Worth the Candle epilogue

The eight-chapter epilogue to Alexander Wales’s long web serial Worth the Candle, which many readers name as the most convincing depiction of utopia in fiction.

Spoiler warning: the epilogue reveals how the serial ends. Readers who want to read the whole story should save it for last.

Where to read it

• My favorite depiction of utopia (Caleb Biddulph, LessWrong, 2026-06-02) shares a version of the epilogue adapted, with the author’s permission, to make sense without the rest of the serial.
• The post says it was inspired by a tweet that recommends the depiction without naming the book.

What it shows

A heaven that is still imperfect. Even with effectively unlimited power, flaws remain, and some people prefer the world as it was before. Biddulph names this as his favorite part. That imperfection is why it convinces: it avoids the failures Why Describing Utopia Goes Badly lists by not pretending the problems disappear.

Reception

Holden Karnofsky’s Utopia links (2021) lists the epilogue among reader suggestions, noting that from a reader’s description it resembles his own attempt, though he had not read it because of the serial’s length.

Part of the A good future path.