In both Children of Time, and Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky, the main conflict seems to be science Vs anti-science and there exists highly advanced technology including AI, gene editing and manufacturing.
Also, Disra in Children of Ruin says he kept several large tanks of octopuses, I'd say he was either very rich or something else is going on.
Is it ever made clear that the Old Empire was a post-scarcity society? e.g. people not relying on money for their basic needs or the scarcity of materials causing issues in society? I can't think of a better definition of post-scarcity, but I'm open to other similar interpretations.
