It’s 2150AD. There hasn’t been a corporate war… until now.Mason Floyd is an augmented syndicate enforcer at the top of his game. His job is asset protection and acquisition, no questions asked.Company tech is stolen on Mason’s watch. Rival megacorps want it, and they don’t mind killing him to get it. Framed for the theft, Mason runs. He tangles with off-grid rockstar Sadie Freeman on the grimy … off-grid rockstar Sadie Freeman on the grimy seam between the powerful and poor. Together they uncover a secret an entire city died to keep.
Hunted and desperate, they must team up to survive. Together Mason and Sadie can save the world. Apart, both are lost. They must trust each other or die.
Megacorps. Cyborgs. AI. Gene-spliced monsters. Syndicate enforcers. Off-grid illegals. Supersoldiers. Rock music. Violence. Einstein-Rosen bridges. Liquor. Enhanced reflexes. Power armor and energy weapons. Full body replacements. Swearing. Mind control. Telekenetics. G-Men. Drugs. Neural links. Orbital cannons. THIS IS CYBERPUNK.
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This book provides a great blend of neon-noir, action, and wisecracks. My only complaint was in the scene changes; the story pulls itself together, but occasionally it felt as if I was reading a rollicking adventure interspersed with pages from another book. It’s odd on the first read through, but in the end it all pulls together. Mason’s interactions with his handler and co-workers are a snarky delight, and the world building is classic. Lots of fun.
“It shouldn’t be illegal to make your own choices.”
“Heaven’s a place of possibility and freedom.”
This is the second time I’m reading Upgrade, and it seems to me more powerful, riveting and captivating. A warped and twisted reality with
darker undertones that takes you to the edge.Thought provoking, harsh and scary, a fearsome glimpse into the near future dominated by corporates and syndicate. Humanity controlled by links, a grim and gripping thriller. Every page turn is a surprise, unexpected, audacious. It’s about betrayal, compassion, trust, enemy or foe..Character in depth is wonderfully described, profound. One of the best in Cyberpunk! A masterpiece in its genre! Overlay, Overtime, lattice..incredible! I just love the tech in the story! As always, with an original and witty dialogue, fun and sarcastic. Richard Parry is a Wordsmith of the best kind. I seriously recommend the series! It’s worth a read and more! I am voluntarily leaving a review with no obligation of an advance copy I received from the author.
fun to read
Once you get through the chapters introducing the characters, who ultimately meet in a harrowing life changing event, the story starts moving at the normal sci fi pace that makes stories in the genre so appealing.
Mason is our intrepid hero, yet there are characters that also fill the role of minor hero. The author does use them well.
I consider it an entertaining read and may purchase the next book as well.
The rocks humanity hits one another with will change with time, but the motivations never do. The characters in this story are timeless: I could see them in a film noir wearing slouch fedoras or in their futuristic setting with orbital lasers on call. Mason and Harry are classic Company MenTM, but I was pleased to see many types of Company Man represented: the heavy duty Enforcer, the whip smart cocksure type, the dead eyed fixer. It made the non-Corporate characters’ reactions to Corporation men completely understandable. But once Parry built that understanding up, the writer deftly peels it back to show the humanity of his Company Men. Building them up took work, but making them human took skill.
Only the secondary antagonist felt flat to me (no spoilers), since he essentially filled the role of Bond Villain. But I get the sense that he’ll be fleshed out in Book 2, and I’m invested enough to look forward to that.
A fun, fast paced romp through the future of humanity. Buckle up.
Can’t wait to read next one
This is a great Syfi read that will keep you turning the pages. Set in the future when 3 mega companies tend to rule. Imbedded comm units make it easy to just think what you want to say to your contact and it gets done. Lots of competition between the mega companies makes for an exiting read
Tnx
mrbrush
Mason is a company man. He follows orders, up to a point, then does the right thing, without knowing why. His company is hiding something. He and his band of misfits, want to know what it is.
“Never go off the grid. That was the rule. It kept Mason alive.” One thing readers will quickly notice from these quoted sentences, aside from an outstanding and well written story, is lots of promised action and emotional impact as they react to the mental picture the author paints. The environment and events that transpire are detailed to the point of reality. The twists and turns in the action literally compel and drag the reader forward in the story line – whether willingly or not!
Mason is a strong, tough man who is good at his job. He follows the rules and gets it done. But when he is set up and tech goes missing, he has no choice but to escape and run while others in the corporate world chase after him to obtain what they think he has. He meets up with Sadie Freeman, and survival dictates they work together to resolve this mess! If he can’t clear his name, there is no place he will ever find safety.
