Altered Carbon - Richard Morgan [Review]
Altered Carbon is the debut novel from Richard Morgan. A SciFi noir detective novel, we follow Takeshi Kovacs, an off-world ex-military hard man who, having been sent away for a long spell in prison, is given an opportunity to win his freedom. But first he has to solve an unsolvable crime.
The novel is set hundreds of years in the future, where many planets are now inhabited, and an Earth-based UN Protectorate keeps order throughout these planets - often through brutal force.
Takeshi Kovacs is a former member of these elite military units, one of the most highly trained individuals alive. It is these skills that leads to his offer of work, coming from one of Earth's wealthy elites.
At over 300 years old, Laurens Bancroft has the wealth to take advantage of the incredible technological breakthroughs that have occurred. Including the ability to be 'resleeved' - to have one's consciousness (which are now stored on computer chips at the base of the skull) moved to new and younger 'sleeves' (bodies).
Laurens Bancroft appears to have killed himself. An odd thing for a 300 year old who effectively cannot die to do. But all the evidence is pointing to that being what happened. Kovacs is tasked with the job of proving Laurens Bancroft did not commit suicide and was in fact murdered, and find out who it was. And he will need all of his elite skills to complete the mission. Even just to stay alive.
Dealing with political intrigue, incredible and powerful new technologies, and deal making of both a sexual and physical nature (where humanity is still trying to deal with the ramifications of these newer technologies), Altered Carbon is a darker novel, fast paced, and highly inventive. It is a well developed universe that has been created, and the story weaves it way through this as we learn of Kovacs' past and how both he and this future universe came to be the way they are.
It is towards the Cyberpunk end of SciFi, and would suit fans of these genres, as well as those who like noir type novels. This is the second time I have read it, so for me it is well worth the time.
Altered Carbon won the Philip K Dick award in 2003, and has been made into a Netflix series to air in February 2018.
This is post 2 in @dragosroua's January 30 day writing challenge.
Main image from wikipedia.org. Others thanks to unsplash.com. All images used with permission.
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@naquoya
Links to earlier works
Notes From An Amateur Writer Collection
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Oh man, this is my favourite Sci-Fi book. I love reading and I remember at the time it came out that I wasn't feeling it with SCi-Fi. A lot of the tropes were stale or too cold techy. Sometimes with hard sci-fi I love the techy imaginings and other times I get infuriated with someones blinkered or uninspired view of how progress will be or won't be made,
Anyway. I bought this and Neal Asher's Gridlinked. Both are awesome, Altered Carbon, from the very first couple of pages I could not put it down. It was incredible.Takeshi Kovac is an amazing character and the universe is really well thought out. I am going to read them all again!
And I didnt know about the Netflix thing. AWesome, although I have l always been troubled by how they would cast Kovac with all the body swapping nonsense
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Glad to hear that this is a favourite of yours. I too was grabbed from the first few pages. I loved it when I first read it, but have wanted to read it again, as a reader but also as a writer, and see what I pick up and what my thoughts are on it now. Still love it.
I haven't read Neil Asher's book, but will take a look for it. Thanks for the recommendation.
I agree with your analysis of SciFi and its tropes. I can get a bit jaded sometimes. That's why this grabbed me like it did, through it's different styling, hard edged styling, pacing, and technologies that were written in a way that shows they were well thought out.
I have the same queries of how the show will play out, given the body swapping element.
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It is written incredibly well isnt it. He writes with such an intensity. IT screams out the pages. I hope you like Neal Asher then. It is very good. In a different way but in a cool sci fi universe which I still to this day enjoy. (It's a big universe) Although his latter books do not quite hit such highs his early ones like that (his first) are top of their game, for me at least!
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The writing is top class, in my opinion. The story telling, and pacing have inspired me quite a bit. It is very inventive and packs a punch. There are actually more books in Takeshi Kovacs series, but that's the first, and only one that I have read. I will have to look out for the next one.
