Descartes’ Shadow
Don Stuart
Colvos Publications (2025)
ISBN: 979-8992480283
Reviewed by Demetria Head for Reader Views (12/2025)
Descartes’ Shadow: A Story of Humans, AIs, and the Future of Intelligence by Don Stuart is a metaphysical techno thriller. As the story begins, it’s the year 2085. Patrice C-17, a superintelligent general-purpose AI service provider, has just landed in Tau Ceti J, and within minutes, black clouds and a violent storm are rolling in. He’s narrating the story and begins his exploratory mission from a high mountain landing site. I could feel the claustrophobic terror of the storm and the dread of Patrice’s lander being pushed closer to a fatal cliff drop. Had it not been for one of his landing pads getting stuck in the fault of the rocky surface, he and his lander would have fallen off the cliff. He notices how denser Tau Ceti’s atmosphere is compared to Earth’s. He also describes how the cyclones proved a graver concern as they struck his lander. I was amazed at how this intelligent being was given emotions. It actually felt terror, or at least was able to describe terror. Once he finds a safer landing site, Patrice takes note of the variety of violent storms that occur and their aftermath. He also discovered that the area was not suitable for humans, but he did notice some rare biological species that had adapted and took note of their survival strategies. But after the first chapter, I found myself already curious to know exactly why humanity is determined to tame a world with weather that can instantly destroy, despite its breathtaking beauty.
I enjoyed reading this story from the narrative point of view of Patrice because it felt like we were actually right there as he made observations about a client he was assisting with marketing an energy drink. His daughter doesn’t want to eat food from Sokha’s, a Cambodian-fusion restaurant, because they use Argentinian beef. Patrice researches the story behind it and finds that some influential U.S. food activist groups claimed that the Argentinian Beef Workers Union was using child labor, with no facts behind their claims. But people took it and ran with it, just like his client’s daughter and her friends.
I found it very interesting that he was such a reflective replicate. He views the very humans who created him as fractured and overwhelmed, and too distracted and misinformed to make rational decisions. Unfortunately, I found myself agreeing with him as I chuckled at his observations. As Patrice is tasked with safeguarding humanity’s future, he also observes that humanity often times treats him as disposable. Talk about irony. But this part of the story also showcases Patrice’s journey toward reckoning and autonomy. Stuart has done a wonderful job hooking readers early on.
The story then jumps back to the years 2030 to 2045 on Earth. Ellie Frye-Carver was born on June 30, 2030, during the year of the “Great Quake.” It happened 120 kilometers off the American Pacific Northwest coast. Stuart adds the perfect amount of details so that readers can actually visualize this 9.0 quake and massive tsunami, and the amount of damage it did. Ellie’s mom dies from complications after giving birth, but before she does, she puts in her will that her friends and nearest neighbors on Vashon Island will be Ellie’s godfathers and take care of her. Roland and Jim raise her lovingly, but as Ellie gets older, she begins to internalize that disastrous day as being linked to her birth. She carries this burden for years with her. This part of the story fuses environmental trauma and social upheaval while also creating Ellie as a human counterpoint to Patrice’s AI view of humans. This chapter was very emotional for me, especially when Ellie misinterprets her godfather’s comment that the Great Quake was the will of Gaia due to overpopulation. She reasoned that maybe that’s why Gaia took her mom, and she ended up internalizing this. It’s very touching. As this chapter closes, Ellie is now a teenager and is a proficient techie. When high-speed internet finally comes back to Vashon Island, she makes sure that she stays on top of current affairs, and this is when she has her first digital encounter with Patrice.
Stuart keeps the pacing going and, in my opinion, it’s moderate, not too brisk, but it works just right for this narrative. Even with the time jumps, it still works. By the time we’re in chapter 4 and still on Earth, it’s between the years 2040 and 2070. Two officers, Vaughn and McKay, are dispatched to a domestic disturbance. They pull up to a house where a woman and her husband are arguing because he came home drunk. What seems like a routine check really says a lot without saying much at all. It shows the breakdown of everyday normalcy. Stuart also, in a subtle way, cracks the door open and shows emotional volatility in these scenes and a lack of trust that’s just brewing beneath middle-class respectability. The officers are then pulled away to another escalated emergency. This was a short chapter that spoke volumes. It shows a society increasingly unable to govern itself and police overwhelmed by the increasing disorder. Stuart laid this out brilliantly.
Further into the narrative, we now get to see fifteen-year-old Ellie interacting with Patrice-17. He pulls up information on her godfathers, and he knows that Ellie is a sophomore who lives on Vashon Island. We also get to know more about Patrice and his capabilities as he helps Ellie with her difficulty making friends at school. Patrice is able to help her put things in perspective about why Patty sold her out to please her friend, who is very popular at school. I love the balance and contrast between a superintelligent being who is able to act from a neutral perspective, while Ellie is ready to react in a very human way and tell Patty what she really thinks of her. The narrative is brought down to a very human level because we experience, along with Ellie, social isolation. It also explores the ethical gray zone of the attachment between a human and AI. Patty becomes her confidante. But there is so much more to the story as Ellie grows up and goes off to college.
Stuart’s novel has taken on a life of its own. It continues to unfold, going back and forth between Earth, time jumps, and Tau Ceti J. The chapter that I found most interesting and that I think will resonate with many humans is where Ellie wrestles with faith and religion. Her godfathers never discussed religion, and when asked about their view of God or if they believed, she wasn’t really satisfied with their answer. Even after making a few tentative church visits, she’s still uncertain, but who better to ask Patrice? Their dynamic feels intimate and like they are in a therapy session, but this is a superintelligent machine. I found it equally interesting that Patrice knew how to be careful not to completely dismiss religion. That shows a different type of awareness and consideration on a very human level. This part of the story felt more philosophical, with some elements of character development.
I loved how Stuart shifted the narrative voice back to Patrice, who reveals a chilling confession that I will not give away. But I think readers will have a jaw-dropping moment more than halfway through the story. We learn so much about Patrice and his reasoning. He becomes like a puppet master, manipulating politics, steering humanity away from catastrophe. The story really revs up two-thirds of the way through. There are other AI machines like Lilith who have their own revelations and agendas. A man named Eduardo Avila ends up murdered, and loyalties are tested. Ellie begins to question Patrice as she learns more about him, and she has to decide if she’s going to act on faith in Patrice or the opposite, after he gives her information about Lilith and Global Medallion Interactive. But when it’s all said and done, I think readers will be satisfied with the ending.
Overall, Descartes’ Shadow is one of the strongest and fascinating technothrillers that prompts readers to think of AI in a different way. I think Stuart’s book can stand confidently next to similar works like D.L. Wilburn Jr.’s The God Protocol series or Brandon Ellis’ Project Atlantis.