The Uploaded

by Ferrett Steinmetz

Life sucks and then you die...

In the near future, the elderly have moved online and now live within the computer network. But that doesn't stop them interfering in the lives of the living, whose sole real purpose now is to maintain the vast servers which support digital Heaven. For one orphan that just isn't enough - he wants more for himself and his sister than a life slaving away for the dead. It turns out that he's not the only one who wants to reset the world...

Genres: Science Fiction, Dystopia, Young Adult, Fiction, Cyberpunk, Science Fiction Fantasy, Fantasy

448 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 5, 2017

About the author

Ferrett Steinmetz’s latest novel THE DRAGON KINGS OF OKLAHOMA, a.k.a. "The Tiger King but with baby dragons," will be out in September 2024. He was once nominated for the Nebula, for which he remains moderately stoked, and lives in Cleveland with his very clever wife and an occasionally friendly ghost.

He has become wise enough to no longer spray the world with ill-advised words in blogs or social media, but sporadic updates are posted on his website at www.theferrett.com.

Reviews

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is my very great pleasure to have read this!

In fact, because I've been ravenously hungry for everything that Ferrett has written ever since Flux, I practically fell out of my chair after I got accepted by Netgalley to get an Advance Reader Copy. Woo!

That being said, let's get down to the nitty-gritty without spoiling anything, shall we?

The concept is awesome:

Uploaded minds in a VR RPG Heaven, with the dead now far outnumbering the living in this future Earth. Guess who's in charge? It's all about the bare minimum upkeep of the Earth while the servers and the cameras and the game-reward system of social control dominate the world.

Totally cool, right?

Well, we've got a bit of everything in here, but it's the main characters that make this shine. It reminds me a lot of Doctorow's *Little Brother* with the sneaky and funny counterculture bits and the fact that sometimes even the living can program and spoof the dead. Hackers Unite, right? And then it's light enough and serious enough to put most YA novels to shame... while being entirely engaging to me on any level. There's also some very serious romance and even more serious themes going on here, too, but at this novel's core, it's all about the revolution, baby.

From the first page to the last, my attention never wavered. This is the joy of reading Ferrett's work.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: this guy should be a super-bestseller. There's no good excuse why he isn't. I'm a total fanboy because he's just got the writing chops to pull just about anything off.

This one's a winner and a half! Total SF with YA protags and some pretty epic scope that is full of some really great fun and funny stuff.

So, what do Neo-Christians and Lifeguards have in common?

Sounds like a great joke, right? Read it and find out! :)

WOOOOOOO! Great stuff! (insert fanboy squee)

[Gary · Rating 2 out of 5]

I seem to have some sort of built-in resistance to the writing of Ferrett Steinmetz, an auto-immune response that defies explanation. Authors I admire praise him; friends of mine gush about his books. Sadly, I find that I can’t tolerate his fiction for too long without needing to put it down, or disengaging to a degree that makes it hard to retain what I’ve read. There may be a physical allergy as well. I developed a weird rash on my hand while reading The Uploaded that didn’t go away until I was finished, no matter how much cortisone and aloe I slathered on it. I know, I know, correlation does not equal causation. But I still think it’s kind of fishy.
I had pretty much the same reaction to this novel as I did to Steinmetz’s first novel, Flex. I don’t find his characters believable or likeable, his worldbuilding plausible, or his stories at all engaging. The Uploaded is set in a future where those deemed worthy can be uploaded upon death to a VR haven awkwardly named “The Upterlife” (also, the most popular mobile devices are called “earputers”, as if one artlessly rendered phrase per book was not enough for the author). The protagonist is Amichai, a malcontented teenage boy who makes dumb choices for no discernable reason other than to mess up his, and apparently somehow also his sister’s, chances of getting into The Upterlife (I really, truly hate that term). Until, of course, he decides to reverse course and stop being such an underwhelmingly petty human. I think. For me, he never actually stops sucking at being a person. But that could just be me.
Steinmetz does not appear to be a technically bad writer, just one whose works hold little interest for me. I picked this one up thinking there was a chance I was wrong about Flex, and that I would finally “get it” with The Uploaded. Alas, I still don’t get it. I don’t think I’ll make the same mistake again.
Thanks to Netgalley and Angry Robot for the opportunity to read this ARC.

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have only myself to blame for this. As I said before, I struggle with YA-Sci Fi but this sounded too intriguing to not pick it up. Also, I have been thinking, I might actually struggle with YA in general - there are brilliant books out there that I enjoy immensely, but more often than not it falls kind of flat for me. Which is a shame because it is such a varied genre with so many brilliant-sounding premises that I do not want to stop reading it completely.

This, again, has a brilliant premise: set in the future where a way has been found to upload conciousness into a digital heaven, the dead rule over the living. While they have endless time and resources to have adventures or learn more, they also have endless time to judge the living and ensure that only those who are deemed worthy will be uploaded upon their death. I found this a clever way to deal with real life problems but the execution was lacking. I found the real and devastating consequences of a democratic system where the dead are the only ones allowed to vote were not ellaborated on enough. The living conditions were remarked on (why bother with making the world look nice if these resources can be used to built better and better servers to host the deads' conscience?) but the consequences for a society built only to serve the dead were left too unexplored for my taste. The book stayed superficial and repeated phrases and ideas over and over again (if I have to read the phrase "lowliest of criminals" one more time I am going to throw something; also the neologisms did not work for me: "earputer" and "The Upterlife" being the most annoying offenders).

The main character annoyed me without end; I have no idea what his thought processes were for screwing up his life (and his sister's with it) for what looks like slightly juvenile pranks. I also did not find him or anyone in the book to be very believable.

______
I received an arc of this book curtesy of NetGalley and Angry Robot in exchange for an honest review.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars:
*minor spoilers ahead*

Imagine if you had undeniable proof of heaven. Imagine if that heaven was tailored exactly to your needs, wants and desires. In this heaven you can spend the rest of eternity doing exactly what you want. You can take on epic quests to defeat naughty knights, slay dragons, or spend your days lounging around the pool doing nothing. Or working your dream job. Or, you know, watching reality TV?

Imagine if you could speak to God once a day. Check in with him. Say "Hey, how's it going? Am I on the right path? Will you let me in?" If the answer was no, you could course correct. Do better. Of course, this god thinks that "All should pass through, but for the lowliest of criminals." So standards for entry, they aren't even that high.

Sounds awesome right? So all that's left to do is die.

This is exactly what dead President Wickliffe has given the world in The Uploaded. When you die, your brain is uploaded into a massive server, where the world around you is tailored to your liking. Where you can shut out your living relatives (or block the dead ones) and go questing all day. Where you can earn fabulous prizes and new gear for saving an elven race from destruction. Or you can spy on the living all day and look for juicy footage to send to the reality show "Sins of the Flesh."

