Customer Reviews

Altered Carbon

5 star:		(128)
4 star:		(68)
3 star:		(26)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

Ever since I saw Blade Runner as a kid, I've been in love with the idea of blending science-fiction with crime, and this is a totally compelling mix of the two. Set about 500 years in the future, the story follows Takeshi Kovacs, a former space marine who has been "resleeved" to investigate a suicide on Earth. You see, in the future, one's mind or consciousness can be digitized and stored in "stacks" implanted in the base of your skull. If you commit a crime, your stack is removed and placed in storage for the duration of your sentence (usually decades or centuries), and then you are "resleeved" in a new body. Of course, resleeving costs, and for many people, a new body is like a new car or new house, with monthly payments to keep up lest your body get repossessed...

The flip side of this is that dying is only a temporary thing-unless your stack has been somehow destroyed and there's no backup, then you're subject to "RD" (real death). And if you've got enough money to get into cloning and data storage, one can live a virtually endless and seamless life. It's one of these "Meths" (after Methuselah, just one example of the excellent creation of slang in the book), who has Takeshi remanded and "needlecast" (digitally freighted) from offworld to investigate his alleged suicide in Bay City (aka San Francisco). Takeshi had been in prison, having been captured as a mercenary in a vibrantly kinetic prologue.

The meth, Bancroft, is one of the future elite, weaving elaborate corporate and political webs with others of his kind. Apparently he committed suicide a few weeks ago, but he's convinced it was murder. He's paid heftily to have Kovacs released and resleeved to investigate his death and what happened in the 48 hours leading up to it-48 hours that elapsed between his last stack backup and his temporary death. This is a great setup, as we have a reluctant protagonist grudgingly working on a case for a sinister Bancroft, quickly getting caught up with Bay City PD, Bancroft's hyper-sexy wife, and all kinds of foes.

It's an extremely convoluted tale, with lots of double-crossing, plot twists, hidden agendas, sexual tension (and outright graphic sex), dry tough guy humor, and excellent action sequences. It's so jam-packed it almost gets overwhelming at times, and one wishes Morgan had been able to trim just a little bit here and there. However, he's built a very intriguing and nasty future earth, where-as one might well imagine-a lot of the technology gets channeled into the sex trade. This is great pulp fiction, with great characters, including my favorite: the AI Hendrix Hotel. It's a hotel that runs itself using artificial intelligence, making for a hilarious, yet plausible, character. This is a great genre-blending debut, let's hope the sequel (Broken Angels) is as good.

This is one of the best new SF novels I've read in the last ten years.

It's enough of a treat that Richard Morgan can _write_. The author bio indicates that he taught English as a second language for some fourteen years; he can teach a thing or two to us native speakers as well. His narrative and his dialogue are clean, crisp, and focused, with that sense of heightened reality you get from really good fiction; there's not a word out of place, and there's none of the mannered artificiality of e.g. Frank Herbert's _Dune_.

But it's even better than good writing. Morgan has applied his craft to a brand of fiction that one of the cover blurbs describes as a cross between hard-core cyberpunk and hard-boiled detective fiction. That's an odd description of the genre and makes it sound newer than it is, but it's true that there hasn't been a lot of SF detective fiction. And Morgan's contribution advances the ball considerably.

If you're at all familiar with the genre, you're already thinking of Larry Niven's ARM stories (and maybe, though less aptly, of Asimov's _The Caves of Steel_ and _The Naked Sun_). Well, Morgan's world does owe something to Niven's, but he's got very much his own spin. His main character (Takeshi Kovacs), though arguably more Mike Hammer than Hiro Protagonist despite the snowcrashy backdrop, will remind longtime fen of the wisecracking tough-guy heroes that have populated SF since at least the days of Keith Laumer (not to mention Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat). But he's not just a carbon copy (even an altered one).

And Morgan has found a very interesting way around a problem that has plagued detective fiction since its inception: when your narrative is written in the first person, how do you keep the reader from figuring out that the narrator doesn't get killed? Oh, you can do a Jim Thompson and have the character narrate his own death, but otherwise there aren't too many possibilities.

Morgan has discovered one. As you'll learn within the first few pages, Kovacs has _already_ died at least once, and there's nothing to keep him from dying again, perhaps repeatedly; for reasons that will be clear early on, his death wouldn't keep him from narrating the novel.

The plot is ingenious: it seems that one Laurens Bancroft has committed suicide, but Bancroft himself believes he was murdered and hires Our Hero to investigate. (Yes, you read that correctly; the alleged murder victim wants to know how he was killed.) Beyond that, I'm not going to tell you anything that might spoil your fun.

