Editorial Review: Immortality Bytes: Digital Minds Don't Get Hungry by Daniel Lawrence Abrams
Immortality Bytes: Digital Minds Don't Get Hungry by Daniel Lawrence Abrams is a satirical science fiction novel, centered around the idea of digital immortality and the world this would create.
Set in the year 20NF ("near future"), the economy is completely upended, with tech handling most work, so only a small segment of the population needs to work full-time. The majority of people rely on a universal basic income system for their needs, and in this post-scarcity world, this frees up time for games and other online entertainment.
The narrative centers on Stu, a semi-successful influencer, and his girlfriend Maria. Stu's ex-girlfriend, Roxy, has developed an AI system to digitally scan a human mind and create a virtual, digital clone. Immortality Bytes introduces an artificial brain, that’s programmed to make every decision exactly as you would make it, and considers whether this is a form of immortality. These artificial brains can live forever, with the cost of physical sensation. No physical pain or sickness, but also no pleasure. The narrative asks us if this is worth it on an individual scale, as characters consider immortality without any physical pleasure, and on a wider scale, creating a world without hunger, illness, or injuries.
Naturally, this artificial-life technology attracts a lot of interest, from different sources with different goals. Some of them will stop at nothing to get it -- including violence and kidnapping. The very real threats to Stu and Maria make a counterpoint to the satirical snark throughout the novel. Through all the quips and sarcastic descriptions of a world with certain similarities to our own, the danger is very real, and this adds to the novel’s questions about the value of human life.
This concept of artificial life has been explored in many other sci-fi stories, and instead of reinventing the topic, Immortality Bytes recognizes this, dropping fun references to other classic sci-fi stories that exist in our world and must also be popular and familiar in Stu’s near-future world. Readers who are interested in exploring more of Stu’s world and the technology can read the extensive endnotes, explaining more about the characters’ backstories, and viewpoints, and the technology and politics that power this near-future world. This format of worldbuilding as footnotes creates both a faster pace for casual readers and deep lore for fans.
Throughout Immortality Bytes, Abrams uses imaginative storytelling and satirical humor to create and develop this world, and then he uses this setting to explore human themes of greed, the desire for immortality, the nature of consciousness and what it means to be alive. The novel encourages readers to consider the value of real life and digital life, but stays away from familiar and tedious complaints that online interactions are inherently inferior. Instead, this sci-fi adventure story raises questions more about what makes us human, with snarky and clever asides about where society and technology might be headed.
Overall, Immortality Bytes is satirical and fun, but also asks the reader to think about human questions of life and priorities, making this a fun and memorable read for fans of science fiction and satire.
