Author: Dom

Upgrade by Blake Crouch

Upgrade is an above-average tech thriller set in at some unspecified point in the near future. The book follows the (mis)adventures of Julian Ramsey, a genetic researcher/federal agent currently working for a shady government agency tasked with hunting down scientists involved in illegal genetic experimentation. Ramsey is well-suited to the role having served time for his part in an attempt, by his mother, a renowned geneticist, to breed a locust that would spread a virus to crops, intending to make the crops resistant to blight. Unfortunately, the new crops couldn’t produce seeds, which led to a global famine that killed a hundred million people. (Ouch!)

Book cover: upgrade

While chasing down a research scientist, Ramsey is infected with a virus that enhances him physically as well as mentally. He finds that he can run marathons without breaking sweat, his reflexes allow him to anticipate and react at lightning speed, and he can read tomes of scientific material in a matter of hours. But now, he is an “illegal experiment” in his own right, so is forced to go in the run so he can track down those responsible for hacking his DNA, and stop them for ending the lives of billions more.

Well, that’s the plot, and it does work, helped along by the level of scientific detail sprinkled throughout the story, which in itself didn’t really offer any great surprises. The quality of the prose was adequate – hardly literary fiction, but it obviously wasn’t meant to be. The book aimed to be a fast-paced thriller that clipped along at decent pace, without expending too much effort on character development or growth.

Now this is fine as far as it goes, but I think I would have preferred a few surprises along the way. Everything happened as you’d expect it to, which made me think that this probably end up being optioned by Netflix one day.

Anyway, Upgrade is a decent, easy read that is strangely difficult to put down.

Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow

I’d probably describe this a Utopian Whodunnit.

Imagine a future world where there is no more crime or famine, and when someone dies, they’re simply restored from a backup into a fresh clone.

In fact, Julius, the main protagonist has died three times already: the first time, he drowned while scuba diving; and the second time, he suffered a fatal stroke. His third death? He was murdered in Disneyland. And this is where the story’s going. Once Julius is restored to a new clone, he becomes obsessed with finding out who put him the ground … metaphorically speaking. Unfortunately for Julius, his companions don’t seem to share his enthusiasm for solving his murder. After all, in a world where you can be restored to a younger, enhanced body, why should you care who killed you?

To be honest, the murder is not really the most interesting part of the story. (I figured it out pretty early on). The real challenge is figuring out how this future society works. Since no one has to work then there is no need for money (which is just as well done everything is automated). So the only real currency is kudos. Basically, everyone carries out research, or indulges in art projects, in return for … well … “likes”. You accrue reputation and popularity, which gets you into the best parties on the best space stations.

It’s a very detailed book, written in a light, approachable prose. It doesn’t really have any rough edges to speak of, and I reckon I quite enjoyed it. As a murder-mystery though, I think it was lacking in plot and pace.