His criminal past catching up with him, a troubled young man seeks escape into digital utopia by uploading his consciousness into a computer — just as first love casts his life in a new light. In this thrilling near-future science-fiction novel, Mark McClelland explores the immense potential of computer-based consciousness and the philosophical perils of simulated society.
This book had me riveted from beginning to end.
Goodreads Review
To escape the hacker crimes of his youth, Raymond Quan has worked out a brilliant but extremely risky scheme. Taking advantage of his position on the University of Michigan’s Human Mind Upload Project, he plans to upload his consciousness into a computer, but make it look like it failed. It will appear to others that he died, while he secretly whisks his uploaded mind off to a remote computer, to live out his life in a virtual world of his own creation, free from society and the far-reaching eye of the law.
In the midst of all this, he works up the courage to reach out to Anya, an attractive and outgoing scientist on the upload research team, and much to his surprise he discovers the attraction is mutual. He finds himself entering the first meaningful relationship of his life, just as pressures force him to accelerate his already-dangerous upload plan. To make matters worse, the technology he intends to use has not yet been tested on humans — he would be the first person to make the jump to a pure-digital mind.
We can all relate to this science fiction.
Author Richard Bunning
Upload is ultimately a story of love and self-discovery, and the crucial role of connection-to-society in the ability of the individual to achieve fulfillment.
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This book had me riveted from beginning to end. In Upload, Mark McClelland does what the best science fiction does. He gives the reader an intriguing world in which to consider the big questions, but doesn’t try to answer them directly. Through the main character, Raymond, we explore consciousness and conscience, identity and agency, reality and virtuality. Exquisitely well written and edited, this is a book I’ll come back to again.
Goodreads Review
Upload grabbed my attention early on and wouldn’t let go… I loved the way that McClelland projected some of our current problems, on a quite feasible trajectory, into the future. We can all relate to this science fiction.
Richard Bunning, Author of Another Space In Time
WOW. I LOVED this book. There are so many sides to this book that I could attempt to tackle. But my brain is exhausted from this read. Upload would be a premium selection for any scifi book club.
Author R.S. Carter
First there is the issue of ethics. If you could upload a consciousness into virtual reality while simultaneously destroying the physical body, should it be allowed? What if the body was going to die anyhow?
The main character in this novel is a loner. An introverted genius who has joined the Upload project at a local university. He has a past he wishes to escape, but it is that past which created and funded his life. He has plans to upload in the future but all at once, our protagonist is hit from three sides: the Upload project is going to be disbanded because a government committee deemed human upload to be unethical, his criminal past is catching up with him, and finally he discovers real world love for the first time.
Think you know how this book is going to end? You’ll be wrong.
This one takes a turn into a virtual reality adventure. Ready Player One meets The Matrix combined with the God complex of The Lawnmower Man.
My analogy to The Lawnmower Man is a little extreme – it isn’t that severe. But then again, we don’t know the whole story so it might have been more similar than we can imagine. You’ll understand when you read the book. There are some parts of the story intentionally missing.
I’ve read a number of reviews from people who loved the story and the science-fiction, but hated the protagonist. I LOVED Raymond! Sure, he had his character flaws (and some are very dark), but that what makes him such a perfect character for this story. And I’m always a sucker for child geniuses. This is Ender Wiggins as an introvert – hence the Lawnmower Man reference.
Ah, I’m going in circles. Read this book!
Interested in learning more about the book? I also have an entire site dedicated to Upload: uploadthenovel.com.
Author: Mark McClelland
Country: United States
Language: English
Length: ~280 pages
Genre: Science-Fiction/Near-Future/Singularity/Virtual-Reality
Publisher: Mark McClelland
Publication Date: September, 2012
Ebook (ISBN: 978-1-30020-670-5 / ASIN: B009E5RI3E)
Paperback (ISBN: 978-1-30033-561-0)