Ferrett Steinmetz
Angry Robot, 2017, 445p, YA Science Fiction
In this book, the future has become a shell of the past. Generations of the dead now live out their lives as digital beings in an online game called the Upterlife. The living now exist solely to serve the dead, to take care of the Upterlife servers, mass produce the chips and computer boards needed to improve the Upterlife experience. Despite the living being ravaged by rebellion and plague, the dead seem content in their digital lives. For Amichai, the Upterlife represents both heaven and hell. His parents are there, and are so "busy" they don't take care of their kids. As Amichai allows his radical feelings towards the Upterlife grow within him, his unusual skills with tech and his flamboyant way of getting away with the impossible make him the center of a movement to stop the dead from ruling over the living.
Those who enjoyed Corey Doctorow's Little Brother and the Matrix movie trilogy, may enjoy this possibly predictive narrative of what happens when we can digitize the mind of a person completely.
SMM
No comments:
Post a Comment