Hard Science Fiction meets Mysticism and Epic but realistic Space Opera in an interstellar adventure set across countless centuries and megaparsecs. It's every adventure you ever dreamed of, and more.
No FTL, no traversible wormholes, no humanoid aliens, no sillytech.
No fantasy-type magic, only concepts based on authentic traditions of hermeticism, yoga, eastern philosophy, etc.
Journeyman Afar is a new creative writing/worldbuilding project initiated by me (M.Alan Kazlev), to create a vision of the distant future that is both "hard science" and also mythopoetic and mystical.
Journeyman Afar was originally called Kardashev III, and then The Emerald Galaxy. The current name Journeyman Afar was suggested by John Dollan and myself
Journeyman Afar, Orion's Arm, and Posthuman Sci Fi in general:
I started Journeyman Afar as an alternative "hard science" future to that portayed in the Orion's Arm universe. I had worked solidly and full time on OA for some 3 1/2 years, and, while remaining still involved with OA, wanted to explore an alternative future. At the time (and for some time previously) there were a lot of objections being raised on the OA mail list to the validity of navigable Wormholes, since they are still pretty much on the fringes of physics. So far, there seem to be persuasive argumenst both for and against the existence of wormholes, and no doubt in future centuries these problems with be resolved one way or another. But in the meantime, I started thinking about what an interstellar expansion be like without any form of superluminal connection at all, not even wormholes, and millions of years in the future? This makes the Journeyman Afar universe more hard science than the Orion's Arm universe (wormholes are already starting to be considered passé in progressive sci fi where all travel is relativistic or via lightspeed transmission of information). In addition, I wanted a setting that included mystical experiences etc as valid on their own terms. This makes Journeyman Afar less hard science than Orion's Arm. Finally, I wanted a universe where the human (or equivalent sophont) element wasn't overwelmed by the posthuman, where humans still have control over their destiny, and where organic life isnt totally overwelmed by drexlerian dry nano and pico- and femtonano beyond that. This makes Journeyman Afar more easily approachable than the radically posthuman AI-ruled universe of Orion's Arm.
This is not to say that Journeyman Afar is more realistic than Orion's Arm. If some interpretations of Transhumanism is to be believed (easy dry nano, femtotech, etc), then I believe an Orion's Arm-like universe is actually more plausible. But conversely Journeyman Afar is not less realistic either. Both constitute equally valid and complementary - different yet also similar - visions of the future, with a lot of overlap. This overlap also what one might find in the works of scifi writers like Bruce Stirling 
(Schismatrix) Michael Swanwick (Vacuum Flowers) Vernor Vinge (A Fire Upon the Deep etc), Greg Egan (many books), Linda Nagata (Deception Well and Vast) Alastair Reynolds (Revelation Space and sequels), Ken MacLeod, John C White (The Golden Age etc), David Pulver (Transhuman Space), Charlie Stross, and other cutting edge hard sci fi writers exploring transhuman and posthuman themes.
The Journeyman Afar Universe:
In the Journeyman Afar universe, Life has colonised the galaxy countless megayears ago. Everywhere there are biospheres, and vacuum adapted dyson trees. Orwood forests have seeded interstellar space, from afar the galaxy shines with green and blue. Countless civilizations have arisen and passed away, countless races evolved, flourished, and disappeared, innumerable empires conquered and vanished
The Journeyman Afar universe is still under construction and still at a very early stage of development. As the stetting develops, more will be added.
Copyright Conditions:
Regarding copyright and Intellectual Property, Journeyman Afar uses the same Creative Commons License as Orion's Arm. This means you are free to reproduce material from Journeyman Afar without requesting permission, as long as you abide by the licence conditions. This license does not cover artwork or any other material indicated as © copyright. In those cases you must write to the artist and ask permission if you want to use their material.
The Journeyman Afar Novel:
We are hoping to write a print sci fi novel called Journeyman Afar. This novel will not be poosted on the site. However short stories and so on set in the Journeyman Afar universe for posting on this site are welcome.
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