"Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested." (Francis Bacon)

Monday, June 03, 2024

Downloaded

TITLE: The Downloaded
AUTHOR: Robert J. Sawyer

In 2059, the crew of a starship scheduled to travel to a planet in a different star system, have their consciousness uploaded to a quantum computer and their bodies placed in cryosleep for the long journey. Also uploaded in the same Canadian facility are a group of convicts who chose to serve their sentences in a virtual prison. When something goes horribly wrong, everyone is downloaded to their waking body500 years in the future. While the facility is intact, the outside shows signs of a plent-wide disaster. The astronauts and ex-cons must learn how to work together in order to survive.

This short novel is a quick read, told in alternating points of view. The narrative gimmick has many of the characters answer questions from an unnamed interviewer. The characters are all interesting, though at times, their voices seem a bit too similar. But the keep the story moving forward and there's a real sense of them as people just trying to deal with the unexpected reality in which they find themselves.

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