I’d gotten a review copy of “Footprints in the Sky” earlier in year which had great world building set up of Hopi and some other puebloan peoples colonizing new world, which was referred to as the Fifth World. Good world building, bad pay off due to gratuitous rape scene. (book NOT recommended)

I really liked the idea of space being the fifth world. Why should everything futuristic always be generic and look vaguely like a 1950s industrial complex? Humans allegedly came to the fourth world (earth) by climbing up a reed with Grandmother spider’s help. how do you get to space besides a rocket? SPACE ELEVATOR.

So you have your reed as the main cable for the system with your spider at the type. The reed is actually a scouring horsetail reed since it was very recognizable and lent it well to looking semi-constructed. The spider is based off the widespread golden orbweaver. The capsules were based on contemporary Hopi pottery designs. And the background was referenced from a photo of earth from the international space station.

I had considered making everything look a lot more mechanical in nature, but liked the simplicity of giant space spider. Biomimicry is one of the hottest research areas right now, so who’s to say a space elevator in 2050 won’t look suspiciously like an actual spider?