The Downloaded 2: Ghosts in the Machine
{4.5/5} “Maybe he was right. What he believed — that it was December 2059, that the world was at peace, and that we were contentedly cisgender — seemed so much more plausible than what I believed: that a third world war had broken out, five hundred years had passed, an extrasolar asteroid was on a collision course with Earth, and that he — I — we had come to realize we really were female, not male, and had fallen in love with a murderer.”
The Downloaded 2: Ghosts in the Machine by Robert J. Sawyer, published in 2026
In a few weeks the asteroid Brimstone will hit Earth. Most people who are left are heading out before then, some to Mars and some even further — a ship is going to Zeta Tucanae. A few of the original crew have decided not to go on the longer voyage — some of them have kids now and some of them just changed their minds. When Captain Letitia gets back to the ship she uploads her consciousness — but when she gets to her virtual space there’s another younger version of herself there who thinks she’s the real Letitia.
This is the sequel to The Downloaded.
It’s about people who are having trouble with their physical bodies and people who are having trouble with their virtual selves.
What would you do if you disagreed with another version of yourself? What if you found out that you weren’t a real person but just a backup?
I like how they call the younger versions of themselves “prequels.” The references to things like Star Trek and Planet of the Apes are superb.
I’ve read all 28 of Sawyer’s books.