ABSTRACT
In imagining the strange and different, science fiction can offer examples of nonhuman, or more-than-human, creatures of such extraordinary abilities or qualities that they seem god-like, or, in fact, are gods. Speculation about what might constitute divinity, or at least what might explain how the concept of divinity developed, drives a number of both classic and contemporary texts. Stories have explored the nature of the divine-human relationship, the possibility that what are conceived to be gods are just extremely powerful aliens, and the likelihood that humanity’s evolutionary path leads (or could lead) to eventual god-like status, as just a few examples. Such efforts to explain—or explain away—what many religious traditions believe are supernatural figures extend as well to a range of semidivine creatures, such as angels or demons.
