Transhumanist ideas in Fantasy

Slowly, ever so slowly am I working on Polstrus Lev and Basalt Keep. Part of the problem is I tend to get distracted by reading other people's stuff and it sparks more ideas and makes me revise what I'm working on to incorporate some cool ideas that have been sparked by the material I've been influenced by. Lately, I've been rather taken by the whole Eclipse Phase setting. I'll admit to not really keeping up with the Sci-Fi side of geekdom so Transhumanism and other such concepts were not really on my radar as I'm more of a fantasy guy. However, why limit myself by drinking from one well when there is a whole ocean of cool geekdom out there right? I've really been thinking of my projects in terms of a weird/dark fantasy with Cthulhueque overtones. I've been reading up on theoretical physics and non-Euclidian geometery to fuel some ideas. I'm also now thinking about incorporating some transhumanist themes as well. I was really struck by the idea of the identity of humanity being not so much tied to the physicality and biological human form, but more by the whole idea of the idea of humanity being more attached to a state of awareness or consciousness. This ties into some ideas that I've had for Basalt Keep, Polstus Lev and others. Hm, there are for sure some ideas percolating and stuff I want to work on. Sorry if this post comes across as crambled and vague, but I've got several ideas buzzing around and I need to pin them down and figure out how to best incorporate them (or even if I should incorporate them). At any rate, I'll keep working to try and actually get something out. More to follow...

Comments

  1. BlairJune 1, 2011 at 1:01 PM

    I swear such concepts have nothing to do with the secret history of Planet Algol...

    ReplyDelete
  2. TreyJune 2, 2011 at 5:45 PM

    I think transhumanism works well with fantasy. I took so small forays in that direction with my World of Arn stuff, but I think its mostly an untapped well.

    ReplyDelete
  3. XyanthonJune 3, 2011 at 9:35 AM

    @Blair - I'd love to see the secret history of Planet Algol. How's Jewel Throne coming?

    @Trey - I agree and I hope to mix some of that in some of the adventures I'm working on.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownJune 6, 2011 at 1:32 PM

    I don't know if this is the flavor of transhumanism that you're after, but Monte Cook's Arcana Evolved deals heavily with personal transformation as a path to or consequence of power.

    ReplyDelete
  5. XyanthonJune 6, 2011 at 9:58 PM

    @Shieldhaven - I havn't looked at Arcana Evolved for a while. From what I remember, it might be a bit different but I'll have to dig it up and see what I think.

    ReplyDelete
  6. netherwerksJuly 7, 2011 at 12:52 AM

    We've been looking at Eclipse Phase as well. It looks nice, and has a lot going for it. If nothing else, at least it is opening doors and giving people more of a frame of reference for the weirdness that some of us are exploring.

    ReplyDelete

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