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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pawsplay" data-source="post: 3348108" data-attributes="member: 15538">The yaom are not direct descendants of the dosai--just the product of the Star Confederation program, using some of the dosai's genetic material as their base. In retrospect, "offspring" probably implies more of a direct lineage than was intended; it was used in the more generic sense to simply say "output". I argued against several places where such language was used, for precisely that reason. Nonetheless, the races in DS do have some genetic inheritence from the Star Confederation races, and many points of similarity to their forebears are not accidental.In the review referenced earlier in this thread, I would like to point out some inaccuracies. There are at least two AIs I recall, off-hand, and there was a lot of discussion between myself and the writers on some points concerning AI and memory. There is a LOT of gene manipulation; it is the Vaasi's primary industrial technology, it plays into the origins of the presented races, and it is part of the Republic's terraforming project. The "insectoid" race (presumably the Vaasi) are the most alien. The reptilian races are not, in my view, particularly "bad guys," except from the standpoint of the humans on Eos. All the aliens have some substantially nonhuman traits, and none are simply anthropomorphized animals. The "wolves," for instance, do not have a culture that resembles the pack dynamics of Earth's wolves. The "dinosaurs" are themselves a multi-species society.While the touches are subtle, to the greatest extent possible, the species are tailored to be unique and exotic. Any one species could be the foundation for an entire game, and each is also written to allow for true individuals (with the obvious exception of hive-controlled creatures).It is true, the setting does not feature a lot of "transhumanist" sci-fi, at least at the outset. Rather, the science-fiction mainly falls into the following categories:- It is a near future setting, with technology of necessity having been developed in a very short period of time, for the former Earthers.- It is a setting of material scarcity. For the residents of Eos and the other planets, they are contending with a new environment, and do not enjoy the full benefits of a massively industrial, massively high tech society. For the Tentari and Vaasi, the are cut off from their ancient sources of power.- Anything that is very advanced and powerful is also very rare.- A lot of the dynamics have to do with ancient projects begun by the Star Confederation. Events are, however, taking an unpredictable course.In short, from the Eos standpoint, this is a story of modern humans meeting an astounding advanced civilization, but rather than assimilating to it, they must discover and master its secrets. The Helios Rising book brings to the fore a struggle for supremacy amongst various races, some friendly, some less so. There is no reason any race in the system couldn't be a friend, or an enemy, to any other, under the right circumstances. Even the Vaasi could be accomodated by humans, if the right bargaining chip were brought to the table, and even the most unassuming people could be come custodians of a technology that granted them rulership over the others.- RJ</blockquote>

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