Depends if he can breed and pass on his mutation or not. If, as in canon, he can’t, his empire collapses immediately after his death, likely having screwed the galaxy by destroying the Foundation and the best hope of rebuilding before doing so. If he can, feudalism by means of something like Charles Stross' Alfar and their geas system, with his subspecies of mind-controlling mutants as nobility over human serfs. Societal values beyond top-down control systems by the strongest never needed to develop since an individual could directly muster the equivalent force of a whole civilization of individuals.
Good science fiction needs underlying elements of religion, even those novels written by atheists. I write science fiction with religious and political elements (check out my substack where I am writing such short stories) so this post really resonates with me. Thanks for the great post.
The bigger our dreams get, the more inhumane and godless our stories become. It's impossible to know everything, but the devil makes it always seem feasible for whom he wants to drive mad.
Wonder what might have happened had Mule triumphed.
Depends if he can breed and pass on his mutation or not. If, as in canon, he can’t, his empire collapses immediately after his death, likely having screwed the galaxy by destroying the Foundation and the best hope of rebuilding before doing so. If he can, feudalism by means of something like Charles Stross' Alfar and their geas system, with his subspecies of mind-controlling mutants as nobility over human serfs. Societal values beyond top-down control systems by the strongest never needed to develop since an individual could directly muster the equivalent force of a whole civilization of individuals.
Good science fiction needs underlying elements of religion, even those novels written by atheists. I write science fiction with religious and political elements (check out my substack where I am writing such short stories) so this post really resonates with me. Thanks for the great post.
The bigger our dreams get, the more inhumane and godless our stories become. It's impossible to know everything, but the devil makes it always seem feasible for whom he wants to drive mad.