Are we living in a simulation? Is it like the Matrix? And if so, is there a key maker or a way to bend the world to my will?
Intrigued by this question and the simulation hypothesis which posits that all of existence is an artificial simulation, such as a computer simulation, I was led to this book. Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John.
This is my first exposure to this writer and liked how descriptive her writing was for her characters and their world. As I read along, I felt that the story was rushed in some places and too long in others.
I would have liked to know more about the life of Edwin St. Andrew, whom we left at the church and perhaps less of Olivia Llewllyn, whom we followed through her book tour, her return to the moon and her subsequent extended life.
The storytelling felt rushed and the writer could have spent more time on the world-building. A lot of potential that felt as if it had gone to waste.
It could also be that I had read Pachinko by Min Jin Lee a couple of months back and enjoyed the story developing over the lifetime of the Sunja and her family.
Did I get my answers about whether we live in a simulation or not? What I will say is this, quoting from a passage in the book,
“A life lived in a simulation is still a life.”
Whether we are in a simulation or not, how are you living your life?
What did I get out of the book?
Thanks to Edwin and the reason he became a remittance man, a desire to know more about Indian views of British rule during the height of the British Empire.
