DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR BOOK CLUBS & READING GROUPS

by JOHN ELGAN

The questions and discussion topics that follow are intended to enhance your reading group’s discussion of Yellow Diamond, the collection of new short stories by author John Elgan.

Please share how well the questions worked for you and your book club. Enjoy!

Four twisted tales that explore our high-tech, modern society and an uncertain near future — from online gaming and digital privacy to questions of self-identity and social credit.

The stories are arranged from longest to shortest.

1. Elgan opens the story with a quote from a real presentation at NASA. How does this quote set up the story for us? How accurately does it predict the actual cause of the mission’s failure?

2. Stephen’s conversation with his sister and personal data are “ . . . picked up by the ubiquitous wireless beacon located inside the hospital room.” This technology is already in use today. How do you feel about your conversations being recorded and transmitted for analysis by remote computers? 

3. Stephen was “ . . . grateful that the horrors of traditional teaching were only legend.” What do you think about Stephen’s attitude toward the use of “screens” (digital devices, computers, tablets, etc.) in the classroom? 

4. Why was it considered essential to send a human on this mission to planet Yellowstone?

5. What made Stephen "singularly qualified" for the mission?

6. How would you explain Stephen’s original relationship with his family?

7. If you were the one chosen for the mission to planet Yellowstone, how would you cope with the living conditions aboard the capsule? What would you include in the design if it were you inside? 

8. What questions would you ask a candidate to determine if they could survive a mission of prolonged isolation and confinement? What qualities would you look for?

9. Which of the non-player characters (NPCs) in the game aboard the capsule is based on a character created by the best-selling English poet, playwright, and actor?

10. The directors at Ladonscorp and their artificial intelligence, Proxy, tested the suitability of the human candidates for the mission. Why didn’t they evaluate Lexa to determine if it was fit for the mission?

11. What issues should we consider as we develop artificial intelligence to be more like us?

12. What is the meaning of the story title? The “error” and underscore format provide a clue.

13. Elgan infused Lexa’s dialogue with language used by a contemporary political figure. How would you describe Lexa? Can you identify any familiar phrasing in Lexa’s dialogue? 

14. Are humans capable of creating an intelligence that is “better” than us?

15. If Lexa had not succumbed to the stresses of isolation and confinement, do you think Stephen would have completed the mission?

16. At the end of the story, Stephen presents the “exotic yellow fruit” to his father. What explains the difference in their reactions?

17. How did Stephen change, if at all, from his experience?

18. Elgan tells this tale as a series of events told out of chronological order. Why did the author use a nonlinear narrative to reveal cause and effect in this story?

1. Why did Artie think the three people in the car crash were male? What evidence in the story, if any, would preclude them from being female?

2. Andy vomits. Later in the story, Artie sees Joe swarmed by mimics. How do you imagine the creatures feed on their victims? 

3. Why haven’t Artie or Molly openly expressed how they feel about one another? 

4. Biological sex, male and female, can be defined differently from gender. Consider your original perception of each character, then reread the character descriptions. Have your perceptions changed after you reviewed the story? How might the story relate to gender and self-identity?

5. What is the metaphor of the mimics and the highway that the characters travel? How do these elements connect to a meaning for the story as a whole?

6. Artie “ . . . questioned the reality of all that had passed that day, every single object, action, and word spoken or heard.” What could have been Artie’s revelation?

7. In the final scene, why did the “snake” behave differently from the other mimics?

8. Predict Artie’s fate after the story ends.

1. In a message to his twin sister, Victor dictates, “I wonder what would have become of us if mother and father had made different genetic choices.” What does this reveal about the source of Victor’s athletic ability? How does this reconcile with Victor’s attitude toward engineered machines?

2. How do we distinguish between what is “natural” and “artificial”? Is this distinction even important? 

3. As he gazed at himself in the mirror, “Victor’s image was disturbed by the vibrations of a skycab settling on the parking pad.” How does this hint at what is to come later in the story?

4. What do we learn about Victor’s character from the way he treats his visitors?

5. Why did Elgan choose not to name the humanoid and “the man”?

6. The science and technology in the story are real, though humanoids with iGrappler’s abilities have yet to be created. When humanoids like the iGrappler are among us, what will be the consequences?

7. Victor is an “enhanced” human. Performance-enhancing drugs, gene doping, gene therapy, selective in vitro fertilization, and digital implants are only a few of the emerging technologies that are available today.  What issues does this raise for fairness and equity – in sports, academics, employment, and other aspects of our society?

8. Knowing that he is genetically engineered, what impact might this have on Victor’s psyche, expectations for himself, and his free will versus “a destiny”?

9. Do you think “it,” the humanoid grappler, is sentient — able to feel and perceive things subjectively?

10. iGrappler’s Victor Fidalgo da Silva is based on which character from ancient Greek and Roman mythology? Has the relevance of the original myths changed? What does the current story add, if anything, to the meaning of the myth in modern society?

11. Ultimately, Victor’s greatest battle is to know himself. Does he deserve our sympathy? Does he deserve his “end”?

12. The story concludes with an unread message from Victor’s twin. How would you write “iTango,” the tale of Victor’s sister, Isabel?

1. The story begins with Ana’s toast “to the fruit of our reps!” What did this mean to you at first? Did your understanding of the opening conversation change by the time you finished reading the story? 

2. What was Ivy so concerned about? Why didn’t all of the members of the group share her concern?

3. Why were “all eyes” on Schaden? What was your sense of the group’s emotion at that moment? Why did the mood suddenly change after Schaden’s response?

4. What does it mean to be a “chipped-one”? 

5. The names of the characters in a story are often symbolic. In We the Liked, the meaning of some of the names is more obvious than others. What do the names of the characters suggest about the character’s personality and elements of society in general?

6. What might the location of one’s nanochip, or digital implant, say about a person?

7. Anna identified Mary as “A radical of the worst sort.” What did she mean by this? 

8. What do you think were Ana’s thoughts as she watched Mary?

9. “After several minutes of appropriate conversation, Anna bid farewell to the others.” What would be “appropriate” conversation?

10. What kind of work do you imagine took place in the High Ministry? 

11. What happened that changed Ana’s “privileges”?

12. What is a “moral algorithm”? And why did Schaden assume that Ana was secretly “independent”?

13. What does it mean that Ana “ . . . would no longer be “liked,” “followed,” “tagged,” “checked,” or “viewed”?

14. What influences our decisions about what or who is “bad” or “good”? What consequences are there, if any, when the application of these terms changes over time? 

15. The technologies in the story are real, as are reputation and social credit systems. What issues does this raise for you personally and for society today and in the future?

16. What is the meaning of the story title?

1. What common themes does Elgan emphasize in the stories?

2. If you were uncomfortable with any part of a story, what made you feel that way?

3. What did you find interesting or surprising about the factual elements in the stories?

4. How do the book’s cover art and title relate to the different stories? Would you change anything?

 John Elgan changed from a career in big pharma to teach science to high school and college students. He has used storytelling to activate his students’ imagination, deep thinking, and emotions to help them make meaningful connections in life beyond the classroom. He is also the author of Joshua 10, the first book in the novella series: The Reconciliation Trilogy.