One word for this one: stunning.
A poetic, imaginative science-fiction drama that’s less about the science and more about the people — specifically, Tao-Yi and her small group of closely-knit friends.
The story begins in future, where, unsurprisingly, the majority of the planet spends far too much time in Gaia: a virtual reality which provides an idyllic environment that’s far removed from a planet choking from pollution, global warming and the kind of environmental damage that is as terrifying as it is inevitable.
Tao-Yi spends most of her waking hours submerged in a Nuegel tank which provides the sensory feedback for the denizens of Gaia that makes it as close to real life as is humanly possible.
But there’s always room for improvement. …
The company behind Gaia have perfected uploading: human minds can be digitised and live permanently as avatars in a perfect artificial world. Tao-Yi looks on as her friends, one by one, give up their corporeal bodies to live permanently as programs running in the cloud. But Tao-Yi struggles with the idea of losing her humanity, even if she is trading it for virtual immortality. …
Yup, sorry about the preamble; I’m trying really hard not to give too much away.
I’ve read quite a few books based on similar themes, but I think this is one of the best. The sense of place outstanding; not just the perfection of the virtual reality, but the choking, chaotic state of the real world. What really comes across well, is how the human race has pretty much given up trying to fix it, and instead decides to just run and hide in the cloud.
Typical.
The writing is very poetic, without coming across as heavy and overdone. The characterisations are equally superb, with the author giving plenty of time and space for character growth. It has a very light touch when considering some of the deeper questions behind uploading, especially what it means for one’s sense of self. How does the human race accept that the human ‘soul’ is simply a snapshot of experiences and memories that can be copied, digitised, reprogrammed to make the whole idea palatable, then simply uploaded to run on quantum machines as part of the cloud?
There was plenty of incidental stuff that really helped set the scene: Tao-Yi’s fella had a chronic medical condition that gave the writer plenty of opportunities to explore the state of medicine near the end of the century. (As expected, everything is being done by robots).
If I had one minor quibble, then it would probably be the ending: I think it was a little bit sudden, considering we’d spent a whole book getting there. Aside from that small point, Every Version of You is a near perfect sci-fi read.