artificial-time-barrier
A massive alien-generated barrier surrounds Earth, causing time inside it to pass much slower than outside, leading to accelerated cosmic events.
1 chapter across 1 book
Spin (2006)Robert Charles Wilson
The chapter 'Preamble' introduces the central event of the novel 'Spin'—a mysterious, artificial barrier that envelops the Earth, causing the stars to vanish and time outside the barrier to accelerate drastically. It follows the childhood experience of Tyler Dupree and his friends Jason and Diane as they witness the Big Blackout, and outlines the divergent paths they take in response to the impending cosmic apocalypse. The narrative sets up the scientific and societal challenges posed by the barrier, including the terraforming of Mars and the deployment of self-replicating probes to explore beyond the barrier.