TV Show - Upload

Watched on Prime Video
Season 1
Number of Episodes: 10
Length of Episode:
IMBd:  8.1
RT Critic's Consensus:  Though Upload at times suffers from tonal overload, witty writing and a winsome cast make it an afterlife worth living.
RT Audience Score: 87 / 88
cag: 3/liked it

My comments:  If you have lots of money, then when you die yoyu can have your consiousness uploaded into a virtual reality into an avatar of your likeness.  You even get to email and talke to your loved ones, and even tough them when they are all geared up in virtual reality gear.  So when Nathan dies in a freak car accident they discover it was murder - his rich, weirdo girlfriend pays for his uploads into a very fancy virtual reality.  There he meets his "angel," Nora, whose job it is to make sure he's cared for and nothing goes wrong.  They fall for each other, , he had, after all, had a pretty tentative lack-of-feeling for the girlfriend.  Series one ends with him breaking up with the girlfriend, being now poor so he had to start living in the cheap-o basement of the Upload facility,and girlfriend walks in with a huge smile and tells him she's had herself uploaded to be with him.

Storyliline:           By the year 2033, humans have developed the ability to upload themselves into their preferred choice of Artificial Afterlife. In Los Angeles, software engineer Nathan (Robbie Amell) is fatally injured in a self-driving car accident. His shallow girlfriend pressures him into agreeing to be uploaded to her family’s luxurious virtual heaven, Lakeview. Once there, he is greeted by Nora (Andy Allo), his customer service representative (or "Angel"), who appears as a holographic avatar while actually working in an office in Queens alongside other "Angels".  
          The series follows the two as Nathan grows accustomed to his imperfect afterlife with Nora's help, while the still-living Nora struggles to stay afloat.

3. Warcross by Marie Lu

Warcross #1
listened to on Audible
2017 G. P. Putnam Sons
368 pgs.
YA Fantasy
Finished 1/7/18
Goodreads rating: 4.23 - 18,711 ratings
My rating: 3
Setting: NYC and Tokyo in the somewhat-foreseeable future

First line/s:  "It's too damn cold of a day to be out on a hunt."

My comments: Well.  Many people have compared this to Ready Player One, but that is definitely not a comparison I'd use.  I liked Ready Player One lots more, and I rated it 3.5.  So why am I left feeling flat?  I very much like the protagonist: super smart, thoughtful, cute and tiny.  Sure of herself.  We discover that she's an incredible hacker, but other than something she herself seems surprised to have done, it's very hard to believe from the little she reveals about how she got where she is.  Little stories, but not enough for me to be a believer.  And there are very few surprises.  I had guessed early on who the mysterious "bad guy" was.  I was also able to surmise who the one bounty hunter who was revealed was.  And this was one of those audio readers that I didn't enjoy.  She stressed different words in a sentence than I would have stressed if reading it myself.  I didn't like the accents she gave people, or the femininity of her voice for all the characters.  It just didn't really work for me.  Perhaps if I'd read it instead of listening to it?  Might take my rating up a half point....

Goodreads synopsis: For the millions who log in every day, Warcross isn’t just a game—it’s a way of life. The obsession started ten years ago and its fan base now spans the globe, some eager to escape from reality and others hoping to make a profit. Struggling to make ends meet, teenage hacker Emika Chen works as a bounty hunter, tracking down players who bet on the game illegally. But the bounty hunting world is a competitive one, and survival has not been easy. Needing to make some quick cash, Emika takes a risk and hacks into the opening game of the international Warcross Championships—only to accidentally glitch herself into the action and become an overnight sensation.
          Convinced she’s going to be arrested, Emika is shocked when instead she gets a call from the game’s creator, the elusive young billionaire Hideo Tanaka, with an irresistible offer. He needs a spy on the inside of this year’s tournament in order to uncover a security problem . . . and he wants Emika for the job. With no time to lose, Emika’s whisked off to Tokyo and thrust into a world of fame and fortune that she’s only dreamed of. But soon her investigation uncovers a sinister plot, with major consequences for the entire Warcross empire.