Joe Mungo Reed

Author Interview - Joe Mungo Reed

Author of Terrestrial History

A family saga following four generations on a time-bending journey from coastal Scotland to a colony on Mars.

Hannah is a fusion scientist working alone at a remote cottage off the coast of Scotland when she sees a figure making his way from the sea. It is a visitor from the future, a young man from a human settlement on Mars, traveling backwards through time to try to make a crucial intervention in the fate of our dying planet, and he needs Hannah’s help. Laboring in the warmth of a Scottish summer, Hannah and the stranger are on the path towards a breakthrough—and then things go terribly wrong. Joe Mungo Reed’s intricately crafted novel expands from this extraordinary event, drawing together the stories of four lives reckoning with what it means to take fate into their own hands, moving from the last days of civilization on Earth through the birth of another on Mars.

Roban lives in the Colony, one of the first generation born to this sterile new outpost, where he is consumed by longing for the lost wonders of a home planet he never knew. Between Hannah and Roban, two generations, a father and a daughter, face an uncertain future in a world that is falling apart. Andrew is a politician running to be Scotland’s First Minister. Andrew believes there is still time for the human spirit to triumph, if only he can persuade people to band together. For his starkly rationalist daughter Kenzie, this idealism doesn’t offer the hard tools needed to keep the rising floods at bay. And so, she signs on to work for a company that would abandon Earth for the promise of a world beyond—in contravention of all Andrew stands for.

In considering which concerns should guide us in a time of crisis—social, technological, or familial—and reckoning with the question of whether there is meaning to be found in the pursuit of salvation beyond success itself, Joe Mungo Reed has written a novel of elegiac wonder and beauty.

Author Interview - Joe Mungo Reed

Author I draw inspiration from:

Jennifer Egan - I love the range of work she's produced over the years. Like so many people, I adored 'A Visit from the Goon Squad.' 'The Candy House' was a compelling and satisfying follow-up too.

Author Interview - Joe Mungo Reed | Author I Draw Inspiration From

Favorite place to read a book:

On a long distance train ride. Sometimes it's great to have nothing to do but chew through a whole book in a single sitting. Trains put you in this situtation and are less hectic and cramped than planes.

Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with:

Thomas Cromwell as portrayed by Hilary Mantel in Wolf Hall. I suppose that most of the time would be spent explaining to to a guy from the 16th century what an elevator is, but he's a compelling, fascinating character. I'm a big Hilary Mantel fan.

Author Interview - Joe Mungo Reed | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With

The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:

At university. I was supposed to be studying Politics and Philosophy but I found that I was much keener on making up stories.

Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook:

Paperback, always. I like to read in physical form, and I want my books to easily fit in a bag or (ideally) a jacket pocket. I'm not fastidious about books. They're made to be read, not looked at, so expect coffee rings and dog-eared pages. I will use anything to hand - a train ticket, a leaf, a piece of cutlery - as a bookmark.

The last book I read:

Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte. I found it quite surprisingly shocking in a largely invigorating way.

Author Interview - Joe Mungo Reed | The Last Book I Read

Pen & paper or computer:

I write on computer because my spelling/typing is very bad, and I therefore love the little autocorrect thunderbolt. I also like being able to tinker and move paragaphs around.

Having said that, I do write notes for a project longhand right at the outset.

I also like printing drafts off and scribbling all over them in colourful pens.

Book character I think I’d be best friends with:

I'm a fan of Andrew Sean Greer's 'Less' and 'Less is Lost.' I'd like to be friends Arthur Less, I think. Don't we all treasure those friends who get themselves into amusing and embarrassing scrapes? I love a second-hand story of comic disaster or mortification.

Author Interview - Joe Mungo Reed | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With

If I weren’t an author, I’d be a:

As I've mentioned, I have a Politics and Philosphy undergraduate degree, so not much to fall back on in terms of concrete employment prospects!

I quite like cooking, though I'm sure doing it as a job might not be so fun as tinkering away with dinner. Perhaps I'd be a stressed out chef, then...

Favorite decade in fashion history:

The late-sixties. Namely, everything worn by George Harrison in the course of recording Let it Be.

Place I’d most like to travel:

Chile. I've never been South America. I'd love to go to Patagonia. I love the novels of Isabel Allende.

My signature drink:

A long black coffee. I always have to explain that when I'm in the US as it's primarily an Australia/New Zealand thing. An espresso shot with an equal quantity of hot water added. It doesn't need to be drunk immediately like an espresso, but it's not washed out like an americano. Having said that, if I make that explanation and then get given an ordinary americano I’m of course going to just drink it, because I’m British and too worried about seeming polite.

Favorite artist:

My second novel was in part about Kazimir Malevich, whose ideas about art were so expansive and astounding. I'm still quite in awe of him.

Number one on my bucket list:

When I first started writing, top of my bucket list was 'publish a novel.' After I did pubish a novel, that was usurped by 'publish a second novel,' and that was eventually replaced in turn by 'publish a third novel.' You can see where the pattern's going...It's a bit confounding, but I do like writing, honestly. I'm going to say that top of my list right now is 'publish a fourth novel.' Either that, or 'learn to ride a unicycle.'

Find more from the author:

• @joemungoreed.bsky.social

• https://www.threads.com/@joemungoreed?xmt=AQGz46f5FG537bw_2IGCfB5_M7qEq_MivDKLarLYd5LXtEY

About Joe Mungo Reed:

Author Interview with Joe Mungo Reed

Joe Mungo Reed is a writer of fiction and author of the novels We Begin our Ascent (2018) Hammer (2022) and Terrestrial History (2025).

Joe lives in north London and teaches Creative Writing at the University of Cambridge.