Robert J. Sawyer, The Downloaded 2:
Ghosts in the Machine
reviewed by Alison McBain
The Downloaded 2: Ghosts in the Machine Publisher: Shadowpaw Press Date: May 19, 2026 Length: 260 pages ISBN: 978-1998273560 |
From the first page the reader is dropped into a complex story of what an apocalypse might look like five hundred years in the future in The Downloaded 2: Ghosts in the Machine by master storyteller Robert J. Sawyer.
Five hundred years ago, a select number of astronauts and criminals had their consciousness uploaded to a quantum machine and their real bodies stored in cryo-coffins to await reawakening. One of the criminals is Roscoe Koudoulian, and the captain of the astronauts is Letitia Garvey. Their time in the virtual machine was only supposed to last a few short years, but a nuclear apocalypse destroys human life on Earth in the meantime, and their bodies remain frozen in their protective coffins while their minds are trapped in the virtual world.
The novel opens with Roscoe Koudoulian’s memory of waking up to this post-apocalyptic world, and having to form an uneasy alliance with the astronauts who don’t trust him or the other lawbreakers like him. Many of the criminals were murderers in their past lives, forced to spend a half-millennium locked up in a virtual prison.
Freedom from his prison means many things to Roscoe, including a chance to start over. But his reawakening isn’t without loss; having expected to emerge after his twenty-year prison sentence was over and reunite with his young daughter, he’s devastated to learn that he will never reconcile with her, since she is many centuries gone. This realization marks a definite low point in his reawakening.
However, fast-forward seven more years and Roscoe’s life has improved drastically. He’s become mayor of their “community of survivors,” aptly named Phoenix, since all of them have risen from the ashes and survived everything that’s been thrown at them. He’s been unlucky in love until meeting Dr. Marie Dubois, one of the former astronauts and now his recent wife. Together, they’re facing an end-game event just a few weeks away-an asteroid about to destroy life on Earth. But their diverse group of survivors have plans to escape Earth in order to reach safety: half will travel to Mars, and half will embark on a mission to reach Zeta Tucanae many light-years distant.
The story’s timeline takes a number of twists and turns, and a complicated plot unfolds with each section’s jump from character to character. There’s Dr. Valentina Solomon, a past love of Roscoe’s, who chose to return to the quantum computer’s virtual space seven years ago and has been there ever since. Captain Letitia Garvey is the leader of the spaceship about to embark on a one-way trip away from Earth. And, of course, Roscoe is prepared to retreat to Mars with his wife Marie and start his life over again.
As the story continues, problems arise as the crew re-uploads to the quantum machine while they’re heading to Zeta Tucanae and realize they’re no longer alone in their virtual home; their younger selves are there as well. Moreover, their quantum doppelgangers who are waiting for them put the whole machine in danger of failure. The clock starts ticking down between a real apocalypse and a virtual one, and both will be catastrophic to the last surviving humans. Will they be able to make it out alive or will the next twenty-four hours be their last?
This is a fun adventure with many convolutions to keep the reader on their toes. I’d recommend it for someone who’s looking for a science fiction story that contains elements of adventure, romance, apocalypse, and hope. It’s a wild ride, but definitely worth diving in!
Copyright © 2026 by Alison McBain
