Essay Questions

How does The Atlantis World function as a satisfying conclusion to the Origin Mystery series?

In the first two novels of the series, The Atlantis Gene and The Atlantis Plague, many characters, concepts, and civilizations were introduced or mentioned that were not completely resolved. Many of them were alluded to in the first novel and then expounded upon a little in the second, but only in this third installment does the reader understand the full picture. For example, in The Atlantis Gene, it was revealed that the Atlanteans saved humanity from extinction 70,000 years ago. The Atlantis Plague brought a lot more information about this event to the reader: an Atlantean scientist injected the Atlantis gene into a couple of humans in order to save their lives, calling it an experiment to justify it to her partner. Only in The Atlantis World, however, is the full story revealed: Isis, that Atlantean scientist, was on a scientific expedition to Earth when the effects of her Atlantis gene altered the biology of her fellow Atlanteans, causing the defense system of the planet to recognize them as hostile foreigners and destroy their civilization, resulting in accidental genocide.

Examples of such revelations of information are everywhere in The Atlantis World, especially with regard to the motivations of characters like Ares and the role of the Atlanteans in the history of the universe. In addition to these instances, as the conclusion of the trilogy, this installment also sees the resolution of all the loose threads of the plot, watching as Kate and David succeed in saving humanity and finally achieve their happy ending.

Compare and contrast Ares's release of the giant flood to the Biblical account of the Great Flood found in Genesis 6.

Ares believes that if he releases a devastating enough atrocity on the world, it will force at least one strong person's heart to harden and will to solidify enough to resist "assimilation" into the Serpentine Army. His philosophy is this: in order to build a great new world, you must first destroy the old one. His flood is proof of that: he causes destruction in order to pave the way for a better future for the universe, a notably utilitarian decision.

This event directly parallels the Great Flood of Genesis 6, when God sends a giant flood to cleanse the irredeemable world from its terrible sins, only allowing Noah, a righteous man, and his family to survive. God's reasoning is actually somewhat similar to that of Ares, although more justified: he wants to destroy the old world and start over to create a new one with the regained capacity for goodness. In this sense, Ares's actions are actually a perversion of God's; he thinks he has the right to act as a god over the people of Earth, despite the fact that he is actually just a citizen of a different civilization.