I _will_ tell you to keep your eyes peeled for a huge number of incredibly cool background details. Like Heinlein, Morgan drops you into the middle of the tale and introduces you to its world in the natural course of the narrative, rather than calling attention to it tourist-fashion. In the process he mentions lots of nifty things that could have been entire novels in their own right (and John W. Campbell would have loved every one of them) -- e.g. computer-automated hotels that upgraded to sentience and bought themselves out from under corporate ownership. Morgan's throwaway ideas are better than most SF writers' main plot points.

I'll also tell you that, as one or two other reviewers have pointed out, there's some fairly graphic sex in this novel -- not to mention some vivid and disturbing violence. It's extraordinarily well-written and I thought it was all quite tastefully handled. But if you haven't got the stomach for such stuff, be warned.

_Very_ highly recommended. If you've spent the last decade or two wondering where all the really good SF has gone, check this one out. It's already on my best-of-recent-SF shortlist, alongside some Alastair Reynolds, China Mieville, Neal Stephenson, and a very small handful of others.

Altered Carbon was an amazing first novel for Richard Morgan. This guy has a future! The book is dark and slick. It defintely has a Blade Runner feel to it along with some Matrix and Maltese Falcon (or even China Town)like mystery thrown in for good measure. The hero (Kovaks)can handle himself in a fight (he is enhanced) but is quite witty at the same time. His one liners cracked me up. The technology of sleeving (down loading one's mind through science into another body) is also fascinating and scary. Overall this is a great summer beach book. If you are looking for a good detective novel set in a futuristic Gibson/Blade Runner like society with lots of action and phylosophy concerning the nature of the human soul get Altered Carbon!

Obviously my very strong negative reaction to this novel is in the minority, so before anyone takes my opinion too seriously he/she should take a look at some of the other reviews. Since I am writing in dissent here, I apologise for my less than pithy comments. To see where I'm coming from, you might want to read 'Voice of the Whirlwind' (Williams) which is very similar to 'Altered Carbon' and which succeeds where 'Altered Carbon'falls short. I can review the high points quickly, the thumbnail sketch of the noirish detective story is very good (the overall plot strategy you might say) and the writing on a scene by scene or at the line level frequently sizzles, however at the operational level of plotting and character 'Altered Carbon' mostly failed to work for me. It doesn't work as good science fiction either, and that's a good place to start.

The first person narrator (Kovacs, the 'detective') is supposedly an informed citizen of his future, yet he often lapses into modes of thought which are more appropriate to much more primitive times. This lapse into anachronistic thought patterns happens either for the sake of expedience or to create bogus 'surprises' for both the reader and the narrator. There's a good example of the expedient variety where the protagonist goes off onto a pointless killing spree, knowing that he's under close surveillance by the police and one or two other parties without worrying about any sort of precautionary or evasive action. Maybe Kovacs is just being stupid because the guy doesn't even look over his shoulder, but it also shows that he isn't worrying about futuristic bugs, vastly improved video surveillance syetems etc. So I guess this exemplifies two shoddy practices, expedient anachronism and stupidity. Obviously, the author's aware of this fault as there's an attempt to paper over this problem, when it's later revealed that the police lost track of Kovacs, but of course he had no way of knowing that at the time he set off on his rampage. If devices of this sort are employed sparingly, I'm pretty forgiving, but if I see that the writer uses them knowingly and often, I think he's disrepecitng my intelligence and indulgence.

The problems with character and plot in 'Altered Carbon' are so closely entwined it's hard to treat them separately. However, the first big problem is that Kovacs is inconsistent, and ironically, another character in the novel obligingly points that out to us, though the inconsistency encompasses more than merely his personality. He's supposed to be some sort of renegade super-effectvie super-psychopath as the result of special training and conditioning. However, he seems more like an impotent, gratuitously violent, unpredictabley sentimental thug, maybe someone like Bobby Brown (Whitney's beau). Everybody in the story, including the viewpoint character, tells us the opposite though. In the context of all the violence and adulation, the reader expects Kovacs to be a smart tough guy, but looking at what he does, how he does it, and why he does it, there doesn't seem to much support for that belief. In order to talk about why the protagonist appears to be wonderfully ineffective and how most of the other characters fail to work for me, I'll need to look at the plot.

