Literary Significance & Criticism
The novel's final chapter has been heavily criticized for excessive implausibility, but it can be read as deliberate wishful thinking: it epitomises Baxter's moral that if the human race is to survive indefinitely, it must become more proactive in its approach to space travel, and not resort to shallow militarism or nationalist isolationism. The Titanian beetles represent Baxter's dream of what the human race should be. Conceivably, the final chapter can be read as the dying dream of the astronauts, rather than a realistic evocation of Titan's future.
Baxter wrote a short story, "Sun God", that features the final sequence of Titan from the point of view of the Titanian beetles. The story was included in the collection Phase Space.
Read more about this topic: Titan (Stephen Baxter novel)
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