All Tomorrows: A Billion Year Chronicle of the Myriad Species and Mixed Fortunes of Man by C.M. Kosemen

The story begins in the near future, as burgeoning population pressures force humanity to terraform and colonize Mars. After a brief but violent civil war between the two planets, the genetically engineered survivors begin a new wave of colonization, spreading across the galaxy. Everything is looking up for the human race... until the colonies encounter the Qu, technologically advanced aliens on a religious mission to remake the universe. Although humans fight valiantly, the Qu easily overpower humanity; as punishment, the aliens decide to genetically modify the survivors, turning most of them into mindless, animalistic creatures before departing.

Despite the slew of tragedy in this masterfully creative work, I can't help but feel a sense of underlying optimism and human spirit in perseverance. Slight Mass Effect vibes á la Reapers, and another reminder that our own creations/reliance on tech will lead to our downfall—as every scifi story has depicted.

For a one-person project, All Tomorrows is absolutely incredible. Kosemen envisions what would happen if human beings were genetically engineered by a race of superior space aliens, then left to evolve on their own over hundreds of millions of years. His creatures and narrative are highly creative, and the quality of his illustrations is very good. Many of the post-humans presented in the book are very memorable, with my favorite being the Pterosapiens. My issues are with the book's presentation—the writing and formatting prevent complete immersion in Kosemen's imagined worlds, and the book absolutely would have benefitted from the help of a professional editor. I would be very excited to see a new edition with revised text and illustrations, but as it currently stands, All Tomorrows is better experienced through Alt Shift X's summary on YouTube, which covers all important details from the book.