Except- someone has to take care of those servers. The living must ensure the collected minds of the dead are able to live on in heaven. The result? A really shitty world to live in.

Amichai wants to change that. Amichai believes the lives of the living should matter too. Most of the world has been wiped out by the Bubbler plague, including his parents. The Life Guard, who dedicates their lives to ensuring the living work hard to protect the servers and prevent too many people from dying, make life hell on the living. The dead spy on you from cameras. Buildings are made out of coral because there is no metal (it's all gone to the servers). Programming is illegal (can't have anyone hacking those cameras and servers). Suicide and assisted suicide are illegal. Nurses do nothing to make their patients feel better, because life sucks and then you die. Most jobs are factory jobs, mass producing chips to keep those servers updated.

This book was so much fun! I loved the main character Amichai and his friends, Dare and Peaches. I especially loved his foster mother, Mama Alex, leader of the rebel cause and total bad ass. They all felt real and flawed and different.

The world building was fantastic. The author has taken this concept and imagined all the implications that might come with it, good and bad. Like- what about those of us who believed in God(s) before the Upterlife? How does government work when no one is ever really dead? How do the living feel when their loved ones die? What is the state of the world when the living stop caring about life? How to the dead treat the living from the other side? How do the dead, in their imaginary world, ensure the living are obedient to their needs?

In addition to this, the author included lots of futuristic technology that added to overall setting of the story. Most weapons are non-lethal, because, you know, when the living die it's bad for the dead, so we see a few of those put to use as well as hacking devices, etc.

This is a light hearted read that will give you a LOT to think about. There were several parts that made me laugh out loud. I loved Therapy the pony. I thought the resolution to these problems was well thought out and planned. The writing was great and the concept was so unique. I've never read anything like this before and I really admire the author's imagination.

My only real critique, is that the middle was a little bogged down with a mini love triangle that I didn't feel was necessary. I felt the love between one set of characters and didn't feel it so much between the others.

Other than that, a fantastic, highly imaginative read, that I would recommend to fans of sci-fi dystopians, and anyone who enjoyed Ready Player One. (Side note- the main character is not spending all his time gaming, but the general feel of these novels is very similar.)

Thank you to Edelweiss and Angry Robot/Watkins Media for providing an ARC for me to review!

[Sarah (is clearing her shelves) · Rating 3 out of 5]

11/4 - I picked this up on a whim from the 'new and recently returned' shelf at the library. I had never heard of the author or any of his books. I admit, I probably should have read the blurb more attentively, if I had I may not have decided to read it. When I realised that Amichai was a teenager I was a bit surprised as I hadn't connected the descriptor 'orphan' with the fact that he was only 15. Unfortunately I felt Amichai's behaviour in the first 110 pages was totally unbelievable and it was a struggle to keep reading. I was pretty close to DNFing, but pushed through all the most ridiculous and immature behaviour a character in his situation could have carried out. He had a sick sister who was relying on him, but all he could think about was how unfair his life was and how to top his last stupid prank - dye in the orphanage sprinkler system, a horse in the hospital where his sister was. I really didn't like Amichai and even after page 110, when the book began to pick up, he was still too annoying to support with any true enthusiasm.

There were a few twists and turns that I wasn't expecting - quite a few deaths, a betrayal that I definitely didn't see coming and some reasonably exciting action scenes. That was kinda ruined by a very disappointing love triangle! I HATE LOVE TRIANGLES! AND THIS WAS A PARTICULARLY STUPID LOVE TRIANGLE! It really did leave a sour taste in my mouth. I didn't like the way Evangeline wavered between wanting Amichai despite the teachings of her religion and then shoving him away because of the teachings of her religion. I felt like she treated Amichai unfairly, not that he was in any way blameless in their slightly toxic relationship.

I'd give the characters/relationships two stars and the plot four, which works out to three overall. The idea behind the plot was fantastic, but I don't feel like Steinmetz executed it to anywhere near its potential and that's a bit disappointing. I would only read more of Steinmetz's books if I happened to come across them the same way I happened across this one, I don't think I'd make the effort to hunt any of them down.

[Megan Baxter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read Ferrett Steinmetz's blog for several years and follow him on twitter, and have always enjoyed his writing in those formats. Knowing that he'd published a few books, it was always in the back of my mind that I should read them, but they hadn't popped up on any of my lists, and I so rarely buy books that unless our library gets a lot better at getting science fiction beyond the big releases, it wasn't going to come up by accident.

Note: The rest of this review has been withheld due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.

In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook

[Tammy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The nitty-gritty: A fast-paced, frantic glimpse into the future that left me more puzzled than exhilarated, The Uploaded is one wild ride.

Little Venice’s streets were hip-deep in spillover from the Atlantic Ocean, a thick muck choked with the Bubbler’s stink and liquefied corpses and rotting seaweed--a dead town that swallowed bodies and vomited out glutinous sickness. You could see dead men’s bones fused to old shop windows, all engulfed in creeping mutant coral like yellowed sharks’ teeth.

I had read so many rave reviews of Steinmetz’s ‘Mancer series, that I’ll admit I was expecting to be blown away by The Uploaded just for that reason. Unfortunately, my expectations were a little too high, and I ended up with a vague feeling of disappointment after finishing it. What could have been a very cool futuristic setting was muddied by way too much “tech speak” and a complicated set of world-building rules. Now, granted, you need to take my opinions with a grain of salt, because a whole bunch of readers LOVED this book, which is evident by its high Goodreads rating and gushy reviews. But for me, I found myself overwhelmed by the manic characters, non-stop action and confusing set-up.

Meet Amichai Damrosch. Six months ago, his parents died and now their minds have been uploaded to the servers of the Upterlife, a virtual playground where the dead spend their days engrossed in high-tech virtual reality games and for fun, spy on the living. Amichai’s sister Izzy has fallen prey to the plague known as the Bubbler and now resides in an institution, trying to recover enough to be placed in a menial labor job. Both Amichai and Izzy want nothing more than to die and join their parents in the Upterlife, where life is easy. Here on earth? Not so much, as the Bubbler has decimated the planet and left chaos in its wake. Amichai has always believed in the system, knowing that a long life of hard labor will eventually earn him a spot in Heaven. And it’s the dead who have the final say as to who gets in and who gets voided, so most people follow the rules.

But with the help of his friends, Amichai uncovers a plot by none other than the creator of the Upterlife, Walter Wickliffe, a plot that will ultimately destroy what little life the living have. Amichai devises a daring plan to stop Wickliffe and give the living back their dignity. But his plan is risky at best, and it’s going to take a lot of ingenuity--and one pony--to pull it off.

If you are one of those readers who enjoys high-tech futuristic science fiction, with an emphasis on “tech,” and you also enjoy YA-aged characters and lots of humor, then you’ll most likely have a blast with The  Uploaded . Steinmetz isn’t afraid to throw his readers into the deep end of the pool without water wings, so you need to be quick to keep up with his unique and crazy ideas. I’ll admit it took me a while to grasp all the intricacies of this world, and even then I’m not sure I understood everything.

