Immortality Bytes: Digital Minds Don’t Get Hungry by Daniel Lawrence Abrams
In an all-too-possible, not-so-distant future dominated by AI, universal basic income, and “subtirees” living pod-bound lives of leisure, idealistic, semi-slacker hacker, Stu Reigns dreams of more.
When Stu’s brilliant ex, Roxy Zhang, develops digital immortality, the world’s powerful elite scramble to secure their eternal existence. Enter Chuck Rosti, a merciless, terminally ill tycoon made more dangerous since he’s on the brink of conviction for massive fraud. His plan? Coerce Stu into helping get Roxy’s groundbreaking invention so “Feds can incarcerate my corpse.”
Caught between a sick billionaire, a Russian mob, digital mind clones, and a shrewd, devout Southern matriarch, Stu gets tangled in a twisted, high-stakes, ‘inverted heist.’
But as betrayals mount and revenge includes murder, Stu and new allies must race to save lives and seek justice in humanity’s digital immortality.
Fans of smart cyberpunk, like Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash, or sci-fi with humor, as in Andy Weir’s The Martian or John Scalzi’s Redshirts, will love Immortality Bytes.
Immortality Bytes: Digital Minds Don’t Get Hungry Review
I was compensated with a small amount for my time and effort in reading the book and writing this review. However, all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own and are based on my honest personal experience reading the book. Nor did the publisher in any way, shape or form ever pressure me to give a positive review.
This review contains spoilers.
Digital immortality is such an interesting concept, and I think this is the first time I’ve seen a book use it in an AI-related, apocalyptic setting like this. The idea that the rich and privileged would be the ones most obsessed with immortality feels incredibly real. After all, if your life is filled with wealth and comfort, why wouldn’t you want to extend it indefinitely? In contrast, those who struggle every day might not see much appeal in prolonging their existence. I’ve come across plenty of stories about AI and dystopian futures, but I haven’t seen many that parallel AI with digital immortality quite like this. It’s a creative and thought-provoking take on a familiar theme.
The book really cleverly observed that those with everything are the ones most desperate to hold onto it forever. But instead of just physical health or youth, they crave the continuation of their consciousness, which is essentially just ensuring their influence and control never dies. It’s a modern, almost eerie reflection of our current societal divisions, where the privileged can access what others can’t even dream of.
Abrams doesn’t just throw this concept at us without consideration though. Through his quirky, satirical writing, he unpacks the massive implications. There’s a cost to each type of immortality. Physical immortality might save us from the ravages of time, but digital immortality? It promises a different kind of survival, one that’s fraught with ethical dilemmas. What does it mean to live if only your consciousness does? Are you still you if it’s just your digital replica that persists?
The book’s deep dive into these questions is helped along by Abrams’ sharp world-building and richly painted characters. We see the drama unfold through Stu, caught in the web of his ex-girlfriend Roxy’s groundbreaking invention. His personal stakes in the game make the tech discussions a lot more relatable and urgent. You’re not just reading about hypothetical moral quandaries; you’re watching someone wrestle with them in real-time.
The ending leans more toward the open-ended/bad-ending side, at least in my opinion. Someone like Chuck, despite all the chaos, ultimately wins. He achieves digital immortality, which is the very thing someone in his position would value most. He gets to continue his consciousness and maintain his legacy (which, for the ultra-rich, is one of the most important things). Rosti Inc. moves forward, and the power structures remain largely intact.
Meanwhile, Pyotr and his associates from the StrangleBear group don’t face much consequence, getting out of jail quickly thanks to the money bail system. His brief moment of celebration is cut short by his mother, Polina, who humiliates him for shaming the family with his criminal involvement. Yet Pyotr is already scheming, seeing Digi-Chuck as a potential tool to help his sick brother Vasily—but, as expected, things won’t be that simple.
Roxy, on the other hand, is left wrestling with the weight of her actions. She confronts Gwendolyn inside a chapel at the ZerQuali offices after carrying out what can only be described as a necessary evil. The moral implications of what she has done haunt her, though Gwendolyn dismisses her guilt, framing it as a necessary step to override Chuck’s autonomy. With the help of Pasela’s digital manipulation device, they have turned him into something more controllable, but does that really mean they’ve won?
I really feel like the way the book built up to its ending(s) leaves you with a lot to think about, which is something I always appreciate in sci-fi. It doesn’t tie everything up neatly, and in many ways, it suggests that corruption, greed, and power imbalances will persist, even in the face of groundbreaking technological advancements. It’s a sharp, satirical look at where we might be headed, and that is honestly both unsettling and incredibly engaging.
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