Inside Red Star Rebels: Amie Kaufman on Mars, rebellion, and romance
Amie Kaufman discusses her latest YA sci-fi thriller Red Star Rebels, its high-stakes eight-hour timeline, and the political tensions.
In Red Star Rebels, bestselling author Amie Kaufman delivers a fast-paced YA sci-fi thriller set on a fractured, politically charged Mars, where two teens from opposite sides of society must work together to survive. Told across a gripping eight-hour timeline, the novel blends romance, rebellion, and razor-sharp tension as Cleo and Hunter uncover truths that could change their world. We spoke to Amie about returning to science fiction after Lady’s Knight, crafting high-stakes romance under pressure, and building a Mars shaped by power, inequality, and resistance.
After writing Lady’s Knight, which leans more toward fantasy and romance, what drew you back to science fiction with Red Star Rebels? Did returning to the genre feel like coming home, or like starting fresh again?
Really, it feels like the two parts of me—fantasy and sci-fi—make a whole. Both types of stories offer different ways to ask questions about the world. In Lady’s Knight, we took on all the clichés of medieval fantasy to ask questions about the patriarchy not just then, but now. In Red Star Rebels, I’m telling a story about two teens trapped in a base on Mars, and an opposites-attract romance… and I’m also asking a lot of questions about how we should go about exploring space, and who deserves our care in modern society.
The story unfolds over just eight hours. What drew you to such a compressed timeline, and how did it shape the pacing and tension of the book?
I took on the eight-hour timeframe as a challenge—with the action unfolding at such a breakneck speed, nobody has time to process what’s happening, or even make good choices. I wanted to see if I could still build a deeply felt and believable romance, and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out! The other result was the page count—history shows I love a chunky book, but this one’s a much quicker read than my others. Great for hitting reading goals!
Cleo and Hunter come from opposite ends of Martian society. What was most important to you when building their trust and chemistry under that kind of pressure?
My favourite kinds of romances—or stories, really—are about people who think they know exactly what kind of person the other is, and then slowly discover they couldn’t be more wrong. Hunter and Cleo both believe the other represents everything that’s wrong with the world. An entitled billionaire, and a criminal. (Or two criminals, depending on your point of view.) To go from feeling that way to being willing to die for someone… if you can pull that off, as an author, that’s very satisfying.
Mars feels vivid, fractured, and deeply shaped by power and inequality. How did you imagine this version of the planet, and what ideas guided the way humans have transformed it?
I think we’re at a crossroads right now, when it comes to space exploration. Will we head to space “for all mankind” or will it be a case of whatever company can slap their logo on a planet getting to claim it? The events of 2025 made clearer than ever that we need to think about this as a society, and I created a Mars that demonstrates what will happen if we don’t.
Even in moments of real danger, there’s plenty of banter and humor. What role does humor play for you when the stakes are high?
Many years ago, during edits on Illuminae, my editor (who is still my editor now, nine books later!) talked about the idea of the ‘nervous giggle’ and I’ve never forgotten the phrase. When the tension is so thick you can’t take anymore, a nervous giggle lets out just a tiny bit of tension—and then you can pile on even more than there was before.
Red Star Rebels is positioned as a standalone sci-fi thriller. How did knowing the story would be contained in a single book influence your worldbuilding and character arcs?
It was definitely an interesting challenge, as this is my first standalone! I did still build a world large enough to contain many stories (and perhaps one day it will!) but I really enjoyed the fact that I could just use everything I had in one book—no saving any surprises for later!
