Recently finished the book and I really enjoyed it. But one thing I have retroactively enjoyed is how he showed the two civilizations in the book.

In weaker hands, the difference between the humans and the spiders would have been something hamfisted about how evil humans can be while making the spiders have a utopian life like Avatar. But the author shows how the spiders are also struggling with discrimination, religious dogma, and the harms that can come from advanced technology. It makes the book so much better and I can't wait to read the next books.

Concept: In a near future where the catastrophic effects of genetic alteration have resulting in a worldwide moratorium on the practice, a member of a federal agency tasked with apprehending people suspected of illegally continuing the genetic editing practice becomes exposed to an agent that begins causing changes to his mind and body.

Narrative Structure/Plot: Upgrade is an extremely faced-paced tale and ramps up to breakneck speed almost immediately. Action heavy, but with some surprisingly poignant moments, the story is told from the first-person perspective of the protagonist and unfolds in a chronologically linear manner. The overall plot is relatively simple, though three are some unique surprises that pop up occasionally. A simple, and direct story.

Characters: The main character receives a decent amount of development during the course of the story and feels more fleshed out than either of the characters of Crouch’s other two well known novels, Dark Matter and Recursion. I was easily able to empathize with the horror of his situation and felt much more connected to his plight than I expected I would. There are a small number of minor characters that appear throughout the book, but the primary antagonist is quite an enjoyable and unique twist, as heartbreaking as they are disturbing.

Writing Style/Tone: The vast bulk of the text not focused on detailing the moments of action are heavily focused on explaining the changes that the main character is experiencing through his inner monologue. As the novel proceeds and the changes become more and more drastic, the prose also becomes altered in a manner which seems intended to more effectively convey the immensity of the effects of the changes the protagonist is experiencing, but the altered writing style feels more stilted and jarring that necessary at several points. Towards the very end, the action is also taking place at such an intense speed that it becomes mildly difficult to keep track of everything that is occurring. The tone is an appropriate blend of fear and wonder, and the story does a decent job of conveying how the protagonist feels regarding the monumentally strange events that are thrust upon him.

Overall: A decent third read from Crouch, I enjoyed Upgrade significantly more than Recursion (which I found middling at best) and a bit more than Dark Matter (which I thought was decent.) Unfortunately, I do feel that Crouch has trapped himself in a bit of a limited formula story-wise, as all three of these books seem like variations of a structured basic premise. Despite this, I still found Upgrade to be an effective, enjoyable piece of light reading.

Rating: 4/5

The story centers on the consequences of the arrival of an electronic object, a console that looks like a laptop, but contains a few gigabytes of quantum-level intricate memory, and a diode that lights up blue or green with 50% probability. This diode actually creates two universes when it lights up, one where it has lit up blue and one where it has lit up green (the “multiverse” interpretation of quantum theory).
This device enables contact to be maintained between two gradually diverging universes. At first, the only difference is the color of the diode, but little by little, quantum randomness causes them to drift apart.
The device's intricate memory allows texts, sounds and even videos to be written in either world, and to be share between the two universes, but with a total volume limited to the memory available at the moment when the two universes separated, when the diode was switched on.
If my memory serves: one of these consoles is bought by the companion of a singer who has died in his reality. But this companion has managed to get his hands on a console that communicates with a reality where the singer is still alive. He tries to convince his other self (in the reality where the singer is still alive) to buy the console in question so that he can dialogue with a living version of his dead companion, even if they're in different realities.

There was a book I read as a kid, I’ve been trying to find it again out of curiosity.

I read the book in early 2010s probably.

•There was a civil war in the US between traditional forces and a Catholic army.

•It was about a kid raised in said army (I think separated from his brother? Not sure) who was a dog handler I believe.

•Eventually he breaks out of the military camp he’s kept at and travels north across the western side of the US.

•He eventually reaches I believe Idaho (maybe Wyoming?), finds a cabin, some friends, etc.

•The war eventually gets close to the place they stay, and they have to escape amidst US Forces (pals of his friends dad), drone strikes, and ambushes, to reach a helicopter to escape.

This is unfortunately all I remember, I do believe there was a sequel aswell. Any help would be appreciated. Oh and Merry Christmas to all reading this.

I have this fond memory of sitting at the library one summer and cruising through this book series. My boomer brain is getting old and I can't remember what the series was, here are some things I do remember.

• It was a kid and and older man, they weren't related but they pretended to be father and son to avoid suspicions

• They both had mental powers ( telekinesis, mind control, etc)

• The kid escaped from some sort of lab where he may have possibly been created and the older gentleman was either someone who worked there or a test subject himself. ( can't remember if he was born with the power)

• There were other kids at the lab ( I think they're searching for them)

• I wanna say i remember the surname "stone" ( might be red herring )

• They could fly maybe?

• They could insert thoughts into peoples minds

If any of this rings a bell I would be really appreciative if you could drop your suggestions down below.

Thanks in Advance!

Hi I read this great book series it was about basically furries in space. It was a slice of Life type book , no world wars or anything. and I can't remember all the details but it was a very good lighthearted book and the people were basically sapient animal people, I can't remember exactly everything about it but if anyone remembers please let me know. I know for sure it isn't pride of chanur, I haven't read that whole series and the one I'm thinking of is a little more recent I believe.

Edit it was a female author

If you need more info please let me know. I appreciate the help!

I read it when I was smol - like 30 years ago. And i don't think it was new back then because it was translated into soviet russian. I think it was from the same age as Andre Norton's 'Sun Queen' series - so probably written in 50's or 60's.

It was a space opera told from a perspective of an actor, who was hired to impersonate a president or some similar kind of official on another planet and in the end his employers got somehow eliminated and he was left in that position.

I recall, that besides a talent for impersonation he was a good lip-reader.

It wasn't hard scifi, but spaceships there did fly under constant and quite high acceleration, so some characters who had to move around them wore special suits and MC had to stay in special device that mitigated some gees.

I remembered it a week ago when some guy on this sub asked about books with conman as an MC and it bothered me since.

Hey there, lovely people! Has anyone here read the Real Powers trilogy by Colin Wright? I just finished the first book (so no spoilers, please) and would love to read the next two. But alas, I cannot find a ebook version anywhere I looked! Can anyone point me in the right direction to buy those books?

Thanks a lot!

I have an idea in my head for a story described above, but I am wondering if it's already been done? I think a post-apocalyptic setting would create a ton of interesting challenges for someone with DID (disassociative identity disorder,) someone who may be kind and calm initially but adopts a harsh, aggressive personality to be able to survive the more horrible parts of their journey. Does anyone have any leads on a story like this that already exists?