Upgrade: A Novel

I find Mr. Crouch books extremely engaging and his extrapolation of future tech fascinating.How can a normal human write about a super-mind? Crouch manages it well.His future America is mostly believable, if we ignore some liberties such as Hyperloop service and stratospheric planes. The former was never a thing, the latter is not something I’d want to travel in.But it was easy to remove those things from the story and follow instead the evolution of a supermind forced to break biology but remaining essentially tied to human compassion.Most of all, it is a compelling read with some hard questions for us to ponder.

It’s all been said already. An important novel.The only criticism is that it has the predictable climax with machine guns and explosives. It has the all-too-familiar feel of being intentioned for film.The story is so much better than that. Will no author have the integrity to deny Hollywood’s titillation requirement of 17-year-old males?

This is a fast-paced action book with an interesting story line and it never slogs your down---that is good. Crisp action and an interesting plot idea as well as well as a nice small twist at the end, 3 stars is not 'bad' in my book---it's a worthwhile read, some interesting ideas in science in it too. I usually give 4 and 5's to more 'literary' books. But worth the money, a good, quick read and you learn some things too!

‘Upgrade’ by Blake Crouch is a masterclass in how to write a riveting, edge of your seat, page turning work of art. It is a book that will have you calling in sick to work because you can’t bear to put it down… and I may be talking from experience. As per the other recent titles from Mr Crouch, such as ‘Dark Matter’ and ‘Recursion’, this book contains a skilled blend of different genres from science fiction to suspense, medical thriller to dystopian fantasy. Our protagonist is likeable but flawed, and the villain is nuanced and to some extent relatable. The world building is meticulous and secondary characters are bought to life with Mr Crouch’s consummate writing. The only reason that I am going to give this a 4.5 out of 5 stars is the moments where the technical writing overwhelms the narrative, as I got a little lost with all the acronyms. After a while I just skimmed over these parts and don’t think I lost anything from the experience.Set in the not too distant future, our narrator is Logan Ramsay, is an agent with the American Gene Protection Agency (GPA). Around twenty years before the start of the book a revolutionary, biological DNA modifier system called Scythe was discovered and patented. Its introduction had heralded a new era of gene editing and delivery across the world, and it also led to catastrophic results. You see, there was a bacterial leaf blight affecting the Indica rice crops in Zhao Qing, China. The scientist who created Scythe decided that by genetically modifying locusts to carry a virus to the rice paddies, the gene modifications could augment the plants resistance to the blight without making any other changes. Whilst the lab results worked perfectly, the actual application had devastating results with the viral-control systems developing mutations that caused the genes necessary for seed production to be eradicated from the plants. The virus then generalised and begun cross-species virus transmission which infected and targeting other food crops.‘ During the next seven years, each growing season yielded less and less, and before the locusts were finally eradicated, China’s strategic grain supply was critically depleted.The famine spread to every continent and affected every human being in one way or another. When you wipe out millions of hectares of crops, it changes where the rain falls. When you destroy rice paddies, you destroy everything that needs them to live.Two hundred million people starved to death, but that number doesn’t come close to the total impact of the chaos we unchained. The downstream effect on economies, healthcare systems, entire species, and the biosphere itself was incalculable. ’This time became known as The Great Starvation and caused unsanctioned gene editing to be outlawed. The GPA was founded to track down dark gene labs and the scientists who illegally run them to ensure that nothing like the events in Zhao Qing can happen again. Logan thinks of his time in the GPA as penance. When he was younger, he had wanted to be a geneticist, following in the footsteps of his world-famous mother, Miriam Ramsay. While Miriam was an absolute juggernaut in the field of genetics with a mind unrivalled and an ambition to match, she was also the creator of Scythe and the virus that caused The Great Starvation.‘ “She was a god. The world’s preeminent cell biologist. She’d already made a billion dollars off The Story of You, her ancestry and genetic testing company. Her Scythe patents were even more lucrative.” ’During a raid on a dark gene lab, Logan is hurt and wakes up in hospital with severe injuries and the risk of being exposed to an engineered virus. After experiencing dangerous flu like symptoms, including a temperature of 106.1F, Logan is cleared of any DNA modifications and released from isolation. Returning to his loving family, wife Beth and daughter Ava, he settles seamlessly back into homelife whilst recovering from his injuries and awaiting to go back to work. The only problem is that he is experiencing intermittent bone deep aches and pains that seem to have no cause. This is the first sign of the extraordinary alterations that are occurring in Logan’s body. Soon he is reading faster, interpreting micro-expressions on people’s faces and comprehending material beyond his previous understanding. As the ‘upgrade’ continues, Logan is captured by the GPA, imprisoned and studied by the very people whom he has dedicated the past fifteen years of his life to, and he starts to understand the fear that drives the agency and his superiors.Logan escapes but can’t return to his family for fear of putting them in danger. Instead, he embarks on a journey to find out who hacked his genome and forced the ‘upgrade’ on him and what the ultimate goal is. Along the way, he realises that the entire world’s future balances precariously on the edge of the abyss, without change, the planet and humankind is doomed to extinction within the next one hundred and fifty years. But what change needs to happen to ensure humanities survival is the question. As Logan grapples with what to do, he is forced to come face to face with how much of himself he is willing to sacrifice to protect his family.Ultimately this book is a warning to us all as to how fragile our world is and without change, we will be sentencing our children to the end of the human civilisation as we know it. The gripping narrative has a profound message at its core. That it is time to set up and take accountability for the mistakes of our past to ensure we all have future. It never felt like Mr Crouch was lecturing to the reader, instead, the social responsibility threads were skilfully woven throughout the story.Overall, 'Upgrade' was simply a masterpiece. The writing is engaging, the characters brilliantly executed, and the world building perfectly realised. Yes, this book does have a message about our likely future if we don’t change our ways, but do not let that detract you. It is still an incredible story, the action is fast paced the plotline is riveting, and it is everything I have come to expect from Blake Crouch. Be warned, you will run the length and breadth of emotions reading this book but, in the end, it will give you hope. I need to say that I am in awe of the talent that Mr Crouch has and will happily read anything he has written.4.5 out of 5 stars! Rounded to 5 stars.