But I have to give this story props for having some very cool ideas. Steinmetz’s set-up is nothing short of brilliant: a future where death isn’t necessarily the end, and often times is way better than being alive, at least that’s how the living perceive it. Most living people are clambering to die and be “uploaded,” but there are rules. For example, in order for a person to eventually join the Upterlife, regular brain scans must be taken, a process called “Shriving.” During a Shrive, the dead sift through a person’s memories and determine a ranking, and depending on how you Shrive, you could come up “Liminal,” which gives you the best chance of making it to the Upterlife, or one of the four ranks below that. It seems to be a way of keeping the living population in check, and under the thumb of the dead. I also loved the idea that the dead can see through any camera and spy on the living, and so of course there are broken cameras scattered throughout the city where the living can hide their activities from the dead.

Steinmetz throws in a character named Evangeline who is a NeoChristian, someone who doesn’t believe in the Upterlife but instead worships the “Big Skybeard.” (lol!) She’s also “the most beautiful girl” Amichai has ever seen. The problem I had with Evangeline, and later with a girl named Peaches, is that Amichai falls for both girls and honestly can’t decide which one he likes more. I didn’t really like either girl, personally, and their rivalry over Amichai felt like just another YA love triangle. I also found a lot of the action and dialog silly and juvenile, which is one reason the book just didn't hold my attention. (For teen readers, however, this won't be a problem.)

And like your typical YA set-up, most of the adults in the story are evil. Even Amichai’s dead parents would rather immerse themselves in a video game than chat with their children, and they don’t seem concerned at all about poor Izzy’s illness. (The dead can visit the living through TV and computer screens.) The only adult character I liked was a woman named Mama Alex who leads a resistance group and holds “Blackout Parties” in areas of the city where the cameras aren’t working and kids can dance without worrying about being watched. She was way more of a mother figure to Amichai than his own, flighty mother.

I think my favorite character in the whole story was a pony named Therapy, who Amichai buys and sneaks into the hospital in order to cheer up Izzy. As you can imagine, that doesn’t go too well, but I was thrilled when Therapy makes a reappearance later in the story. And why are people riding ponies instead of driving around in cars, you might ask? It’s just another one of the many quirks of this crazy world.

It took me a long time to read The Uploaded , mostly because I found other things I’d rather be doing. Steinmetz is undoubtedly one of the more creative authors I’ve run across, but unfortunately this book just wasn’t for me.

Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.This review originally appeared on Books, Bones & Buffy

[Rena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mm 3.75. the worldbuilding was great, the plot was well-written. The characters were all interesting with their motives and personalities, but the romance/relationship stuff felt rlly shoehorned in. I didnt really care about it, and I felt like Amichai's friendship w Dare shouldve been given more space and time to be explored.

[Carly · Rating 3 out of 5]

For Amichai and the rest of his world, it isn't this life that matters, but the Upterlife. In Steinmetz' near-future portrayal, the world has been transformed by a technology that uploads the minds of the dead into an eternal afterlife of quests and games and challenges and happiness. The living--those not wiped out by epidemics, plagues, and decreased life expectancy-- do the drudgework necessary to maintain the server farms while dreaming of their deaths and their Upterlives. Amichai has grown up in an orphanage, but his love of pranks and his interest in programming--banned for the living-- have put him at risk of losing his place in the Upterlife. When he is caught during his most recent prank involving a pony in a nursinghome, he finds himself at the start of a journey that uncovers the darkest secrets of the Upterlife and the living world that remains.

I absolutely adored Steinmetz' previous series, Flex , but unfortunately, Uploaded just didn't really work for me. I was fascinated by the world, which reminded me a bit of an Egan novel. As someone who has always been terrified by the concept of eternity, I am always intrigued by the idea of uploaded consciousnesses. As a programmer, I also was amused at the idea of programming being forbidden. However, all of the characters, including Amichai, felt one-dimensional and unsympathetic to me. We have the "Hero Geek," the "Best Friend," the "Best Friend's Hot Sister," and the "Beautiful Dangerous Cultist." I think the book is somewhat held back by its stereotypes: the young female characters that are controlled by their sexuality, the odd comments about Judaism, the "Magical Negro" vibe of the one African-American character, and the whole "NeoChristian" thing. One of the greatest strengths of speculative fiction is that you can use worldbuilding to create a complex metaphor to explore real world issues. So why create an obsessive, backward, death-worshipping cult and call it "Christian"? The use of that tired portrayal of Christianity is a bit of a pity because I found some of the commentary quite thoughtful, such as:

"Something in her needed to believe the world was like a bank-- you deposited in kindness and got it all back in the end."

It would be much more effective if separated from tired tropes. I thought the problematic portrayal was exemplified by the "happy ending," where the NeoChristians are shoved off into reservations in New Mexico.

Overall, while the ideas of the novel are fascinating, the execution just didn't quite work for me. It could be that I'm just not the target audience-- I'm not a gamer and may simply have failed to recognize a lot of the in-jokes. While this didn't really hurt my enjoyment of Flex , I may simply have failed to "get" Uploaded.. I generally love quirky programming-imbued scifi, but this just doesn't quite have the insider geekery of Stross or Pratchett. If you're already a fan, then this is probably worth a try, but if you're new to Steinmetz as an author, I'd definitely recommend Flex as your first venture into Steinmetz' work.

I received an advanced reader copy of this ebook through Netgalley from the publisher, Angry Robot Books, in exchange for my (depressingly) honest review.

~~Cross-posted on BookLikes.~~

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been keeping up with Ferrett Steinmetz for over 15 years on various internet platforms, and I’ve been jumping at the chance to read his books ever since he got an agent and was able to publish traditionally. His Flex series is a solid read across three books, and perhaps should have gotten more attention than they ended up receiving, but The Uploaded is Steinmetz’s shot at techno-dystopia. It… doesn’t always work.

Effectively, imagine if, instead of Social Security, the older folks moved their consciousness online instead. And they still got to run things, and it was up to the rest of us to maintain their servers and their way of life until it was out turn. That’s the idea behind this story, which follows some people who are willing to fight to undo the status quo.

The good on this is that, as with the Flex trilogy (and with some insight on how Steinmetz writes), there’s really not a wasted word here. The poetic-yet-seemingly-direct way he gets the plot from point A to point B is as much of a joy here as it was in his previous works. The issue, though, is that this is less of a story that lends itself to that sort of treatment. The Uploaded is reminiscent a lot of the sort of Cory Doctorow technopunk that has really hit home in the last few years, and the writing doesn’t always fit it. This means that the book does feel like it’s meandering off a bit in ways that were not probably intended. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, and the way that everything works out kept me engaged, but it’s not the same as Flex and doesn’t quite hit the same notes the same way as other books in this genre.

