Enlightenment Inc.

By David Zen

Enlightenment Inc., the latest company from Silicon Valley legend – and now aging hippie – Pax Wilson, is failing.

Tensions between management, lackluster products, and Pax’s obsession with a seemingly dead-end ‘enlightenment’ app, NirvanApp, mean that the company is losing money, fast. Carter Allman, the CEO brought in to turn it around, can’t see a way out of the mess. And he’s dealing with his own stuff too – not least a disturbing, recurring dream about a girl in a blue dress.

Pax insists that NirvanApp can transport the user to ‘another place’ in their mind. Carter is skeptical. But when he meets Serenity Wang – a beautiful Chinese girl, wearing a striking blue dress – in his office late at night, and can find no evidence at all that she really exists, he starts to believe Pax’s theories. Perhaps NirvanApp has some strange power after all. Before long, the app is a viral hit: because who doesn’t want to be enlightened, to be taken to brighter, more vivid reality… But as NirvanApp’s popularity grows, so does Carter’s obsession with Serenity – and he finds that the line between what’s real and not real becomes harder and harder to see.

Set in the fast-paced tech world of Silicon Valley, and infused with Buddhist philosophy as well as the sights and sounds of San Francisco, Enlightenment Inc. is perfect for fans of Dave Eggers’ The Circle, or for anyone who enjoys novels about technology, obsession, and shifting realities.

David Zen is an international lawyer and private equity investor, with interests in China, technology and green business. He is based in London and travels frequently. His first novel, The Deal: Jiao Yi, was published in 2016.