The Dream Chip

By William Thien
Published by Xlibris Corp
1-888-7-xlibris
www.xlibris.com
ISBN # 0-7388-6313-0
124 pgs $20.99

 

What if it was possible to digitally store the thoughts, memories, and life experiences of those about to die? Would you want to know what your sweet Aunt Edna really thought about the family? Would you want to see her life through her eyes? Would you want your thoughts and memories to be? Before you say no, what if you are a physicist, a mathematician, or an engineer, and your thoughts and memories could be combined with others of the same persuasion, and perhaps come up with a cure of cancer, or AIDS, or solve the problem of interstellar space flight, or even time travel? That is the idea behind The Dream Chip by author William Thien, and is ingenious in its execution.

This is the story of David O’Rourke, an employee of The Timelink Corporation in the role of an uploader-one of the ones responsible for the transferring of information from the recently deceased. It is a thankless job, and one made all the more difficult by the intervention of Daniel Wozel and his neo-political organization called The Civicrats (a very neat name by the way), a group of laid off bureaucrats due to another piece of software provided by Timelink-The Common Council Software Program.

Now this is a neat idea-software that allows the individual citizen to have an actual voice in the day-to-day decision making of government. Imagine having your opinion actually be heard in all facets that affect you instead of having a representative whom you have to hope has your best interest in mind. This has an effect of massive streamlining the employee heavy government, and the formation of the aforementioned Civicrats-and they take the term disgruntled former employee to a whole new level. Their involvement, stalking, trying to stop the memory transfers, massive political rally’s and more show that Wozel and his followers are not to be taken lightly.

William Thien has constructed a fast moving story which will keep you enthralled with each page, never an easy task, especially when told in first person, yet he manages to pull it off, and should be proud of what he has accomplished. His writing style is fresh and easy to read; never being wrapped up in technobabble, into which a book such as this could easily devolve.

There are those who might consider this science fiction due to the topic matter, yet I think this almost borders on science fact. How far are we from this type of software being a reality? I would be willing to wager we’re closer than any of us might think.

The Dream Chip by William Thien is a book that I found hard to put down once I stated, and I am sure you will as well. I wonder if William Shakespeare was alive to read this book, if he might be inclined to say, “To sleep, to sleep, perchance to dream chip, aye there’s the rub.” It would be fitting.