Tom
Istar
I've been wondering about this lately. I've noticed how we like to take baseline humans and modify their magical capabilities and physical and psychological characteristics to suit our stories and worlds. I do this too--for example, one of my ethnic groups has invariably dead-white skin, and either jet-black, bright red, or white-blond hair. Due to genetics, such an extreme ethnic phenotype is impossible in our world, but I still consider those people human.
How much can we as writers tweak the human race in our worlds before they cease to be human and become a human-like race? Where lies the boundary between what we consider "human" and "not human"? Can we fantasy writers step over that boundary, yet still consider our characters human?
How much can we as writers tweak the human race in our worlds before they cease to be human and become a human-like race? Where lies the boundary between what we consider "human" and "not human"? Can we fantasy writers step over that boundary, yet still consider our characters human?