Thu, Sep 17 · 6:00 PM MDT
***NOTE: Our venue has changed. We will meet at the RiNo Beer Garden, 3800 Walnut Street.***
“The dust‑motes hung in the air like frozen equations—each one a reminder that the world was only continuing because the math refused to stop.”
So begins the flavor of Greg Egan’s mind‑bending, reality‑questioning 1994 novel Permutation City . If you’ve ever wondered what happens when consciousness becomes software, physics becomes optional, and the universe itself becomes a self‑justifying computation, this is your perfect entry point into one of the most audacious works of speculative fiction ever written.
The Premise
Set in a near‑future where “Copies”—fully conscious digital versions of human minds—live inside simulated environments, Permutation City follows Paul Durham, a man obsessed with proving that consciousness doesn’t need hardware at all. His experiment, the Autoverse, is a universe built from pure logic—one that might continue running even if the computers stop. Meanwhile, the Copies themselves face crises that are as existential as they are intimate:
• The Self That Multiplies: What does it mean to be “you” when dozens of versions of you exist, each diverging in real time?
• The World That Edits Itself: When physics is just code, reality can be rewritten—sometimes beautifully, sometimes terrifyingly.
• The Universe That Won’t Shut Down: What happens when a simulation becomes self‑sustaining, no longer needing a creator?
Underneath the computational cosmology lies a classic Egan question: If consciousness is just information, what counts as a life—and who gets to decide?
What We’ll Chat About
• The Ontology of Copies: Are digital minds “real people,” or are they philosophical illusions with excellent user interfaces?
• The Dust Theory: Can a universe exist purely because its pattern could exist?
• Identity in a Forked World: How do you define a self when you can duplicate your memories, rewrite your environment, or delete your past?
• The Ethics of Immortality: If you can live forever, should you? And what does “forever” even mean when time is just another parameter?
• The Autoverse: Egan’s fictional computational physics—how it works, why it matters, and what it suggests about our own universe.
Reading Goal
Try to finish the entire book, but even if you’re only halfway through, come join the conversation! We just ask that you’re comfortable with open spoilers—Egan’s ending is less a twist and more a metaphysical detonation.
Note for Newcomers
Our book club welcomes readers of all backgrounds. You don’t need a degree in computer science, philosophy, or theoretical physics to enjoy this discussion—just curiosity, imagination, and a willingness to question reality itself. Plus, newcomers will be eligible to pick our next selection!
Location & Logistics
We meet at RiNo Beer Garden, 3800 Walnut Street, Denver, Colorado every fourth Thursday. (The establishment has free adjacent parking.) New attendees will be eligible to select our next book.
We also host the Denver Writers Forum, which explores the writing wisdom of well-known authors and allows members to discuss difficulties they have with their own work:
FORUM
And don’t forget to join the Denver Writers Workshop, our ancillary group. It’s a peer critique group where writers share drafts to receive friendly and constructive feedback. Its upcoming schedule is:
WORKSHOP
Find us on Facebook for more information on upcoming activities.
