The concept of All Tomorrows has transcended its origins as a singular work of speculative fiction to become a cultural touchstone, influencing a diverse range of media from art books to role-playing games. 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, reshaped over millions of years by alien intervention. This narrative of forced evolution and cosmic insignificance has resonated deeply, creating ripples across genres and inspiring creators to explore similar themes of biological transformation and existential dread.
The Speculative Biology Connection: All Yesterdays and All 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 humanity into a terrifying future, All Yesterdays reimagines the past, challenging rigid paleoart conventions. Both works, often discussed in tandem, exemplify the power of speculative biology. They ask "what if?" on a grand scale, pushing the boundaries of scientific imagination. This twin approach—looking backward with creative rigor and forward with chilling possibility—defines a unique niche in biological fiction.
Cosmic Horror and Artistic Nightmares
The existential terror in All Tomorrows shares a profound kinship with the works of H.P. Lovecraft. The feeling of humanity as a insignificant speck, subject to the whims of incomprehensible cosmic forces, is central to both. This connection is made visually explicit in adaptations like H.P. Lovecraft's The Call of Cthulhu (Manga), which translates cosmic horror into a gripping graphic novel format. Furthermore, the biomechanical and visceral transformations depicted in All Tomorrows evoke the iconic art of H.R. Giger. Exploring a volume like HR Giger. 45th Ed. reveals a parallel visual language of organic-mechanical fusion and body horror that deeply complements the themes of Kosemen's work.
From Page to Game: All Tomorrows in Role-Playing
The compelling and horrifying universe of All Tomorrows provides perfect fodder for tabletop storytelling. This potential is fully realized in the RPG supplement All Flesh Must be Eaten: All Tomorrows Zombies. This book for the All Flesh Must Be Eaten system by Eden Studios allows players and Game Masters to inject the evolutionary horror and bizarre post-human species of All Tomorrows into their horror RPG campaigns. It's a testament to the world's depth that it can support not just reading, but interactive, collaborative narrative exploration.
The Literary and Musical Echoes of "Tomorrow"
The phrase "All Tomorrows" itself carries cultural weight beyond Kosemen's book. In literature, it appears in titles exploring vastly different themes. All the Tomorrows After is an emotional novel and family saga, while William Gibson's All Tomorrow's Parties serves as the finale to his seminal cyberpunk Bridge Trilogy. Most famously, All Tomorrow's Parties is the title of a Velvet Underground song, leading to biographies like All Tomorrow's Parties: The Velvet Underground Story, a definitive music biography delving into 1960s Music and counterculture.
This exploration shows that the legacy of All Tomorrows is multifaceted. It is a cornerstone of modern evolutionary horror and speculative biology, a source of inspiration for artists and game designers, and part of a broader literary and musical conversation about time, change, and the future. Whether through the stark terror of its narrative, the artistic vision it aligns with, or the interactive worlds it helps create, All Tomorrows continues to challenge and captivate audiences, proving that its vision of humanity's potential paths is as enduring as it is unsettling.