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The Dent in the Universe
It turns out "Move fast and break things" is terrible advice when developing a time machine.
To resuscitate his fading celebrity, tech CEO Stephen Lucas would sell his soul for one more hit. When the subspace network for his holographic gaming empire crashes, his hardware guru makes a discovery proving that Einstein was right once again— information can be sent backward in time.
Lucas sees a dream product for procrastinators. Want a pizza now? Send your order back in time 30 minutes. Forgot to make reservations at that chichi french restaurant two weeks ago? No worries. Buy that PowerBall ticket. Invest in that stock. Make a FaceTime call to a loved one that passed away a month ago.
It’s the time machine for the rest of us.
In a culture built on instant gratification, Lucas knows he has a hit that will seem like a dream come true on Wall Street. But when he rushes into beta testing before fully understanding the power he's unleashing, he learns that the stuff dreams are made of can quickly become the stuff of nightmares.
The road to Hell is paved with cool inventions.
This discussion guide was shared and sponsored in partnership with DartFrog Books.
Book club questions for The Dent in the Universe
Use these discussion questions to guide your next book club meeting.
The Oneiri Device is a metaphor for many technologies launched into the world without much thought. What are a few technologies that could have benefited from more consideration of the harm they could do?
Is Stephen the villain of his story as he believes at the end, or is it the Monster?
Can a technology ever be an evil in and of itself? Can you think of examples of technology that should never have been invented?
Which of the many tech guru billionaires does Stephen Lucas remind you of? Is he a combo platter of some that you recognize?
What is driving Stephen to push Oneiri into the world?
What would you do with the ability to send internet data six years into the past? What’s the most trivial but handy thing you’d use it for? What’s the most elaborate scheme you can imagine?
How does Walrus align to these values? Lawful good, neutral good, chaotic good, lawful neutral, neutral, chaotic neutral, lawful evil, neutral evil, or chaotic evil.
What would Facebook, Apple, or Google do if their engineers discovered the ability to send data back in time?
Have you discussed your plan for the zombie apocalypse? Have you made any actual preparations beyond talk?
How would you prepare if you knew the end of civilization would happen in six years?
Does AI feel like a tech like the Oneiri device that could get out of hand quickly?
Would tech companies be more thoughtful if their decision-makers were more diverse? What would have helped One Corporation prevent the end of humanity?
The Dent in the Universe Book Club Questions PDF
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