Steve Jackson Games has published a great deal of science-fictional game material, including both general resource books on outer-space adventure and technology and gaming adaptations of classic science fiction such as GURPS Lensman, GURPS Uplift and the forthcoming GURPS Vorkosigan. Now in Transhuman Space, they offer an original setting: a hard science fictional near future in which humanity is expanding through the solar system and reshaping itself in the process.

This is only the first volume of a planned multivolume series. It's defined as "powered by GURPS," meaning that it uses the publisher's major rules system, but in a radical, freeform style designed to reflect an era of almost limitless technological options. The title refers to a current philosophical movement that regards Vernor Vinge as one of its primary sources: transhumanism, the advocacy of technological reconstruction of human beings for increased intelligence and longevity. Pulver creates a detailed future history surrounding the partial realization of this dream. This is certainly a rich and fascinating setting—though I'm not always sure how best to use it; a little more specific guidance on possible storylines would be helpful.

One of Pulver's proposed campaign themes is "Adam Smith on Mars." Another section portrays the "Duncanite" movement and an anarcho-capitalist asteroid colony founded by it. Pulver even offers a short but accurate definition of libertarianism and anarchocapitalism, which he descries as influential ideas in his future setting. It's a pleasure to see such ideas being discussed in this kind of source material. And Pulver's vision of space colonization as a new source of freedom is one that readers of Prometheus can take pleasure in sharing.