The Uploaded

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By Ferrett Steinmetz

Publisher Description

A “sharp, weird, and wildly innovative” cyberpunk family drama set in a world run by the afterlife—from a Nebula Award finalist (Cherie Priest, Locus Award-winning author of Boneshaker)

In the near future, the minds of the deceased are uploaded into the computer network, where they control the world from the afterlife. For those still on Earth, living is just waiting to die—and maintaining 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 of slaving away for the dead. And it turns out he’s not the only one who wants to reset the world...

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14 Reviews

3.5

Josh Hicken

Created over 1 year ago

“The Uploaded Ferrit Steinmetz CAWPILE SCORE C- 6 A-8 W-7 P-9 I-7 L-8 E-7 TOTAL-7.43/10 I will be talking about it on Libromancy https://libromancy.podbean.com/ on 10/29/2023”

Living_for_literature

Created almost 2 years ago

“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.”

Gabrielle Walton

Created over 2 years ago

DonnaC

Created over 3 years ago

“Got too about 150 pages in but it’s not for me. It all got totally confusing at this point so I’m abandoning it I’m afraid.”

Vicky Fearnley

Created over 3 years ago

About Ferrett Steinmetz

Ferrett Steinmetz is a graduate of both the Clarion Writers' Workshop and Viable Paradise, and has been nominated for the Nebula Award. Ferrett has a popular blog, The Watchtower of Destruction, where he talks about bad puns, relationships, politics and videogames.

theferrett.com
twitter.com/ferretthimself

Author hometown: Cleveland, Ohio