Upgrade

Upgrade can be considered both a science-fiction novel and a thriller, displaying many of the hallmarks of each genre. The setting is one common to science fiction: a not-too-distant future in which scientific innovations threaten to change human life forever. In this respect, the novel is highly speculative. It also “gives readers an idea of what might happen in the future if certain events…come to pass” (“Science Fiction: What is Science Fiction? Definition, Usage, and Literary Examples.” SuperSummary). In addition to examining how genetic engineering may affect life in the future, the novel’s environmental backdrop is crucial. The events take place at a time when the impacts of climate change are in full effect. Large parts of Manhattan are underwater as a consequence of rising sea levels; Lake Mead has dried up; wildfires have destroyed historically forested areas and left deserts in their wakes. The novel imagines a world in which climate catastrophes have accelerated and examines how these events impact human life on the planet.

While its setting and many of its technological innovations are science fiction, Upgrade also follows many conventions of the thriller genre. The pacing is quick, there are a lot of action sequences, and the narrative style keeps readers in suspense. In a thriller, a hero generally must defeat an antihero or a villain who is “more powerful and better-equipped” (“Thriller.” Goodreads, 2023). In this case, Logan’s enemy is his own sister, who, with her military training and genetic upgrade, is more powerful than Logan. Unlike crime fiction, in which an investigator tries to piece together the details of a crime that has already occurred, thrillers tend to revolve around preventing a crime from happening. The scope of this crime is typically large, involving “mass murder, terrorism, assassination, or overthrow of governments” (“Thriller.” Goodreads, 2023). Kara’s plan ultimately involves the deaths of a billion people; preventing this from occurring is what drives the plot, especially as the urgency mounts in the second half of the novel.

The narrative uses a common device known as a cliffhanger to accelerate the pace of the action. One of the many examples of this occurs in Chapter 13, when a space break is preceded by the line: “Pain exploding everywhere. I couldn’t breathe…” (265), ending in an ellipsis, and followed by the line: “...gulped in air, my heart beating again” (266), beginning with an ellipsis. The use of ellipses here, before and after a break in the narrative, is intended to keep readers guessing as to what happens next. In another example, during the penultimate scene in the novel, when the confrontation with Kara is imminent, Logan climbs the stairs of a tall building toward the 34th floor. As he ascends, the narrative becomes extremely terse to the point that there are lines in sequence in which only the floor numbers are mentioned. The effect is a countdown toward the climax. Crouch employs such cliffhangers to bolster the pacing by emphasizing a series of escalating climaxes leading up to the narrative’s peak.