I don’t want to call it a miss, because the book still has its share of action and awesomeness. It’s just not great the way the Flex series was, and it’s just quite good in a lot of others. If the concept grabs you, the book probably will as well, but this is not as direct a recommendation for this book the way others might be. Dystopia, especially today, can be a tough sell, and the book makes a good attempt at being up to the challenge. Closer to a 3.5.

[Viking Jam · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://koeur.wordpress.com/2017/07/1...

Publisher: Angry Robot

Publishing Date: September 2017

ISBN: 9780857667175

Genre: SciFi/Dystopian

Rating: 4.3/5

Publishers Description: In the near future, the elderly have moved online and now live within the computer network. But that doesn’t stop them interfering in the lives of the living, whose sole real purpose now is to maintain the vast servers which support digital Heaven. For one orphan that just isn’t enough – he wants more for himself and his sister than a life slaving away for the dead. It turns out that he’s not the only one who wants to reset the world…

Review: Wow. The first half of this novel embraces an incredible writing talent that created what may become a defining moment in the genre. Too over the top in honors? Yeah, maybe but I am feeling it right now. Perhaps the horniness will pass once I have relieved myself…..with TIME. Geez, sleezy crowd here. Anyhoo, this was fukin’ good. World building, characterization, movement, storyline etc. Plus, who names their kid Ferrett? How cool is that?

It is at once witty, funny, thought provoking, plausible in it’s outrageousness, utterly indefatigable, revelatory and a bunch of other positive adjectives, oh and poignant. To be honest this started in a hole: slow, no relevant background, back and forth-ing dialogue, no context….then BAM! Away we go. At about the kindle 60% mark it slows way down with mewling dialogue then picks up again. You want more storyline details? Read the book cause I aint a spoiler….well I am, but not this time.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

In a world riddled by disaster, a teen with a pony finds a way to rid the shackles of the dead to breathe life back into the living.

The Uploaded, set in a distant future, sees the surviving populace serve as little more than slaves to actual ghosts in machines. The dead don't really die in this new world, rather, their living memories and sense of self are uploaded into a vast and wondrous server which renders their death irrelevant unless they are one of the few unlucky ones who have been judged by the dead to pass into the void - real death, as a result of their criminal acts.

This book has a great concept that builds as the story wades deeper into steadily crumbling real world, and ever expanding technological advancements of the virtual space. It's a young adult-ish book that will find a place among readers of Ready Player One by Ernest Cline and Permutation City Greg Egan.

My rating: 3.5/5 stars. The protagonist, Amichai took a little while to grow me. I thought the world building was great and some of the concepts scarily real. A completely different novel from the author of Flex, The Flux, and Fix (which I highly recommend checking out).

Originally reviewed on my blog: http://justaguywholikes2read.blogspot...

[Therin Knite · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'll be the first to admit I don't read a lot of YA these days, largely due to the gross overuse of a small handful of tropes, but this book caught my eye on NetGalley due to its cool sci-fi premise, so I thought I would give it a try.

My mistake.

Firstly, let's get what I DID like out of the way:

The setup of this story was indeed as cool as the premise suggested. In the future, the dead have their minds uploaded into a vast network known as the Upterlife, which gives you endless possibilities to craft the afterlife of your choice. (For example, you can go on D&D style fantasy adventures, with "actual" magic and mythical creatures.)

The problem with the Upterlife is that all the dead now outnumber the living fifteen to one, and the dead have voting rights. As a result, the living world has fallen into extreme disrepair, because the dead see the living as nothing but servants whose job is to maintain the servers that keep the Upterlife running. Consequently, the living world is terrible. People work horrible, back-breaking jobs for the duration of their miserable lives, and their only hope for the future is to die as soon as possible so their Upterlife lives can begin.

It's pretty bleak -- but it's also a FANTASTIC setup for a dystopian action/adventure story. Which is why I was so disappointed in the execution.

Here are my two main problems with the book:

1) The plot is overstuffed: I was satisfied with the way the first half of the plot moved along, introducing the cast of characters, explaining the world, and forming the foundation of an interesting mystery. But when the second half of the book rolled around, the plot suddenly kicked into high gear --and that gear was TOO high.

We jumped from battle scene to battle scene to battle scene, a huge of number of new characters were thrown into the mix, there were so many twists forced in that it was sometimes hard to keep track of them, and it all led to a conclusion that was rather lackluster considering what had come before.

I honestly think this would have made a better duology than a single novel, or perhaps even a trilogy. The amount of content condensed into one not-very-long book was hard to digest, and I felt I wasn't given nearly enough time to process all the information. The main cast's characterization also suffered quite a bit, because most of it had to be squeezed into short scenes around those major action pieces that dominated the second half of the story.

Ultimately, I think the book suffered a great deal due to the fact that SO MUCH was crammed into the narrative, and if the plot had been spread out over two or three books, with all the supporting characters more fleshed out, and the rebellion/war ideas more drawn into something that resembled an actual war and not a quick, hard-to-follow series of skirmishes...well, I would have enjoyed this a lot more.

There were a lot of good ideas here -- the author just tried to incorporate TOO many in a limited space.

2) The Love Triangle: My dislike of love triangles will come as no surprise if you've read some of my past YA reviews, and it's gotten to the point where I usually don't comment much on them, other than to say, "Ugh, there was a love triangle!" But this time around, I feel the need to talk about the love triangle, because not only was its very existence infuriating, but its "resolution" was simply baffling and absolutely crushed the potential for the protagonist, Amichai, to display any sense of development or maturity.

I won't give TOO many spoilers here, but the setup is pretty similar to other triangles: Amichai has a crush on a girl that he's known a long time, Peaches, his best friend's sister. Then, another girl, Evangeline, who Amichai thinks is the most beautiful girl EVER, storms into his life, and while he doesn't fall in love with her instantly, he is certainly attracted to her. A LOT.

The way this love triangle was handled throughout the story was...bizarre. The plot often ground to a halt for a chapter or so every now and then, just so Amichai could have flirting/kissing/sex scenes (yes, there was a little fade-to-black sex in there) with either of his crushes.

He spends a great deal of time agonizing over which girl he likes more, and basically strings each of them along while he ruminates about it -- only for the decision to ultimately be made for him, instead of him figuring it out on his own, making a mature choice, and handling the situation appropriately. And THEN, that decision ends up meaning basically nothing due to the way the story ends.

I was left...confused about how I was supposed to view this whole romantic angle of the story. Because the way it played out, I felt very little sympathy for Amichai, and quite frankly, thought it significantly detracted from his likability as the hero of the story.

A few other, slightly less significant issues I had with the story:

1) The treatment of Dare and his friendship with Amichai: I liked Dare as a character at the beginning of the story, but I honestly felt his story arc completely ruined him, and that he was reduced to nothing but a tool designed to make Amichai feel guilty. And what really bugs me about it is that the guilt was never resolved...

