The story looks at the possible long-term societal effects of new technologies and, more importantly, how we could possibly limit and/or control any negative consequences whilst taking full advantage of the potentially huge positive benefits.

 The basis of the book is that three friends begin to discuss these issues (usually in their local pub, the Trainstop). Meanwhile, an alien life-form eavesdrops on their conversations and subsequently makes contact with them. Don’t worry!. This is NOT a sci-fi story. The alien civilisation is simply there as an analogy of our own society, giving us the opportunity to look at how new technology is currently impacting us and how it may change things in the near future. In essence it is a representation of what is occurring here and now on earth, but without the need to personalise the pros and cons of new technology and without the need to examine specific people or organisations. This alien civilisation is simply a construct that provides an illustration of our own issues, both current and looking a little further into our future.

I was conscious that this book has been written by a male and features many male characters. To try to ensure that this story reflects our society as a whole and is not skewed towards one set of opinions, I undertook a survey of males and females across a wide range of ages. The surprising result was that there was very little difference across all the ages and across the sexes. In essence, we all share the same concerns and we can all see the same potential benefits. Besides this, the one notable factor evidenced by the survey is that many people, across all ages and sexes, feel overrun by these developments and feel helpless in influencing the direction of these developments. In other words, they feel out of control.