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the plot twist/ending
Teresa
Jul 15, 2025 01:19PM
Spoiler, spoiler. I read this book at quite a feverish pace, as it was an e book loan from the library that could not be renewed. I am just wondering what other readers think: was the entire AI creation, the island, the people, etc. something that the characters involved felt, heard, saw, existed in/ Was it a parallel universe like the one created in the Amazon prime series Upload? Did Todd indeed find a way to defeat death? Or was it all just a story, essentially the novel itself, created by AI. I know there is no right or wrong answer. I just can't decide in my own mind and want to hear what some other people think and why.
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The twist is so subtle and brief that it would be easy to have missed it entirely. My read on it was that he had been feeding all of his life stories into an AI that simply wrote him a happier ending to his life, that he could believe as his dementia ate away at his real memories. The letter that he mentions getting from Ina implies that her and Rafi never really got back together, and that he died alone. So Ina may have actually moved to Makatea, but not with Rafi and two adopted children - so most of the modern day action on the island probably didn't happen either. I think the whole seasteading project was made up too - Todd felt guilty looking back on his life that he never actually worked with his first passion, the ocean, so he had his AI change that.
To me, the twist was hauntingly depressing but the tone of most of the reviews I've seen that allude to the twist don't seem to reflect that, so maybe other people have a more positive spin on it.
To me, the twist was hauntingly depressing but the tone of most of the reviews I've seen that allude to the twist don't seem to reflect that, so maybe other people have a more positive spin on it.
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