2) The somewhat abrupt ending of the story that left a few uncomfortable issues hanging: This one doesn't really need an explanation. I wasn't a fan of the ending. I didn't think it wrapped up enough of the loose threads.

3) The way the final showdown between Amichai and the main villain played out: I can't talk much about this one because it involves a major spoiler, but that final showdown scene really bugged me, due to a few key details that were never satisfactorily explained.

4) The way several interesting characters, like Mama Alex, were wasted due to the plot's incessant need to keep things running at a breakneck pace: This ties back in to the issues I had with the plot. There were a number of really neat characters who ended up with minimal screen time and practically zero development due to how fast the plot was moving, and I was really annoyed about it, because I wanted to learn more about them.

5) The odd treatment of religion: The story went on and on about NeoChristians and how Amichai and the nonreligious majority thought their belief in God was weird and even dangerous to the existence of the Upterlife, especially because most of the NeoChristians were militarized. But at the same time, the story never made any actual social commentary on the issue, and resolved the NeoChristians' problems with a hand-wave at the very end of the story. So I'm not entirely sure why the book focused so much on religion to begin with, when it didn't really do much with the idea in the end.

___

Overall, The Uploaded was a pretty big letdown for me. There were a ton of cool ideas in this book, but they were overshadowed by the overstuffed plot, the lack of cohesive character development, an unnecessary and uncomfortable love triangle, and a host of other structural problems.

For me, this one nets a disappointing 2/5 stars.

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

The Uploaded is a science fiction thriller set in a world where the technology has been developed to upload a persons brain after they die to a program called 'The Upterlife.' There you can live out the rest of eternity in your own idea of paradise-providing you l follow the rules and spend your mortal live serving the dead and maintaining the servers. Amichai wants a better life for him and his sister, left alone on Earth after his parents went into the 'Upterlife.' After his future is in doubt after a number of pranks, Amichai joins with his best friend, his best friends sister and his nemesis on a mission to hopefully secure a well paying and stable job so her can support his sister who is recovering from a deadly disease. However, this mission does not go as planned as they uncover a government conspiracy and join with one of the infamous terrorist groups to fight for the rights of the living and try to improve life on Earth.

What I Liked

The concept and in depth world building- I really loved the concept behind the book, and I felt it was a new interpretation of the virtual reality story that I have not read before. It was really interesting to think about a world where death is not the end, you are simply uploaded to a computer program where you can live out your wildest dreams. What is there to stop people from simply dying to enter this utopia and who will be left on earth to maintain the servers and the programs for the dead. I thought the world and setting was very well written and constructed throughout the book, and this was my favourite part of the story.

The characters-  While all of the characters were interesting, I particularly liked the main character Amichai and one of the supporting characters Evangeline. Amichai undergoes a lot of growth and development throughout the book. Early on his decisions and thought processes are very short term and self serving, and it takes him a while to understand the full consequences of his actions. With his friendship with Evangeline and the other Neo-Christians (the terrorist group) we see him see a bigger picture of the world and become one of the major spokespeople for living rights. Evangeline is also another well written character. She starts as a devout Neo-Christian, born into a very tough situation and tasked with fighting against those who believe and serve the 'Upterlife' as she believes that will not lead to true peace after death. We then see her go through a crisis of faith and navigate her feelings for Amichai and her purpose in life and I really enjoyed reading about her journey and seeing her development.

What I Didn't Like

The pacing-I felt the book moved too quickly and had too much in the story. We moved from major plot point to major plot point in an instant and I really wanted the author to take some pages to debrief on what had just happened and take some time to flesh out the story a little more. There were also a little too much packed into the story and I felt either the plot should have been made a little simpler, or the story be split over two books.

The love triangle-Sometimes love triangles are OK, but in this case all it did was annoy me. It just did not seem to fit into the story and made for some really awkward scenes by the characters. It also reduced two of the major female characters to romantic plot devices at some points, and I felt both of them may have been stronger characters if the love triangle was removed or it was written better.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't read dystopian, as a rule, and it's a pretty firm rule. Nor do I generally like books with a high body count. But by the time I discovered that this book is both of those things, I'd been charmed by the voice of its viewpoint character. I finished it and even enjoyed it, despite the fact that it's not the sort of thing I usually like.

It's told from the flipside of the "Rapture of the Nerds," the technological advance that enables personalities to be uploaded. The conscious dead outnumber the living, who are their miserable slaves, maintaining the servers and trying to be the kind of people the dead will eventually vote into the paradisal afterlife - or, as it's known, the Upterlife. Most people's greatest ambition is to be dead; culture consists of an endless series of reboots of franchises that were popular when the oldest dead were alive, and anything creative is in the realm of the dead. In self-defence, the dead have forbidden the living from learning to program. The most excruciating suffering of the living is dismissed with the argument that they'll get over the trauma in two or three hundred years.

The main character is an orphan (thanks to a mutated plague), whose parents are so busy on their World of Warcraft-style quests in the Upterlife that they neglect him and his sister. Partly in order to protect his sister, and partly because he's just a rebellious person, he links up with a rebel underground and with Neo-Christian insurgents (who see the Upterlife as blasphemous) to take on the inventor of the Upterlife, who is permanently President of the United States.

It's over-the-top. It's funny, moving, tragic, and eventually triumphant, though at high cost for all the characters. It's cleverly and skilfully written. If I didn't dislike dystopian stories with a high body count so much, I would certainly be giving it five stars.

I received a copy from Netgalley for review.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Life sucks, and then you die. And, if you've been good enough, your mind gets uploaded to the Upterlife, a virtual paradise, and all your rights go on. By the the time Amichai's parents both die from a viral outbreak, the dead vastly outnumber the living, and most people work to support them, keeping the servers they'll need for their own future afterlives up and running, and just hoping to finally graduate from a life of drudgery into centuries of paradise. But Amichai's always been a troublemaker, and his future uploading is not guaranteed... and he might be okay with that, but in order to help his sister, he agrees to undertake a dangerous mission, that might lead to rebellion against the system

It starts off reading a bit like a YA novel (and maybe it's even intended as one overall).. not just the young protagonist fighting against an oppressive system, but also that condition (not exclusive to YA but certainly more common) where some of the world's setup doesn't REALLY ring true but is needed for the story to get going and for the Authority to be thwartable, and so you just go with it. Once I did make that leap, though, the book became surprisingly fun and with more depth than I initially expected. Characters I initially though were cartoonish showed more layers (unfortunately in at least one case underneath those deeper layers was an even deeper layer much like the first. Like a pie), and explored ideas that might not have been the most novel but at least dealt with in interesting ways, and raised a few unexpected points.

Solidly enjoyable, I'd probably put it at just about 3.5 stars but since half-starts aren't a thing I'll round up.

