I envy the aliens, really.
They will never evolve and join the overmind, which means they won't ever leave the universe, won't lose their children or see their homeworld be blown up by some kid! :P
shareSee that's funny. My reaction was always the opposite - the sadness for the overlords. Despite their physical strength and the abilities at their disposal, they are limited...stuck where they are, unable to ascend beyond their current station. They accept their role to nurture this development in others - but forever stuck as on outsider, unable to join the club.
shareTrue, but I'm still not convinced the universe portrayed in the series is without a god
Not because "I" believe in god, but because there's to many unanswered questions for me, like, when the scientist asks if that's it and people cease to exist, his dead girlfriend appears, instead of a vocal answer
I interpreted that to mean yes, people DO exist in some form after they die.
And when that religious lady goes back home after Karellen tells her (Basically) that there is no god, she sees her dead mother, but it doesn't seem to be the overlords doing
Granted she could be delusional, but she seemed to voluntarily jump to her death, perhaps to be with her mother.
I agree. I cannot see why it rocked some peoples' faith in religion the way that it did when the Overlords appeared. As far as I am concerned being at all religious does not mean that extra terrestrials cannot exist. This issue is partly dealt with in the Christmas carol, "Every Star Shall Sing a Carol" by Sydney Carter.
shareThe series is definitely at least deistic if not theistic, but to address your point directly, I could not worship a God who created a vast barren Universe, empty of life except for humans. That would be a deal-breaker for me. The original novel is influenced by the work of Olaf Stapledon, who was theistic and also believed in a cosmic group mind as the end point of evolution in the Universe, who would commune with the Star Maker.
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