Claire answers “Question about the ending. Emily Strang is...”

Jazzbeau asked this question about Arcadia:

Question about the ending. Emily Strang is sent into the future from 2222 (and ends in Anterworld) to be followed by the rest of the renegades. But simultaneously they were setting off a nuclear war at some point in the latter twentieth century to wipe out all humans and make room -- wouldn't that wipe out the 2222 civilization and make it impossible to send more renegades? So who are all the natives in Anterworld?

Claire I've been puzzling over this since I finished it last night.
We know the nuke didn't go off in 1962. Angela mentions Nixon getting in in 1976 being a g…moreI've been puzzling over this since I finished it last night.
We know the nuke didn't go off in 1962. Angela mentions Nixon getting in in 1976 being a good sign (whereas we know he actually did in 1969)

I don't think the nuke could have gone off between 2018 and 2222 because there is this huge depository of information and records from the past, almost all of which would be destroyed by a nuclear war.

I think oldmanter's transmission of the nuke must fail. Maybe it detonated then and there. We know transmission through the machine causes a huge power outage....maybe this leads to more uprisings and revolution and the dystopia collapses into nuclear war? Basically, Anterworld is real, because Rosalind and Emily make it there, the dystopia is real, and Angela and Rosie work really hard to make the 20th century stable (somehow... by hopping into the near future so it becomes real?)

Therefore the bomb must go off after 2022.

My head hurts! (less)

flag

About Goodreads Q&A

Ask and answer questions about books!

You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.

See Featured Authors Answering Questions

Learn more