturally climatize to what they kinda suits them best. Races Impacted By BiologyCommunication in Races --- James: so earlier on, we talked about Ross's first love the science, physics, chemistry, and astronomy, but how did this impact the way that he developed his alien races, more deeply as the series expanded?. We got into a discussion about planets biology and how this impacts the different cultures of the races that he's creating ultimately though each race had a more defined role to play early on that set the visitant at ease he did later add and explore more of these races some of the whys and wherefores of these different and unique cultures he was creating Actually perfect example is the Jerog which are the, axolotls their world is a highly aquatic world. Given nobody's gonna see their planet until I think it's book 10, maybe 11, You get to get a, feel a sense for their world, [00:18:00] by the way that they fight the way that they, have diplomacy, the way that they carry themselves in non aquatic environments. With that alien species, they do a lot of almost like the, the way that they fight is almost like they they're slithering through the air because of the way that, that Axolotls swim. It's very you, their whole body. James Horton: yeah. Ross Buzzell: and so you get a feel for these races and their worlds, what their world will be like before books, before you even see their planet. And then once you see their planet, you're like, oh, okay. I get why they did that. Like it it'll help character, quirks, like tick a little bit better. Like for example, the, the Galeo they come from a world that has like, their skin is very chitinous but when you go to their world, it's in, it has very frequent high power sandstorms. [00:19:00] And so you, you don't get, you know, whenever you look at me and you're like, okay, they're definitely tough. They're long they're lanky. But when you go to their planet, it's like they're long and lanky because that creates less wind resistance. They're incredibly tough to the point where they can almost take a bullet at least one or two before their skin breaks. Because if they didn't have that tough skin, they would've been shredded by the windstorms or by the, the sand storms. I like to try and get people to think about what the home planet of these aliens are like before they actually reach the home planet. Development of Planets --- James Horton: No, that's wild. And then, and it's, it sounds as if you've got plenty of time as well in your series to explore the rest of your rest of your settings. And I know you have, um, an interest in, in astronomy. So, um, do you wanna talk a little bit about some of the planets that you've developed and kind of how you have, um, sort, sort of the, the, the work that you've put into them and, and how and how you've displayed it and how you might, you might [00:20:00] go forward with that. Ross Buzzell: Oh yeah. So, actually to go with Hunter Killer, which is the most recent book, it releases October, 13th. So it's up for pre-order now, in Hunter Killer, the, the story is about the main character trying to find. The Jerog who trained him to be a special operation and tactics operative. So a SOTO they're of like the SPECTRE of James Horton: Oh, cool. Yeah, Ross Buzzell: universe. his name's Shidavia and his ex-girlfriend, who is, she was the nurse the took care of his, OCS team whenever they were going through officer candidate school. And she was the nurse that, um, gave them their CRISPR shots that enhanced them into essentially peak human levels, if not a little above, James Horton: Spartan twos. Ross Buzzell: without, without the horrible trauma. Yes. Um, uh, So, in Hunter Killer, he [00:21:00] is trying to find, Shidavia and Amber and a very, very special, artifact that belonged to a race that had completely inhabited the galaxy James Horton: yeah, Ross Buzzell: and died off before even the first council race. If we wanna, if James Horton: yeah, yeah. This, this era, this epoch. Ross Buzzell: Yeah. Before they even came like, um, had wood ships to sail on. And so he's trying to find them. And one of the, one of his leads goes to trust to be so the. If you wanna look it up. It's capital T lowercase, R capital E S dash two B. And it is a planet that reflects less than 1% of light that hits it. So we cannot see anything that's going on on that planet. But apparently it is a transition planet that is going [00:22:00] from a relatively solid planet into a gas giant. So that planet is literally ripping itself apart until it becomes like something closer to Jupiter. Um, and so I was like, you know, what does that planet look like on the ground? What lives on that planet? So they visit trust two B and they get to see what happens if you are on that planet and your space suit gets compromised. Um, A blender would make it look tame just to put it blindly. Um, and then what, yeah. What kind of animal, or what kind of species would have to, what would they have to be like to exist on a planet? That's in transition from a, um, a Terre? Oh, I, I don't, can't remember the, the phrase for, but I'm just gonna use like a terrestrial planet that was solid into a gas [00:23:00] giant. So it's literally ripping itself apart. How massive would something have to be? How almost love crafting would the race have to be to exist there and with, to stay on trust, to be for a little, for, for a second, I don't go into what those races are, what they look like or anything like that. I, I, I took a very. I, I was very inspired by HP Lovecraft and his unknowable, like his unknowable elder gods in, James Horton: that as