The plot moves largely by employing a hackneyed device from detective stories. Almost every bit of knowledge or effective action that comes Kovacs' way is either provided by, done by, or massively enabled by the various women that our hero encounters. Virtually everything he does on his own is either wrong or futile or stupid. Basically, the women he meets fall over themselves to help him out (to be fair at least one wants to kill him) it's like watching a TV episode of 'Mike Hammer' which equally relied on this cliche, but with tongue firmly in cheek, 'Altered Carbon', alas, has no sense of humor about it's absurdities or awkward bits. This dependence on others renders Kovacs very passive and ineffective as a character and makes it hard to beleive what we're told about him or that he qualifies as an amazing and scary guy. Anyway, in order to believe that all these women (and at least one computer) are willing to go to great lengths, take substantial risks, and go against their own best interests to help Kovacs out, I require either sufficient motivation or plotting that manages to keep me from worrying about what is motivating the characters. In this case, I worried a lot about motivation and generally found it wanting, though there's one striking and very cool counterexample.

I think I'll now close with another coupled defect, an example of noire failure and the eager embrace of a dangerous and very popular plot convention which has been ruining many Science Fiction novels for years. A classic noire story is a gestalt allegoy. It starts with the protagonist working on the basis of bad data, mistaken theories and flawed methods, he/she follows these and tests them against a radically different reality, which leads to an enlightenment and some sort of action and conclusion in harmony with the true state of affairs. The point of maximum cognitive dissonance generally occurs very close to the climax. In 'Altered Carbon' this point occurs about 1/3 of the way through the story, and at that point the first part of the novel has an abortive termination and then the novel gets started almost from scratch all over again. For me, the tempo never felt right thereafter. I've seen this structure work, but most of the authors I consider superior noire stylists don't even try. The practice of throwing away a big chunk of a novel and starting all over again is bafflingly common in Science Fiction, and the conventional noire plot easliy lends itself to it, but it's rarely pulled off in either genre or combinations thereof.

OK, this review is a bit of revisionist history. Had I reviewed this book immediately after reading it, I probably would have emphasized it's strengths: the fine writing, the able characterisation, the superb visionary descriptions of his future Earth, and his fun assimilation of film noir into hard SF. I also would have tossed in quite a few complaints about the derivative nature of some of his key plot points. Without going into it with too much detail (and therefor saving the reader from spoilers) Morgan treads ground already covered (and covered better) by fellow UK writers Ken Macleod and Alastair Reynolds. There's also a bit too much Blade Runner and Neuromancer here -- don't get me wrong, I love those seminal works. Nevertheless, we've seen it all done before, and (to be repetitive) done better.

So... fast forward to today, and I firmly believe that this book is a must-read. Why? Because it sets up what is evidently going to become one of the most read and beloved future-universe space opera sagas of the decade. I finished Morgan's sequel, Broken Angels, and let me tell you: it is fantastic. It is as original as Altered Carbon is derivative. The seemingly-throwaway lines in this book that so intrigued me come to glorious fruition in the sequel. And as I know that this is supposed to be a review of Altered Carbon and not its unpublished (in the US) sequel, I'll just add that the new one is firmly well-written military SF, giving rise to the speculation that Morgan intends to mine the various sub-genres of SF, utilizing thier various strengths to advance what is obviously becoming an intensely spiritual story.

If you want to appreciate the masterpiece that is Morgan's new book, Altered Carbon is essential. The author gives no quarter to the new reader unaquainted with the conceipts of his continuing universe, and you will be lost without it. Plus, this is indeed one fine and entertaining read.

Check out Altered Carbon, and watch Richard K. Morgan become one of the bright shining stars in the already luminous UK SF scene.

Richard Morgan's Altered Carbon is an excellent, intriguing novel that straddles multiple genres, and straddles them well. It's science fiction in that it takes place in the distant future when individual consciousness can be downloaded into a new body (or sleeve) should the need ever arise. There is plenty of space travel as the protagonist and narrator, Takeshi Kovacs travels from his world to what we know as earth. Altered Carbon is also a crime novel, as Kovacs has been hired to find the "murderer" of a centuries old wealthy man, who's consciousness was simply downloaded into a newly cloned sleeve. The story is well-written, compelling reading. Very enjoyable and imaginative.

Let me start out by saying that I read this book in less than twelve hours. I called in sick from work to finish it after staying up all night reading. Then I logged into Amazon and bought the sequels.

Altered Carbon is without a doubt the best book I've read this year.

Takeshi Kovacs, the protagonist, is a perfect noir antihero. With equal parts self-deprecation and sheer balls, his voice is powerful and true throughout the whole novel. The matter-of-fact first person narration is perfect.