[Abby Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely brilliant.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone who says cyberpunk is dead has been living under a rock. Not only is cyberpunk alive and kicking, but this book does exactly what true cyberpunk is meant to; takes current technology and shows us what dark or insane paths it might lead us down. (Don't get me wrong, I love genre throwbacks; but in order for a genre to stay alive, someone has to keep pushing it forward.)

This book was a page-turner, start to finish. The story moved quickly, the world building was well done without infodumps, and each of the characters had their own believable energy. There was plenty of action, though more of the keeping-you-on-your-toes kind than the showy action-movie kind (I personally prefer the latter but anyway).

The one possible downside is the portrayal of religious people. This book is NOT for the easily offended. In the world of "The Uploaded," everyone is an atheist except for "NeoChristians," who are extreme walking stereotypes of Christian evangelicals. But even so, the NeoChristians are portrayed sympathetically, if stereotypically, and the alliance between them and the atheist rebels against the corrupt government sends a much needed message about people from radically different belief systems working together.

[alexander shay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book throws a lot at you going in without explaining much of anything until much later. So many terms and cultural things come up that I had a really hard time understanding what was going on, and even by the end I didn't totally follow all the specifics. But once you get past the opening and know a bit more about the world, it's not too bad. Interesting concept, sadly (but probably realistically) bleak, and it kind of forces you to look at one of the potential realities if humans figure out how to upload their consciousness eventually. I wasn't that into the rather overt faith (specifically Christianity) aspects, though they are handled relatively decently and not too in-your-face or soapbox-y. The ending surprised me a little but simultaneously seemed predictable (not 100% in a good way), and also tied things up a little too neatly given the utter shambles the society is/was in prior.

I think my biggest gripe though is the continuity. Several times characters will do an action more than once on a page, as if Steinmetz didn't realize they had done the action already; or characters will think/do something and then Amichai as the narrator will re-describe it through his own way, making for some very repetitive and time-hoppy reading. There's also not enough bridging between him being clueless and him getting these amazing plans--while it is common practice not to reveal details to the reader to avoid spoiling surprises, there are at least two instances in this book where, just before very important face offs, Amichai goes on and on about having no idea what to do, only for the chapter to end with 'I have an idea' and the next chapter the very complex plan goes into action, leaving the reader wondering how the planning and implementation happened and feeling like it left the possibility for luck/coincidence a bit too high.

[Michael Tildsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't say enough good things about this book. Loved the premise, liked a lot of the characters, loved the pacing and the flow of action and dialogue. Nothing felt forced and everything rolled out in near cinematic fashion. I could barely put the darn thing down.

I had actually toyed with doing a similar concept myself for this year's NANOWRIMO. I might shelf my own idea for a year or two so that it doesn't morph too much into this book. I have three other novels to work on in the mean time...

Great job, Mr Steinmetz! I hope to read more of your work in the future.

[Patricia Madden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting story. I enjoyed it much more than I expected to. The characters and their motivations are interesting. It was dismal view of the future but the story tied together nicely. The villains survival skills were a bit unrealistic but it was a good story overall.

[Marjolein (UrlPhantomhive) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review to come!

[Annu Marie Gu · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept of uploading human consciousness to an "afterlife" MMORPG is what drew me to read this and I wasn't disappointed. I really sunk deep into a decaying, coral-laden New York after the bubbler took a chunk out of the population. The plot was both interesting and surprising with lots of action. The villain wasn't too surprising, but lacked depth for me. Just your typical bully. But I did appreciate the struggle to resolve the power balance between the dead and the living when no one truly dies when their consciousness is uploaded. I wish it actually spent more time on this. There are a lot of characters (yay for diversity) to sink your teeth into, but I had mixed feelings about the protag, Amichai.

He came off as painfully naive, self-centered, and callous, pretty much wanting to please everyone even at the cost of hurting the people he actually cared about. But he was also very young and was figuring out how to treat people and what he should stand for. That's a part of growing up so his character was very authentic. Just fair warning that it might get on your nerves. The problem for me was he was the only POV we got. I wonder if I might've felt differently if we got the POV of others like Peaches, Dare, and Evangeline. For me, Amichai wasn't interesting enough to be a main character. He read like a side character with too much screen time.

Another fair warning, there was some insta-love that led to Amichai making the most boneheaded and bizarro of decisions in a, you guessed it, love triangle. Because we can't not have a love triangle.

I also didn't understand why Neo Christians were the only religious group mentioned having a problem with uploaded consciousness, and nothing about other religious groups. It was like reading that Christianity was the only religion on the planet. That detracted from the diversity for me.

The writing was spot on, not too easy breezy, but not heavy either. Meaty enough to make this a solid read, but again, I might've gotten through this quicker if I wasn't annoyed with Amichai. He slowed it down for me.

[Tracey · Rating 3 out of 5]

The idea behind the story was fantastic; the execution of the writing not as good. I would still recommend it, though.

[Micaela Michalk · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished this book that pleasantly surprised me. I received The Uploaded in a used books book box and recently learned that the author, Ferrett Steinmetz, was from Cleveland which is my neck of the woods. For some reason, these facts almost made me think it wasn't going to be a great read. That, and the fact I seem to hate everything I've been reading lately. But I'm glad I was wrong.

The Uploaded is a science fiction dystopian set in the future where, when anyone dies, their consciousness is uploaded into this world wide server. As such, the world is ruled by the dead elite who determine who gets into this server and who doesn't. As a result, those who are still living live miserable lives, just hoping for death and the server. Until Amichai, a fifteen-year-old rebellious kid, changes things.

The author, Ferrett Steinmetz, has now published a few novels, dozens of short stories, and writes his own blogs and essays, trying to evaluate the world and leave it a better place--or at least, that's my interpretation on his musings.

In this story, I appreciated the diverse characters with their own unique flaws, even as frusturating as they were. The main character, Amichai, through whose point of view tells the narrative, is impulsive and has a bit of a hero complex, but he is compassionate with good intentions. His best friend, Dare, was at first my favorite character until his naivety turned into bitterness. Some of the other characters: Izzy, Amichai's sister who is reluctant to rebel; Peaches, one love interest who is sometimes passionate to a fault; Mama Alex, a mentor figure; Evangeline, who takes her faith to serious heights; and the villains each out for what they believe is right. This last part is something I really enjoyed--seeing how people can be evil and manipulative but doing it out of belief that it's the right thing instead of having selfish intentions. It really shows how impact means more than intentions.

Another thing that impressed me about the novel was the worldbuilding. Given the plot, there had to be a lot of scientific tech talk, but the way the world worked was delivered to the reader in a believable way without getting too complex for me or info-dumping. The rebuilding of the country with different names and the history of what happened in certain areas (like the Boston rebellion) was spectacular. One thing I always love is when the langugage in a book is so evolved that there are new curse words. For instance, in this book, they tend to use "void" as the new F word, as going "void" is when someone dies without being uploaded. It just impresses me that there are worlds so thoroughly created that even the language changes.

