About

The Hibour Universe is an alternate history setting penned by me, Zando. This is a fictional timeline of astronomical phenomena, solar system expansion, transhumanism and, of course, space travel. I first began exploring this setting in 2015. It has gone through several large revisions since then, but the basic history has remained and solidified.

This project is ongoing and these articles are a work in progress. Updates can be expected. Understand, of course, that this is my hobby. My full time career does not always allow me to indulge my hobbies, so there may be periods of inactivity. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Unless otherwise specified, all artwork is made by me.

I hope you enjoy my work!

FAQ

Do you take commissions?

Unfortunately, no. Though I have in the past, I sometimes struggle just to find time for my own work. I do not feel I can adequately commit to commissions.

Is the Hibour Universe “Hard Science fiction”?

I don’t think so. I enjoy using theoretical systems and considering real world sciences when worldbuilding… but I’m not calculating spacecraft performance or transit times between moons. That’s beyond the scope of what I want to write/draw and there are plenty of other fantastic authors and artists who fill that niche.

Is this your view of the future?

No. This is an alternate history setting. Purely fictional. Concepts, events and themes herein are neither a prediction nor an endorsement by me.

What inspired the creation of the Hibour universe?

Hibour formed out of a collection of ideas inspired by the first Avatar around 2014. It was mostly in my brain at that point. In 2017, while I was deployed with lots of time to kill, I was exposed to Winchell Chung’s work and the Atomic Rockets writers resource, which drastically changed my perspective on science fiction. Rocketry and the basics of orbital mechanics started making sense and found it satisfying to envision a history that sort of included those constraints. Playing a lot of Kerbal Space Program helped too. I started actually writing things down right around that time.

Who is “Zando”

Zando has been my pen name since 2004. At that time, I was playing an MMORPG called Star Wars: Galaxies. The game prevented me from naming my character Lando, so middle school me decided to name him Zando. That’ll stick it to ol’ George Lucas, I thought. Because I’m a weird, I started using Zando for everything.

Do you use generative AI?