The concept of All Tomorrows has evolved from a singular, mind-bending work of speculative fiction into a sprawling cultural touchstone, influencing art, literature, and gaming. At its core, C.M. Kosemen's All Tomorrows: The Myriad Species and Mixed Fortunes of Man presents a haunting vision of humanity's far future, genetically engineered by alien overlords into bizarre and often horrifying new forms. This narrative of forced evolution taps directly into the veins of cosmic horror, a genre where humanity's insignificance in a vast, uncaring universe is laid bare.
The Speculative Biology Spectrum: From Yesterdays to Tomorrows
To fully appreciate All Tomorrows, one must look at its conceptual sibling, All Yesterdays: Unique and Speculative Views of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals. While All Tomorrows projects life forward into terrifying possibilities, All Yesterdays reimagines the past, challenging rigid paleoart conventions. Together, they form the twin pillars of modern speculative biology, encouraging us to question our assumptions about life's forms, both past and future. This creative approach to biological fiction makes these books essential for anyone fascinated by evolution's potential pathways.
Cosmic Dread and Artistic Nightmares
The existential terror in All Tomorrows finds a clear parallel in the works of H.P. Lovecraft. The feeling of cosmic dread—that humanity is a fleeting, meaningless accident—permeates both. This connection is made visually explicit in adaptations like H.P. Lovecraft's The Call of Cthulhu (Manga), which translates Lovecraftian horror into a potent graphic novel format. The thematic bridge between these works is undeniable, exploring the fragility of the human form and mind against incomprehensible forces.
Furthermore, the biomechanical and visceral horror of humanity's transformation in All Tomorrows evokes the iconic art of H.R. Giger. The nightmarish, fused aesthetic of flesh and machine in Giger's work is a visual precursor to the twisted post-human species Kosemen describes. For a comprehensive look at this influence, the HR Giger. 45th Ed. is an unparalleled collection of his haunting art, providing a direct link to the aesthetic of evolutionary horror.
Gaming the Apocalypse: All Tomorrows Meets Tabletop RPGs
The compelling and horrifying premise of All Tomorrows naturally lends itself to role-playing game scenarios. This crossover is expertly realized in the supplement All Flesh Must be Eaten: All Tomorrows Zombies for the popular horror RPG All Flesh Must Be Eaten by Eden Studios. This book allows players and Game Masters to inject the unique, genetically engineered horrors of the All Tomorrows universe into their apocalyptic fiction and dystopian fiction campaigns, blending zombie survival with deep sci-fi horror.
Literary and Musical Echoes of "Tomorrow"
The phrase "All Tomorrows" resonates beyond speculative biology. In literary fiction, Nino Cipri's All the Tomorrows After offers a poignant, emotional novel about family and identity, showcasing the phrase's versatility. In the realm of cyberpunk, William Gibson's All Tomorrow's Parties serves as the finale to his Bridge Trilogy, exploring a near-future of pervasive media and corporate control.
The title itself is famously borrowed from The Velvet Underground, a cornerstone of 1960s music and counterculture. All Tomorrow's Parties: The Velvet Underground Story is a definitive music biography that delves into the band's revolutionary impact on rock history. This intertextuality enriches the All Tomorrows concept, connecting a vision of humanity's future to a seminal moment in our cultural past.
From its origins as a groundbreaking speculative evolution epic to its branches in art, gaming, and music, the All Tomorrows universe is a testament to the power of creative, terrifying ideas. It challenges us to look at the long arc of time—all our yesterdays and all our tomorrows—and question what it truly means to be human.