The character development is superb - these people will not just come to life for the reader, they leap off the page and grab you by the throat. The future slang is gritty, descriptive, and 'right' without being incomprehensible. The pacing is fever-pitched; there's not a dull moment to be found. The scenes, the set pieces, are just jaw-droppingly gorgeous in descriptive detail, but are lean and mean at the same time. Every word is precisely crafted, and it shows. Boy, does it show.

In short, there are zero flaws in this novel as far as I'm concerned. My only gripe is that it was too short! Now I have to wait impatiently until I get my hands on the sequels...

Snow Crash (another more famous "cyberpunk" novel) is like a kids cartoon compared to this gritty, sexual and violent novel. R. M. sets the world, the year 25K, alive. Don't look for pandering descriptions of the world of tomorrow though. The future unravels slowly with only the bits necessary for the story shown. The plot on the other hand doesn't unravel as much as bowl you over. This is one of the only books I've read, other than ghost stories, which have the main character die within the first three pages. The gunfight on the first pages sets the pace for the rest of the book and Morgan's descriptions are amazing.

This is not for anyone who is easily offended by violence or sexual situations. But don't let that hinder your enjoyment of the novel, the V and S fit perfectly into the world Morgan has crafted. Look at our tendencies as a society now and you may see our future printed in this book.

If you do decide to read Altered Carbon it would be my advice to remember all of the names referenced early on. My memory is bad to say the least and I wish someone had warned me to pay closer attention.

I would recommend this to anyone who loves great sci-fi with a believable cohesive future and tons of action (oh yeah, the mystery is pretty slick to).

PS. Don't get me wrong, I loved Snow Crash too.

What a wonderful little book this turned out to be! Morgan starts off with the 'mind as information' idea that is so liked by modern SF authors, and spins it into a clever and surprising detective novel that hits all the right buttons.

Yeah, the SF concepts are cool, but what's really nice about this novel is the pulp detective novel it contains. In that regard, SF and Noir perfectly complement each other and prevent the novel from ever devolving into something derivative. The SF concepts are good, but as fuel material for a detective story, they allow Morgan to give a 'classical' detective narrative in an entirely new light, in a world populated by 300 year-old megalomaniacs and where your body is just one form of very expensive suit.

The fact the novel played out like a very classic detective story is one of the reasons I found it so endearing: there were moments, throughout the books, when I just KNEW what was gonna happen, but like seeing a remastered version of your favorite classic, that's a good thing: it was still entirely worthwhile.

Altogether, what truly makes 'Altered Carbon' memorable is not the SF, though it is amazing, and not the detective story, though it is an absolute delight to read: it's the perfect balancing act between the two, a mix of genres I have rarely seen executed so well.

Morgan writes one of the most stunning new SF books in some time, bringing us a mystery thriller in an exotic yet frighteningly familiar future. The tone is firmly set not in the halls of Science Fiction past, but in the legacy of 1930's hard-boiled crime fiction, full of plots, counterplots, seamy locales, seamier people, and above all, sex, violence, and death.

This is a world where no one dies for good, where bodies are cloned and personalities held in cortical "stacks" sleeved into them. A rich man "died" by apparent suicide, and when revived calls in a renowned offworld criminal to investigate. What Takeshi Kovachs finds are unhelpful cops, people and gangs out to hurt or kill him, bewildering events, lies everywhere, and dead bodies showing up around every corner. Every ally is a potential enemy, with the exception of the hotel he stays in.

After being chased, shot at, beaten, burned, tortured, and nearly killed many times, he slowly realizes that behind it all is another of the ancient power players of the world, one with whom he has an old history. From then Kovacs finally has the upper hand, methodically manipulating events to a final close.

The perspective is gritty, hardened, and not a little bitter. Kovacs is more than willing to take whatever measures he feels are necessary, including killing - permanently. He is a seasoned Envoy, a long-time criminal (though just how is hazy), and has been through many bodies and many worlds. No one is particularly likable, but many are somehow sympathetic. The combination of hard crime thriller with many unique SF elements - Science Fiction, and San Fransisco - works well. The author has done a great job here.

There are deeper ideas floating around. What is death? What would revival mean for religion, for law enforcement, and for life in general? How would the elite change? Every member of the upper-class is distasteful or downright evil, seeing people as pawns and playtoys; to the author they have no redeeming social value. The epilogue is a little trite, but that's made up for by all the psychadelic dream sequences, Kovacs' dead buddy Jimmy De Soto giving him advice from time to time.

An engrossing book, with a very satisfying ending leaving more than enough room for sequels. If you don't mind seeing the very worst of humanity, and rather gratuitous sex at times, I highly recommend.