I think that if the reader enjoys cyberpunk, this series will meet your every need! The writer has proven again and again that he is a skilled master of his craft, which will be immediately noted from the first word all the way through to the end. This is not a quick read – it will draw the reader deep into the book. But it is very well done and won’t fail to leave a lasting impression. And just for the record, his other series are equally amazing!
Very strange. A lot of wet work. Trying to find a thief. Teck is something else. Another world, different people in that one. It’s a good story. It grabs you and holds you in thrall. I received a complimentary review copy of the book and I am voluntarily leaving a honest review.
This is a wonderful remaster of my all time favorite full book science fiction story ever.
I have the original paperback sitting proudly on my bookshelf which has a beginning and an end in one book. It’s excellence.
The remaster has been broken down into an affordable series of three books that the author, Richard Parry, has used to polish the original and I must say he’s done a fantastic job.
The original is a very long read coming in at around 575 pages. That length may have intimidated some readers back when first published, so Richard has broken it up into easier pieces and it’s much better for it. I feel the original may have been a little bit ahead of its time and now it’s even better.
This is an awesome sci-fi tale. It has intense action, Bladerunneresque/cyberpunk environments and elements, mystery, warring factions with awesome weaponry, dimensional science fantasy, a little romance and a pure sadness that will pull at your heart, all combined to make this an instant classic.
I hope if you’re a lover of science fiction that you’ll give this new “Upgrade” series remaster a try.
It’s worth every word and late night of continued reading.
Thank you Richard!
He does what he is ordered to do and he just gets on with it but then some tech is stolen On his watch. He is framed for that there so he runs. Will he be able to find the real criminal? Can he clears his name? See how he gets on
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I like this story It was well written and really leave you on the edge of your seat with page after page thrown in some intricate challenges and characters makes a great read
This book took a while for me to catch the rhythm. The beginning had me a bit confused for quite a bit once it hit the slave and master part. Then you throw in the search for a demon and my brain was having a hard time fitting all of the moving pieces together.
I like Mason for the most part, however at times he seemed to be an almost caricature of a wanna be bad guy/good guy/bad guy/good guy…if you catch my meaning. His intimidation tactics were interesting to say the least. I enjoyed his sarcastic wit at times. I love a good blow everything to smithereens book with lots of tech and a fantasy and some mysticism to it.
Others have praised the book and it’s probably a case of me and not the story but a lot of the times I had a hard time following what was happening. Please understand I love this author and most of his stories I devour in one read. This one was a bit of pick up and put down and pick again for me. I just couldn’t get a good handle on it.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
For the first third of the book, i was very much into the story, the characters, and even the disembodied voice in the head that is the handler. I was more engaged when the body doubles got involved…
then we reach the remote, uninhabited, hiding place and it turns into a zombie story. i quit reading it. not likely to finish. totally took me out of the flow of the story.
This book was a massive disappointment based on what I expected just from reading the synopsis. What I expected was a rather gritty book about a man on the run from the company he used to work for. Getting the side character quickly and progressing with this escape while showing you a a nicely built world, maybe some fun enjoyable one of characters to build the world even more.
But instead of that, it was mostly something completely different. The main story that was hinted at in the synopsis didn’t even start till about the 80% mark. With most of it being the main character Mason killing some people, interacting with various characters to minor amounts who all feel very similar, and some odd side plots and conspiracies that don’t play a role really and never feel very well integrated. Then suddenly the book seems to start. It didn’t build the world well at all, showing us minor hints at two different groups and larger focus on the main group he is a part of. Then through some rather generic cyberpunk style tech you would expect and call it good.
There are also some strange parts, I’m okay with technology so advanced it seems like magic, but this cyberpunk book actually seems to revolve around magic. It feels really odd and out of place, like your expecting a decent answer and at the moment it just seems to be…magic? Along with some other magical characters that start getting development in the last 20% of the book, but it just feels out of place.
Overall it feels like this book was a strange overly long prologue for future books. But didn’t do enough for me to actually enjoy it and have it stand by itself. I highly doubt I will ever bother looking for a second book in this series if it ever gets made.
I found this to be an interesting read, but lost interest because of the constant jumping around.
Good book if you like slightly off beat sci-fi. Some of the slang escaped me, but it didn’t affect my enjoyment of the book.
I could not get into it!
I found this book exceptionally disorganized and confusing. After about twenty pages I decided it was not worth the kindle men
ory needed to store it.