I'm drafting a new world building/story idea right now, and without going too heavy into it (mainly because I don't have a crazy amount of stuff set up just yet), one of it's central themes will be on evolution, as well as maybe some time travel shenanigans and progress/change of technology. It will be a typically high fantasy with elves and dragons, but when I was starting to scope things out, I did start to question how natural evolution and development of animal packs into societies would come into play in a high fantasy setting with the usual players.
Like with the elves, what would there evolutionary cycle be like when compared to humans? And especially how would they interact in these early stages if they were close to each other in the environment? And elves and humans aren't the only races in the setting I have planned, there might be some crocodile-like people in there as well for fun.
And now I'm realizing that I haven't really read any fantasy books that have covered this in their worldbuilding. The only example I can think of at the moment is the Stormlight Archive series by Brandon Sanderson. Cannot explain how because those are significant spoilers, but if you've read the books then you likely know what I'm referencing. I also remember Mass Effect 3 briefly covering some stuff about the ancient Asari, which was really cool and I wish they went more into depth about that, but thats a video game.
So are there any books that feature evolution as a central theme or plot in it's world building? I've decided I won't simply go the greek god route where deities quite literally did create everything as I know that's done more often than not, but I won't say no to a book where that happens to be the case. I just want books where the beginning is explained somehow.
by dogisbark