Upgrade
I picked up this book as it was recommended by Andy Weir (one of my favorite authors) – so I was expecting something relatively similar to his writing style. It wasn’t exactly similar in terms of narrative voice, but I can definitely see why he would like it, as this is a very smart and scientifically grounded thriller.
The story follows Logan in a near-future world, just after a major catastrophe in the field of genetics inadvertently unleashed a global famine (incidentally by Logan’s late mother, Miriam Ramsey). Logan works in a federal group to investigate and contain what appear to be potential genetic enhancements, to contain them, trying to get away from his legacy… until he himself ends up the victim of a massive genetic upgrade, which he later learns was engineered by his mother. The background of the story is that (for various politically correct reasons), humanity is about to die out… and Logan’s mother believed that only exceedingly smart (and fast, and capable) humans could outsmart the fate that awaits them. But he, and he later discovers his sister, are the first test subjects. The description of Logan’s experiences as an upgraded human, and how he deduces what has happened to him, is probably the best and most fascinating part of the book.
Logan’s sister and he end up at idealogical odds–working against one another, but each in what they believe is the best interest of humanity. The ending essentially is what it must be, so there weren’t a lot of surprises once the story gets going, but of course there is a lot of reflection on what it means to be human, and what traits are truly most important.
My rating: ****1/2
Language: lots, though it could have been worse
Sexual content: I don’t remember any but it’s the sort of book in which it was probably there…
Violence: present, but while this wasn’t excessive, some of the gory aftermath really was
Political content: moderate, I’d say. It was a driving premise.
