World Building with Science Fiction Author C.M. Kosemen

Greetings from Loreland!

It has been awhile since I have posted, as I entered a graduate program at the University of California in 2025 and have since fallen into an Alice in Wonderland rabbit hole of speculative science!

Cover of All Tomorrows

I have dearly missed writing and interviewing intriging minds for the sake of joy and inquiry! So here is a rather special interview with C.M. Kosemen, an artist, writer, and world-builder I have admired for years. We speak about his newly printed book All Tomorrows- a best selling science fiction novel about future evolution of the human race. An all-around incredible book with intriging willustrations to illuminate the light-year leaping storyline. I decided to ask if Kosemen would have time to do an interview on my podcast. Despite living on the other side of the world, he graciously granted me an interview and the story flowed from there.

C.M. KOSEMEN

Kosemen’s interests span across the galaxy, from genetically abnormal reptiles to fossils of the burgess shale to the origins of art.  Born in Turkey, Kosemen had an early love for drawing creatures of all forms and diversities. We explore how world-building can be a method of expression as well as comfort in the midst of a chaotic reality. Delving into his early inspirations, including a how a book on fossils ignited his imagination towards ancient life forms. Fossils of the Burgess Shale was a major influence discovered in a library, holding numerous bizarre life-forms that informed his research as a speculative evolution artist.

Sketch of a demonic figure inspired by the eagle friezes on Istanbul's ancient Column of Marcian (inset). From Sketch page of website.

Kosemen’s expansive body of work leaves a fossil record of its own that leads one down a path that investigates the natural world through a truly unique and inquisitive perspective.

His newly printed book All Tomorrow’s explores the future of humanity and all the unimagined beings to come millions of years in the future. Filled with triumph, loss, pain, and love, this lavishly illustrated work of science fiction compresses time in order to see how actions today effect our tomorrows.

Gimby Parade pencil on art paper 36x50cm

This extended interview explores artist and speculative evolution author C.M. Kosemen’s creative worldview, influences, and life experiences, weaving together art, biology, internet culture, personal narrative, and imagination.

"Maranis" Customized Silk Screen Prints

As a fantasy artist, I was enthralled by Kosemen’s website when I first stumbled upon his work on the internet. It forms  a branching “universe” full of hidden Easter eggs and inspirations. Thanks to the world-wide web, I was able to become familiar with a unique world made by someone on the other side of the globe!

Apocalyptic Rider

In our talk, Kosemen discusses how obscure academic sources such as Anna’s Archive and Library Genesis gave him access to niche biology and sociology papers that have deeply informed his work. He’s fascinated by marginalized or “unpopular” life forms (deformed animals, blind snakes, insects, Cambrian creatures), valuing their strangeness and overlooked beauty. Kosemen notes how the internet, PDFs, and archives are framed as democratizing forces that allow this once-fringe knowledge to circulate widely. Leading to increasingly bizarre subcultures and aesthetics.

Australian Maratids from Kosemen's Inspiration Page

We  touch on how animals once considered frightening or alien—snakes, bugs, ancient fossils—are now embraced through memes, subcultures, and online humor. This openness is linked to image saturation, internet subcultures, and a broader acceptance of strangeness in society. Speculative evolution and deep-time creatures resonate especially with younger audiences navigating uncertainty, climate anxiety, and murky futures.

An elephant, a rhinoceros and a horse reconstructed with the mistakes we often see in reconstructions of dinosaurs and other extinct animals.From my book, All Yesterdays, Unique and Speculative Views of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals.

Kosemen reflects on his early life, emphasizing how access to education, libraries, and supportive parents allowed his lifelong fascination with creatures to flourish. A pivotal moment came during a family tragedy following a devastating earthquake in Turkey, when art became a refuge and a way to process grief. During this period, his technical skills and commitment deepened, laying the groundwork for what would eventually become All Tomorrows.

Childhood Art from Kosemen's Website

His book All Tomorrows is discussed as a project born not from industry formulas but from solitary world-building—initially created for personal fulfillment, published online, then rediscovered decades later during the COVID pandemic.

Kosemen recalls how the work for the book came about organically, as did its current popularity. Speaking to the power of passion and curiosity to form art that genuinely speaks to the human imagination. Its success is organic, fan-driven, and tied to collective crises. Kosemen connects speculative evolution to ancient mythology, theology, and “lore,” arguing that humans have always been drawn to expansive, internally consistent worlds that extend beyond a single narrative.

Example of Kosemen's World Building Research:

Aliens from Johannes Kepler's Somnium (1634)

A vision inspired by the aliens portrayed in Johannes Kepler’s posthumous 1634 book Somnium (“The Dream”), arguably one of the first works of world-building science fiction. In this book; our moon, referred to as “the island of Levania”, is inhabited by various creatures that are hazily described as being snake-like; bird-like; and “with legs far superior to those of camels”. Some Levanians are also able to build and sail boats. I loosely interpreted them as a variants of a single polymorphic species, able to cross the surface of Levania rapidly via air, land or water in order to avoid the extreme shifts of temperature. The plants were a homage to the polyhedral shapes Kepler illustrated in his Harmonice Mundi (1619).

I've selected a tiny sampling of the range of Koseman's interests and styles here, as many more can be found on his page. Koseman has a number of new works in development, but his archive can be accessed by anyone, anywhere!

LINKS

His website preserves his wonderful art and research for all of posterity.

He also shares story-telling and research content on his Instagram, YouTube Channel , and Patreon

Please follow along with his deep dives into the enigmatic and bizarre corners of the universe.

I will surely be there with sketchbook in hand!

A male and female Omeisaurus, plant-eating dinosaurs with outlandishly-elongated necks, wander through a lush mid-Jurassic-era forest. Various background and foreground elements in this image were generated by the Midjourney A. I. program.

If you would like to hear a more in-depth version of this conversation,

you can listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts!

If you do listen, you will get to hear the amzing atmosheric music of Steady Glow who allowed me to use their unique melodies for this episode!

Give their work a listen here.

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