There were also some major plot twists. A few I'll admit I saw coming, but some I didn't at all, and I think that's a good balance. I wasn't so thrown off my feet that I was lost but I was rattled enough to keep my attention on the text. And even the fighting scenes were written well--and action scenes like that are typically where my eyes just naturally skip paragraphs, but they didn't this time!

Now of course, no one's perfect, and this book did have a few flaws. There were moments--not all the time, but moments--where the dialogue was a bit cringey or unbelivable. As if someone too self-righteous was talking. Perhaps my one major complaint, though, is that when there were some major deaths, I don't think the main character's grief was belivable. I think he could've leaned more into it, but it almost felt ignored, and that made me feel cheated. I know everyone grieves differently, but I wish there had been more emotion there.

Also, the Neo-Christians really annoyed me, but they were necessary to the book. It's just, as someone who believes in God, I hate to think I might ever become as judgemental and fundamentalistic as they did. Though, I probably don't like the idea of a server death either!

Overall, I give this book between 3.5-4 stars. It would have been a solid 4 if not for a scene in the ending, but no spoilers! I highly recommend this book to sci-fi lovers and anyone who is interested in the dark side of technology. Fans of Black Mirror, Sword Art Online, and Ready Player One may enjoy this.

[OldBird · Rating 2 out of 5]

A really awesome techno-thriller dystopian idea, but I couldn't help but feel it was muddied be some messy boyish YA storytelling. The details are so cool and yet it all comes back to "everyone loves Amichai". Which, if you don't, makes it possible less enjoyable a read.

Imagine a world where the dead outnumber the living by uploading their consciousnesses post-death to the Upterlife and "living" whatever dream they fancy while still interfering with the living. Amichai and his sister Izzy were left orphaned in the "meat" world by their parents untimely demise, but do they check up on their kids? Nope, too busy slaying orcs or something. Understandably, Amichai isn't too pleased with how this awesome digital afterlife changes people. Nor is he pleased by how the world now works: the dead have the power, while the living slave away to care for their ever-expanding digital needs while the rest of the world crumbles. Disease left the population greatly reduced, so every physical hand is needed for jobs the "ghosts" can't do. Commit a crime (or suicide) and you can kiss the ultimate afterlife goodbye; only those judged worthy are admitted. So when Izzy is incapacitated but judged not damaged enough to be allowed to die, Amichai feels the need to rebel. Along with his friend Dare and the already mutinous girl Peaches who are both sick to death of their ancestors ruling their lives, Amichai hatches a plan. It all started with a pony...

There is so much world building to unpack it's insane. It can be frustratingly vague at times, descriptions not overly helpful in giving a clear picture. Characters explain some things as if we readers don't know them (basically all the Upterlife stuff), but then make no comment on buildings being made of... coral? There's the philosophical/Theological aspect too when we bring in the "terrorist" groups of NeoChristians who reject the Upterlife vs those who don't. I won't lie, we go into some interesting territory but it's just a snatched moment here and there that forces you to piece things together painfully slowly.

Amichai is a bit frustrating himself; I actually liked his cocky narration, but he does that things that a lot of more (for lack of a better word) "boy" books do - he just knows stuff, deducing it on the fly before going back to give us the details of how he got there. Details we as readers couldn't have known without being told. I'm not a fan of that method of storytelling, which probably didn't help my personal enjoyment. Amichai's also inexplicably loved by a fair few characters: Peaches, Evangeline, the President, even Dare to some extent. The big question of why never seems answered; it's just because he's Amichai, duh.

Caution: love triangle alert. Only it's a bit... harem-y more than actual love. Again, for lack of a better way of putting it, the "romance" is very male YA - feelings, what are those? Girls just kiss guys and stuff, maybe have a sexy tiemz. Amichai only seems to feel slight guilt, never attachment. I just found it a bit odd.In fact I found a lot of character's motivations incomprehensible, but just went with it because the story logic made it acceptable (Gumdrool and Peaches and Evangeline... what were you guys even doing?)

And then I just felt that the plot escaped a little towards the end, sprawling further rather than coming together nicely. It was finished, yes, but it didn't feel wholly satisfying.

So TL;DR: I liked the writing style, the ideas, the world building that was explained... But I couldn't connect with the characters, nor did I like being made to attempt to get why things were happening when the narrator's withholding information. It's in no way a bad book, just one I had trouble really getting into.

[Joshua Hicken · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Uploaded
Ferrit Steinmetz

CAWPILE SCORE
C- 6
A-8
W-7
P-9
I-7
L-8
E-7
TOTAL-7.43/10



CAWPILE
Characters
Sometimes I had a hard time remembering that most of these characters are 15-17.

Amichai—I was really hoping he would become a hacker or programmer and do something that way, he turned out to be the worlds best Social Media Influencer. Has a moral character that won’t be shaken, but is totally or could totally be corrupted at the end of the book
Dare—what a flippy floppy character. Wish he’d had a secret shrive after betrayal. Would be better. Went from super scared to taking charge. Mastering Programming, felt a little too unreal
Peaches—interesting, nice, committed.
Mama Alex—master hacker, easily taken out by Drumgroole. Very competent
Ian Drumgoole/gumdroole—Wow, unexpected that he’s shrived Mortal since he was 11 basically. He’s a throughbred Psychopath, with super control issues.
Wickliffe/Wickcleft—Lost his ideals. Lived too long and can’t see the solutions
Izzy—wish we’d seen more of her.
NeoChristians—can totally see this actually happening, but have to remember it wasn’t mainstream Christians that turned but mostly spinoff’s etc
Evangeline—didn’t need her Love Triangle section. But was good as a reminder of other belief. Very grief stricken, had to kill her parents after they were mind wiped

Atmosphere
Well written Atmosphere. Dark world, everybody is secretly/not secretly suidicidal. Nice use of showing how the world has deteriorated with the advent of Upterlife

Writing
Writing was good, some spots I felt switched from Adult to YA. Shrive.

Plot
Good plot. The dead won’t leave the living alone, the Living only want to die. Amichai must figure out how to fix the “system”. Didn’t love or feel the real need of the “love Triangle”

Investment
Good desire to keep reading, Lots of False turns that were given to me. Small part in middle where I started to lose interest, but it picked up again.

Logic
Lots of things made sense, the power of the dead, them watching all the time, their investment in basically destroying the Physical world, The hyper-addiction of the Dead to the hyper addicting drug of VR basically. The way everyone wants to die and move on to Upterlife.
Interesting and thoughtout application of loss of death.

Enjoyment
I enjoyed the book, small-medium issues, but overall worth it.
Life guard as they heroically hurled themselves underfoot.

