Upgrade

A Novel

De: Blake Crouch

Narrado por: Henry Levya

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “If Michael Crichton had written a superhero novel, it would look a lot like Upgrade.”—The New York Times Book Review

“You don’t so much sympathize with the main character as live inside his skin.”—DIANA GABALDON, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Outlander series

“Mysterious, fascinating, and deeply moving—exploring the very nature of what it means to be human.”—ALEX MICHAELIDES, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Silent Patient and The Maiden

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Time, She Reads

The mind-blowing new thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Dark Matter and Recursion—currently in development as a motion picture at Steven Spielberg's Amblin Partners

“You are the next step in human evolution.”

At first, Logan Ramsay isn’t sure if anything’s different. He just feels a little . . . sharper. Better able to concentrate. Better at multitasking. Reading a bit faster, memorizing better, needing less sleep.

But before long, he can’t deny it: Something’s happening to his brain. To his body. He’s starting to see the world, and those around him—even those he loves most—in whole new ways.

The truth is, Logan’s genome has been hacked. And there’s a reason he’s been targeted for this upgrade. A reason that goes back decades to the darkest part of his past, and a horrific family legacy.

Worse still, what’s happening to him is just the first step in a much larger plan, one that will inflict the same changes on humanity at large—at a terrifying cost.

Because of his new abilities, Logan’s the one person in the world capable of stopping what’s been set in motion. But to have a chance at winning this war, he’ll have to become something other than himself. Maybe even something other than human.

And even as he’s fighting, he can’t help wondering: what if humanity’s only hope for a future really does lie in engineering our own evolution?

Intimate in scale yet epic in scope, Upgrade is an intricately plotted, lightning-fast tale that charts one man’s thrilling transformation, even as it asks us to ponder the limits of our humanity—and our boundless potential.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“If Michael Crichton had written a superhero novel, it would look a lot like Upgrade. . . . Sleek and propulsive, a page-turner with unexpectedly beautiful passages that give you pause amid the thrills.”—Amal El-Mohtar, The New York Times Book Review

“A lot of fun . . . Crouch knows how to do a chase, when to blow stuff up and when to bring the house lights down. . . . But what makes Upgrade special is that his path is unique. He takes turns that are unexpected [and] explores some stunning vistas along the way.”—NPR

“From the first page, it’s clear you’re in the hands of a master storyteller; Upgrade is by turns mysterious, fascinating, and deeply moving—exploring the very nature of what it means to be human. Spellbinding.”—Alex Michaelides, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Silent Patient and The Maidens

“Imaginative, perfectly paced, and extremely clever, Upgrade walks the fine line between page-turning thriller and smart sci-fi. Another killer read from Blake.”—Andy Weir, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Martian and Project Hail Mary

“The incomparable Blake Crouch has, once again, completely blown my mind. Upgrade is more than a brain-bending thriller; it’s a siren in the night, warning us all of the dangers of playing God with the human species.”—Justin Cronin, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Passage Trilogy

“Blake Crouch has a mind like Crichton and a heart like King—Upgrade is riveting, tense, scrupulously researched, and deeply heartfelt.”—David Koepp, author of Cold Storage and screenwriter of Jurassic Park

“Blake Crouch doesn’t pull any punches in this taut and evocative examination of what humanity really is—and how it fails us. A hugely entertaining and emotionally resonant thriller that you’ll be thinking about long after you turn the last page.”—Veronica Roth, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Chosen Ones and Divergent

“[A] nail-biting near-future science thriller . . . Crouch fully develops his alarming concept and its implications along with delivering masterful characterizations. This is the best yet from a creative and gifted author.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Mind-bending . . . an excellent follow-up to Crouch’s other dark-science novels . . . Will appeal to readers interested in climate fiction or superhero origin stories, as well as those who enjoy smart thrillers.”—Booklist

“High-octane action, some moral complexity, and a surprisingly emotional ending elevate this novel. Recommended—even for reluctant science fiction readers.”—Kirkus Reviews

great story. get a better scientific editor

Frustrating at times - genetics and genomics could have been better informed without sacrificing story. E.g., it would have been interesting to discuss cell type specific regulation via functional genetics rather than listing a bunch of genes with a vague notion of "turn this gene up to get more smarts". "Editing entire gene networks" also doesn't make much sense conceptually - it would be better to discuss how edits to one gene or to noncoding regions could affect expression of entire gene networks, etc. The bioinformatics bit could have been very cool, from things as simple as checking against reference genomes to ML that detects artificial DNA. Also, SQL is the wrong tool to query the genome in the manner suggested

Superintelligence could have been better portrayed as well. Complex reasoning would have been a better test than recognition of the Fibonacci sequence, and there was a focus on precision rather than problem solving, e.g., "3.8 seconds later an explosion...", which felt unlikely.

It would have also been nice to feel greater changes in his thought patterns that make your spine tingle - it was more that he was very precise and could walk off his emotions. But changes like the ones described would induce such drastic changes that they'd penetrate the first person narrative more wholly that would make the reader fear what he'd become.

Overall, good book as always, but I didn't enjoy it as much as the others because it felt scientifically unrealistic and the concepts weren't taken as far outside the box as they should have been. It's a bit more of an action book with a sci-fi coating than a true sci-fi.

Overall good but not the best audio book of Crouch’s

It’s a good if not original story. The problem for me was that it went into too much genetic detail. Reeling off lists of numbers is exceedingly boring and irritating to listen to. If you’re reading this book, I suspect you would skip over those parts. I think it would be a better read than listen.

very scientific

I liked the concept and the action parts along with the story line however if you cut out all the irrelevant scientific mumbo-jumbo that takes up half the book it would be much shorter and a more interesting read. I found myself zoning out during the ranting parts that went on forever.
I could tell it was good, but was bored throughout.

Left much to be desired

I didn’t mind the narrator but it was an incredibly predictable story line… it felt unimaginative and fell flat. Meh.

Don’t trust reviewers

I almost didn’t read due to reviews of these armchair literary critics out there. They are idiots who barely write coherent emails, and Crouch pours over research to write engaging and salient works of sci-fi. You people giving 1-3 stars deserve a punch in the belly.