And I have put Neil Asher's book on to my to read list. Which means I will need a new post to up date my reading list. I have added about a dozen books from people's suggestions over the last few days. And they all sound great.
Would love to stay and chat but I have some reading to catch up on :)
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Aww man, what a time for you to be doing a 30-day challenge, right when I was out >.< In any case, Altered Carbon is up there as one of the great sci-fi works for me. I'm incredible excited for the Netflix series. I hope it does the story justice. Joel Kinnaman is one of my current favorite actors, so I hope he makes a good Takeshi.
How do you keep getting the curie votes?? Haha! I'm happy that you are, but I wish it goes my way some time as well.
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I have the Curie hotline. I wish. And yes I jumped into the 30 day challenge again. Was going to do my own anyway, but the timing of this one suited. I am be seeking to create a more regular schedule and blogging identity this year. So even after the 30 day challenge is over, my goal is to continue writing regularly. I have some new ideas that I am testing at the moment. You'll see these come to light over the next 30 days. Hopefully they work and help me to continue to practice some creative writing.
I'm looking forward to the show, but as always I do wonder if they'll do the book justice. TV shows these days seem to be hitting the mark more often than not, so we'll see. I am optimistic.
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When I did the 30-day challenge, it was exactly on the month it didn't occur. But, there was a different challenge in place, and the prize was delegation. I didn't win it though, but when I checked, I was the only one of the entrants that managed to complete the 30 days straight haha!
Seriously though, I really hope I could qualify for Curie again in case their policy has changed.
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If you were the only one to complete the 30 days then you should automatically win the delegation. Not to mention the quality of your material was there also. I wonder about the rules of these things.
This 30 day challenge I am on seems to have fizzled out. No news from the one organising it for a few days. He normally posts 1 per day on the challenge. Which doesn't bother me as it was incentive to push me along. I wanted to do my own anyway.
I'm nor sure what the rules for Curie are these days. I don't even qualify to curate for them anymore and I was once in their top 3 curators. Maybe different people running it?
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The delegation happened before the start of the month, and it was all based on the pitch made to Dragos. I'm just not a good salesman I guess.
He must be too busy for it now, it's the same thing when I did my 30-days. I just continued with it because I already had the whole month mapped out in my head.
I remember we first met through the Curie nominations haha! Maybe you get the votes as sort of an emeritus thing haha!
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Glad to hear a positive review of Altered Carbon. I've always liked the premise but I didn't hear good things about the book itself until now so I didn't read it. If you've read it twice then, well, I'm persuaded to give it a go!
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This book really captivated me when I first read it, several years ago. I wanted to give it another go, see if it still held up in my opinion, and if so write up my thoughts on it. Hope you enjoy it.
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Good review, not my cup of tea, but certainly something my wife would love.
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Thank you. I will be doing a lot more reviews this year, including of at least one you have recommended to me over our time here.
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Man love this book what a fun and exciting ride right from the very beginning it felt like a line of "from the moment that dame walked into my office I knew she was going to mean trouble" would have fit right in.
This book really made me feel the excitement that I felt the first time I watched blade runner just with cooler tech.
Almost forgot to add a book recomendation The Player of Games by Iain Banks or in fact any of The culture series
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Yes, it really was a fun and exciting adventure. The noir feel captivates, doesn't it? Yet set in the future, in a scifi setting. And the Bladerunner reference made me smile. Loved the film, loved the book it was based on. The movie was, and still is one of my favourites.
And thanks for the recommendation. I haven't read that book, but will look for it.
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a very good post. I really like it. share permissions @naquoya
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Thank you :)
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It looks very interesting this book, with all that suspense and fiction will take into account for my reading, thanks for sharing and happy New Year.
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Thanks very much. All the very best to you also.
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Altered Carbon was a cyberpunk tour de force, which I'm afraid the Netflix show doesn't quite capture. I enjoyed the show, but it misses some of the flashy brilliance of Morgan's hi-tech prose.
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