Many dream of changing the world. But George Orr's dreams do change it—for better or for worse. Made desperate by this unsought power, George consults a psychotherapist who promises to help him. However, it soon becomes clear that the scientist has his own plans for George and his dreams.

Why not, after all, forge a brave new world—one free from war, disease, overpopulation, and all human misery? But for every man-made dream of utopia, there is a terrifying, unforeseeable consequence; so George must dream and dream again, forever seeking a more perfect future as the very essence of cosmic reality begins to disintegrate.