I’ve always had a fascination with genetics, and this book had some truly interesting – and scary – concepts, many of which would be plausible if our current technology continues to advance. What I liked most is that the author didn’t just stick to the benefits of said technology, but also conveyed several scenarios where even the best-intentioned interference in our world’s biology led to catastrophic consequences. Both sides of the current debate were captured within the story.As a scientist myself, I understood much of the technical information that was presented. I also understood why the author felt compelled to explain certain concepts to the reader—not everyone reading science fiction is a scientist as I am—but I feel it tended toward information dumping in places. And there were a few instances later in the story where little details got so mired in technical jargon even I started to skim past some of it. (I think I understand what the author was trying to convey in some of those passages, but it got to be a bit too much at times.)That aside, I liked this book. There was a lot of science involved, but it was balanced by just enough action that it was a fast-paced and really interesting read. With a rogue scientist trying to plan the evolutionary future of the human race and a main character struggling to do what he believes is right—that humanity deserves a chance to fix what it has broken—it’s high stakes from the start.But our main character isn’t without his flaws. I’ll admit I was a little frustrated with the ending (epilogue, specifically, and the letter he wrote to his family.) I won’t go into details, as I don’t believe in spoilers, but it was frustrating to read that final admission. It fit with the theme of the story, I was just personally hoping for something else to occur.Anyway, if you like science fiction focused on genetics, this one was a very good read.

Item as described, perfect condition reads amazingly well. Would by from this seller again

Muy bien escrito; Crouch nos da personajes sólidos, de carne y hueso. Un futuro distópico de alta probabilidad, enfrentando dilemas morales sobre el destino de la especie humana. Lectura fácil, que me llevó 4 o 5 horas.

This book starts off a little slow and took me a couple of revisits to get fully into but once I did I couldn’t put it down. I really love the way crouch paces these thrillers. I also enjoy the nods to the sci-fi elements but that doesn’t become all encompassing. This story ultimately is about humanity and I really enjoyed his epilogue. As someone who is extremely empathetic and can feel sympathy for strangers. It opened my eyes to the fact that not everyone does and (considering what is happening in Gaza right now) is exactly what we need more than ever.If you like Blake crouch, this is another hit in my opinion. Some of the themes have been done before I.e the movie Lucy. Things like that. But regardless the story twists and turns and the canvas he paints of the scenery transports you right there with the characters.If it’s your first Blake crouch. Buckle up because it’s a great ride, I mean read.

J’ai eu du mal à aller jusqu’au bout. Le concept est plutôt bien trouvé, mais le traitement est soporifique. Dommage.

The storyline, plot, character-narration is awesome. Blake Crouch never disappoint us with his mesmerising climaxes. This book would be even better for biology nerds.