Misc
Sneaking a Pony in.
Rewriting peoples brains
Gumdroole at the end, what a loser
There is no perfect solution something will always go wrong in the long run, but those are new problems to fix and change when they happen. Nothing remains the same forever.
The OLD Platitude. Life’s Short and Then you die. Totally flipped on its head
Nice way to give propaganda- video pov is forced to watch as punishment in Isolation.
Amichai “blocking” Ian Drumgoole.
LifeGuard Sucks, cause they turn every mission into a suicide mission
Explosions bring us closer to God.
Amichai’s Parents SUCK

Even though Neochristians and “regular” people hated each other, they both had the intense desire for a life after this life. Didn’t care about the Physical world.


I will be talking about it on Libromancy https://libromancy.podbean.com/ on 10/29/2023

[S.J. Higbee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This dystopian, YA science fiction near-future adventure explores a premise that I’ve recently come across in other books – Reaper by Janet Edwards and The Real-Town Murders by Adam Roberts – whereby people are spending more time in a virtual reality at the expense of our organic, real-time world. There are differences, of course, and Steinmetz has the dead uploaded into a virtual Heaven, which sounds a great idea.

However, the dead are still in charge of governing and over time they out-vote the living, who are increasingly losing out to the dead. Professionals are inevitably dead – but imagine being treated by a virtual doctor who has been dead so long, he has no sympathy about the fact you are in a lot of pain. This is the kind of problem the living are coping with. I like this world very much, which is well thought-out and poses some interesting questions.

Our protagonist is certainly very ticked off with his situation. His parents, who died six years ago in one of the virulent plagues sweeping across the planet, spend their time and energy in a fantasy world looking out for dragons, rather than keeping in touch with their children. Amichai, bright and inventive, is boxed into a miserable dead-end maintenance job so necessary to keep the Upterlife going, so relieves his frustration by breaking the rules and getting into mischief. However, he is treading a very narrow line – if he finally succeeds in really annoying the authorities, the dead can examine his ‘Shrive’ his last ‘save point’ where his thoughts and memories are uploaded and if they judge him to be a criminal, he would then die a ‘meat death’ where he won’t be uploaded once he dies. Unsurprisingly, the real-time population are really fed up, but reluctant to revolt given the way the odds are loaded against them.

I enjoyed this one. The plot twists and turns as Amichai flounders to find his place in this unhospitable world with a strong supporting cast. I think I could have loved it a tad more if I hadn’t found Amichai so flaky and annoying, but I’m aware this is a very personal response. My grouse is that when the situation is so dire, his impulsive risk-taking is plainly inappropriate and a lot of the narrative tension rides on it. However, if only he behaved with more responsibility, he wouldn’t have found himself in such a bad place – and given that his sister is pretty much reliant on him, I lost patience with his attitude. That said, the author makes a good case for the reasons why he is as he is – and he is thoroughly called to account for his behaviour and forced to reconsider his attitude, so there is a sense that he grows up during the book. If you enjoy dystopian science fiction reads with plenty of action, then I recommend this one.

While I obtained the arc of The Uploaded from the publisher via NetGalley, this has in no way influenced my unbiased review.
8/10

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 2.5 of 5

I had read Ferrett Steinmetz's 'Mancer' series and despite rave reviews by so many, I could never quite see what the fuss was all about. Reading the slug line for this book I thought the concept sounded really interesting so I thought I'd give Steinmetz another go.

The concept: In the not-too-distant future, as more and more people are connected on-line someone has created a virtual heaven so popular that people are dying to get in. Literally. To access this digital heaven, known as the Upterlife, the synapses of one's brain are uploaded and the physical body dies. This was great for the elderly whose bodies were about to wear out anyway.

But the dead, now with nothing but time to think and communicate, don't think too highly of the living. In fact, the living have become slaves to the dead - maintaining and upgrading the servers that host the dead network. The dead also begin a bit of snobbery, deciding which living person is worthy of being uploaded to the Upterlife and which ones are banished to an everlasting death.

One young boy, Amichai, rebels against the certain future of serving the dead for himself and his sister, and during the course of his rebellion he discovers that he is not alone in wanting a better life.

I really, really like the idea here. Steinmetz has a great knack for high sci-fi concepts. That this doesn't steer away from any sort of potential religious controversy is definitely in its favor. But a good sci-fi novel needs so much more than a great concept. It also needs characters and motivation and heart.

The first couple of chapters opened up so nicely and I thought to myself - ah, I think I will enjoy a Ferrett Steinmetz novel! But the further I got into it the less I cared. The concept became richer and clearer and I was really enjoying it, but the characters never became any more full or interesting than they were in the first couple of chapters. Because of this, the book just became a strange combination of great concept/uninteresting characters. So while I wanted to read on to understand what was happening, I also just wanted the book to be over because the people who inhabited this world were so very uninteresting.

Looking for a good book? The Uploaded by Ferrett Steinmetz shows that the author is wonderful at giving the reader unusual and tremendous science fiction ideas but the characters and the worlds he builds don't quite live up to the concepts.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

[Pep · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ferrett obvously thinks that "post-young-adults" are more sophisticated than they actually are. I presume that is the demographic being aimed for, the self-identifying entitled Generation XXYY, well, the tiny minority of them that can be assed to read about four hundred pages of libertarian polemic fantasy.

Or perhaps I am an old fart with a dismissive attitude to the most recent generation to invent sex and relationship problems, and who publicly demonstrate an exaggerated concern for the consequences of the past and a misguided belief that they can not only do something about it, but can do better.

This book (I haven't read any of his other works at this point) felt like he started writing it as a thirteen-year=old, and got better over the forty or so years it took him to complete it. Nevertheless, it still read like an update of Tom Swift at its conclusion.

It also read like an alternate reality that the Linden Lab founders might have envisaged if Robert Heinlein and Donald Trump had been board members.

I must admit I was a bit disappointed not to find cosplay, BDSM and bestiality making an appearance, although maybe his publishers made him write those bits out. Perhaps Mr Steinmetz could offer the out-takes to whoever is going to be brave enough to collate the Last Dangerous Visions anthology now Harlan's prevarications have been taken out of the equation by his demise.

Now, should I be brave enough to try the trilogy (I HATE trilogies!) or should I see if his writing has matured in The Sol Majestic? On the up side it sounds like the book Douglas Adams might have written if he was a gastrognome (yeah, I know how to spell it really; it's a joke, because Douglas was about eight feet tall; qv Little John) and on the down side it has a teenage hero. (I HATE teenage heroes, although I can understand authors using them, because the story is kept going by the immaturity of their decision making; qv James Tiberius Kirk as antithesis).

PS I wouldn't ever have chosen to read this book, as the book jacket (I know, the author has no input on that design point) screams "post-Harry-Potter", but my wife brought it home from the library as she thought it might be my kind of thing.

It wasn't.