well. Yeah, Ross Buzzell: In, in the, uh, in my approach to like the, the I'm just gonna, I don't, I didn't even give him names, the, the trust tubes. Um, and so it's yeah, it's, um, I like, I like looking at, at what we are currently looking at and asking questions about and being like, you know, what, if we were there, what would I [00:24:00] want it to look like? Or what would it, what would it more logically look like if it was actually even somewhat inhabitable? James: So at this point, we were starting to wind down in the interview with only a few minutes left. I asked Ross what he really wanted his readers to take away from his setting. What does he want the visitant to feel? This can be very important when establishing themes in a setting. This led us to talking a little about the gods i galaxy they'll be a link for a visual of that in the show notes and that's how we got here Ross Buzzell: If you just look at that closely, like it it's indescribable, like it, yeah. You can look at it, you can pick it apart. You can, you can. Be like, okay, this is what it looks like, anything like that. But if you were to actually picture yourself on the bridge of a ship as your ship drifts up to that thing, you're still hundreds of thousands of miles away from it, but it [00:25:00] stretches beyond your field of vision. Like, I, I want people to feel people who read the book to realize just how small we are as humans, but at the same time. And I, I use the God's eye galaxy in one of the scenes to do that. But I also want, I, I, I want the readers to go through all of the spectrums of emotion, like, um, hope, fear. Uh, I want them to fall in love with the characters. One of, one of the favorite characters that my editor has is, um, she's a ger hug within autoimmune disorder. So she wears pink armor and she runs around and you never see her. You, you. Book eight still haven't seen her, um, every single time. My editor's like, when can we see her face? I wanna know what she looks like. I, I want, I want my readers to feel anticipation, um, on, on, you know, the, the Fs of these characters. But I think most of [00:26:00] all, I just, I, I want them to feel the same passion that I feel about these books. for everybody, it, it manifests in different ways. Um, for me, I am constantly trying to figure out how to do the next cool thing or what, what cool, like, hint, can I put in one book that's gonna pay off massively three books later? One of my favorite YouTubers is Hello, Future Me. James Horton: Oh, I love that guy. Ross Buzzell: Oh, yeah. Like I, I have, I am probably single-handedly responsible for about half of his views, especially the one on worldbuilding the ones on worldbuilding magic systems. I will, I have listened to those hundreds and hundreds of times because kind of like through osmosis, the way that he talks about worldbuilding helps with the way that I develop the worlds [00:27:00] for, for my readers. Um, and yeah, I, and ultimately I just, I, I want anybody who reads the books or the one book, um, which book one is 99 cents. Um, I have requested that it stay 99 cents. That way it's, it's quick, easy, cheap buy. And if you like it, awesome. You can dive into the series. If not, it's not like you wasted five to $7. I want them to feel the wonder of the larger universe that we live in. Even if we can't, even though we can't see it. James: So there you have A short breakdown of some ways that you can bring a big universe that is teaming with different races to life for your visitantTo recap. I think there are a few takeaways that everyone can use here. One. Don't be afraid to lean on tropes at early stages, but be ready to expand on them when you have the opportunity. It's a good way to get initial investment from your [00:28:00] visitant as they begin to explore your setting, you have the tardigrade. The big, strong burly race. Early on. You may not wish to explore them too deeply, but as the story progresses, you may want to take opportunities to further develop where they come from, what their home lives are like, what the races that interact with them, think of them or conflicts that they might have with humans that might be unclear due to social confusion. Next lean on your first slug. This is item number Ross is clear love of science is what drives the passion for his work. It seems like a pretty broad tour of speculative science dipping into chemistry, astronomy, physics, genetic engineering, and Because of this first love, he knows what he's making and it helps him to know his audience. Well,. James: . When you have the opportunity, go ahead and check out Ross's books. There'll be a link in the show notes as well as how to find Ross on all your favorite social media outlets. His latest book hunter killer releases in just a few days, October [00:29:00] 13th, and is available for pre-order. His first book in legacy earth series has just i 99 cents and would be a great way to get yourself started and lastly, don't forget to hit us up on your favorite social media networks as well. Links will be available in the show notes with our link tree there. So you can check out other episodes of the show, or even if you dare join our discord server, where a lot of these discussions are happening day to day, So if you're looking to build up your worldbuilding skills and get a little more practice. Uh trying to create settings that's a good place to go The community is super friendly and we would love to have So for Ross Buzzell, I am James from the WorldCraft Club and we hope to catch you next time. James Horton: more badass than corn syrup you say! Get Ross Buzzell: That.