The phrase "All Tomorrows" resonates far beyond a single story. It has become a touchstone for a particular kind of imagination—one that gazes into the deep time of evolution and the vast, indifferent cosmos with equal parts scientific curiosity and existential dread. At its core lies C.M. Kosemen's seminal work, All Tomorrows: The Myriad Species and Mixed Fortunes of Man, a book that chronicles a billion-year saga of human transformation, subjugation, and bizarre rebirth at the hands of alien overlords. This unique blend of speculative evolution and cosmic horror has spawned a rich ecosystem of related works that explore similar themes from different angles.
The Speculative Biology Spectrum: From Yesterdays to Tomorrows
Kosemen, under his pen name Nemo Ramjet, didn't work in a vacuum. His approach is deeply informed by paleontological thinking, a connection made explicit in the companion volume All Yesterdays: Unique and Speculative Views of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals. While All Tomorrows projects life forward into terrifying and wondrous forms, All Yesterdays reimagines the past, challenging rigid reconstructions of dinosaurs. Together, they form the twin pillars of modern speculative biology, encouraging readers to think dynamically about life across time. For a deeper dive into this fascinating comparison, the blog post "All Yesterdays vs. All Tomorrows" offers excellent analysis.
Cosmic Horror: A Shared Lineage with Lovecraft and Giger
The unsettling, body-horror transformations in All Tomorrows owe a clear debt to the tradition of cosmic horror. The sense of humanity as an insignificant speck facing incomprehensible, often malicious forces is pure H.P. Lovecraft. This connection is celebrated in adaptations like H.P. Lovecraft's The Call of Cthulhu (Manga), which visualizes the mythos with chilling artistry. The thematic parallels are explored in articles like "All Tomorrows & Lovecraftian Horror".
Perhaps no artist visually captures the biomechanical nightmare of All Tomorrows better than H.R. Giger. His iconic, fused organic and mechanical forms in Alien are a direct aesthetic forebear to Kosemen's Qu and their grotesque genetic engineering. The HR Giger. 45th Ed. is an essential art book for any fan looking to trace the visual lineage of this biomechanical horror. The blog "All Tomorrows & HR Giger" serves as a perfect guide to this intersection.
Gaming the Apocalypse: From Zombies to Cyberpunk Parties
The evolutionary horror and apocalyptic scenarios of All Tomorrows translate powerfully into tabletop role-playing. Eden Studios' All Flesh Must Be Eaten: All Tomorrows Zombies is a direct supplement for the All Flesh Must Be Eaten horror RPG, allowing players to confront zombie plagues in the far-future, post-human settings inspired by Kosemen's work. For a thorough review of this supplement, check out "All Tomorrows Zombies: A Sci-Fi Horror RPG Supplement Review & Guide".
The phrase also echoes in the realm of cyberpunk literature. William Gibson's All Tomorrow's Parties is the finale of his Bridge Trilogy, a novel about the convergence of technology, media, and reality at the end of history—a different, but equally potent, vision of humanity's endpoint. The blog "All Tomorrow's Parties: William Gibson's Bridge Trilogy Finale Explained" breaks down this complex work.
Beyond Speculation: Music, Family, and Fiends
The cultural reach of "All Tomorrows" extends into music and literary fiction. All Tomorrow's Parties: The Velvet Underground Story is a definitive biography of the iconic 1960s counterculture band, a title borrowed from their song. This music biography is explored in the blog "All Tomorrow's Parties: The Velvet Underground Story".
In contrast, works like All the Tomorrows After by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni use the motif to explore an emotional family saga across generations, while All the Fiends of Hell by Adam Nevill represents a more traditional, earth-bound apocalyptic fiction horror.
Ultimately, the power of All Tomorrows lies in its ability to act as a conceptual hub. It connects the scientific rigor of speculative biology with the visceral fear of cosmic horror, inspires tabletop adventures and cyberpunk narratives, and even resonates in the history of rock music. To explore the original work that started it all, visit the dedicated page for All Tomorrows and prepare to have your perception of future humanity permanently altered.