Book excerpt: In a far away land and in a distant time, the writer Jean Voltaire is sentenced to exile for the crime of blasphemy and apostasy. In an attempt to convert him, his friend, Blaise Paschalis, presents him with an argument for belief in God, which takes the form of a wager: if God exists and one believes, the reward is infinite. If God does not exist, the loss is minimal. Conversely, if one does not believe and God exists, the potential loss is infinite. Therefore, it is rational to believe in God, as the potential gains outweigh the losses. What could be wrong with that?