The term All Tomorrows has become a cultural touchstone, representing a unique intersection of speculative biology, cosmic horror, and profound philosophical inquiry into the future of humanity. At its core lies C.M. Kosemen's seminal work, All Tomorrows: The Myriad Species and Mixed Fortunes of Man, a book that charts a billion-year saga of human evolution, manipulation, and transformation at the hands of alien powers. This narrative is not just a story; it's a thought experiment that forces us to confront the fragility of our form and the terrifying possibilities of deep time. For a deeper dive into this evolutionary epic, you can explore the dedicated page for All Tomorrows.
The Speculative Biology Spectrum: From Yesterdays to Tomorrows
Kosemen's vision is part of a broader movement in speculative biology. His earlier collaboration, All Yesterdays: Unique and Speculative Views of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals, applies the same creative, evidence-based imagination to the past. While All Yesterdays re-envisions dinosaurs as living animals with flesh, fat, and behavior beyond the skeleton, All Tomorrows projects that same biological rigor into a terrifying future. Together, they form twin pillars of speculative biology, challenging our perceptions of life across the temporal spectrum. This fascinating comparison is explored in blogs like All Yesterdays vs. All Tomorrows: Speculative Biology's Twin Masterpieces.
Cosmic Horror and Artistic Nightmares
The themes of cosmic horror and existential dread in All Tomorrows find clear kinship with other works in the genre. The visceral, body-horror of humanity's transformation echoes the biomechanical nightmares of HR Giger. 45th Ed., whose iconic art defined the aesthetic of alienation. Similarly, the incomprehensible, universe-spanning terror aligns with the works of H.P. Lovecraft, beautifully adapted in H.P. Lovecraft's The Call of Cthulhu (Manga). The connection between these visions of horror is a rich topic, as discussed in articles such as All Tomorrows & Lovecraftian Horror: Exploring Cosmic Dread in Manga and All Tomorrows & HR Giger: A Guide to Sci-Fi's Evolutionary & Biomechanical Nightmares.
Gaming the Apocalypse: All Tomorrows in Tabletop RPGs
The compelling and horrifying universe of All Tomorrows has even crossed over into the realm of tabletop role-playing games. All Flesh Must be Eaten: All Tomorrows Zombies (EDN8015) is a supplement for the popular horror RPG All Flesh Must Be Eaten by Eden Studios. This book allows players and Game Masters to inject the bizarre, post-human horrors of Kosemen's universe into their zombie apocalypse scenarios, creating a unique blend of survival horror and speculative evolution. For gamers interested in this crossover, a detailed review and guide is available.
Literary and Cultural Echoes of "Tomorrow"
The phrase "All Tomorrows" resonates beyond Kosemen's work, appearing in various literary and musical contexts. William Gibson's cyberpunk classic, All Tomorrow's Parties (Bridge Trilogy Book 3), uses it as a title to evoke the fleeting, chaotic nature of future culture. In a completely different vein, All Tomorrow's Parties: The Velvet Underground Story delves into the history of the iconic 1960s band and the counterculture they helped define. Meanwhile, works like All the Fiends of Hell by Adam Nevill and All the Tomorrows After explore apocalyptic fiction and emotional family sagas, respectively, showing the thematic breadth of stories concerned with future destinies. Readers can find analyses of these works, such as All the Tomorrows After: A Literary Journey and All Tomorrow's Parties: William Gibson's Bridge Trilogy Finale Explained.
From its origins as a groundbreaking work of biological fiction to its influence across art books, graphic novels, music biography, and horror RPGs, the legacy of All Tomorrows is vast and multifaceted. It challenges us to look beyond the narrow window of human history and consider the myriad forms—beautiful, monstrous, or utterly alien—that the concept of "humanity" might take in the deep future. Whether you're drawn to cosmic dread, speculative evolution, or dystopian fiction, the expanding universe of works connected to All Tomorrows offers a profound and unsettling exploration of all our possible tomorrows.