book data
648 ratings, 3.83 average rating, 53 reviews
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published
March 20th 2003
by Gollancz
binding
Hardcover, 400 pages
isbn
0575073233
(isbn13: 9780575073234)
description
Critics have compared Richard Morgan's first novel, Altered Carbon, to the classic hardboiled fiction of Raymond Chandler. The comparison does...more
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 804)
It's just not as good as the first one!
OK, there, I said it. And I mean it.
I can only imagine that writing a follow up to critically acclaimed novel has got to be a bummer. Think about it. You got this big awesome first story with all these great ingredients and an amazingly complex and fascinating protagonist. You also got mad style as a writer. And you definately have a book deal for a sequel that might actually pay the bills for the year and leave you in peace to write. Sounds...more
OK, there, I said it. And I mean it.
I can only imagine that writing a follow up to critically acclaimed novel has got to be a bummer. Think about it. You got this big awesome first story with all these great ingredients and an amazingly complex and fascinating protagonist. You also got mad style as a writer. And you definately have a book deal for a sequel that might actually pay the bills for the year and leave you in peace to write. Sounds...more
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Read in October, 2006
recommends it for:
adult scifi action dark
Takeshi Kovacs, hardboiled mercenary, joins a plan to recover an alien starship, but its located between two fronts in a war where new types of (illegal) evolutionary nanoweapons are being used. A number of twists before the ending keep it fresh.
Morgan's writing about Kovacs is a bit more sympathetic in this novel, though the world he inhabits is just as brutal as Altered Carbon. Militaristic Noir?
Morgan's writing about Kovacs is a bit more sympathetic in this novel, though the world he inhabits is just as brutal as Altered Carbon. Militaristic Noir?
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Read in April, 2006
Second in the trilogy, this is one of the most haunting books I have read in a long while. Eerie and hard-boiled at the same time, Morgan's blend of science fiction, mystery and political fiction works but the addition of the "Martian" ship is truly weird and wonderful. Great series so far!
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Wow, not nearly as good Altered Carbon. In fact, really bad. The over-the-top graphic sex and violence are a turn off, as are the lame plot twists. Next!
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Read in February, 2008
I shamefacedly don’t think a book describing something that ought to happen is much of a good book. A bad plot is understandable; if it has a strong cast of characters who live united to the writer’s ideas, involve characterization.
Star Wars must be generally a good read, then, though I’m a millennium or two from understanding its purpose. Or Trek, though I seen most episodes and movies. Not all, because I didn’t have the time. You’ve read hitchhikers guide to the universe I liked ...more
Star Wars must be generally a good read, then, though I’m a millennium or two from understanding its purpose. Or Trek, though I seen most episodes and movies. Not all, because I didn’t have the time. You’ve read hitchhikers guide to the universe I liked ...more
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Read in June, 2008
recommended to Jennifer by:
Sararecommends it for: anyone who doesn't mind a chilling view of the future
This is a sequel to a book I really enjoyed called Altered Carbon. It's set quite a bit in the future when mankind has learned how to digitize consciousness and transfer it from one body to the next (called re-sleeving). This technology allows man to venture into the far reaches of space and also to achieve a sort of immortality--unless a person's data stack is damanged beyond recovery. People not only change bodies but they also enhance these bodies both chemically and technologically.
Th...more
Th...more
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Read in January, 2004
recommends it for:
cyberpunk fans
The followon to Altered Carbon. This book sends Kovacs to war, and confronts the legacy of the Martians head on.
The Martians, as they were introduced in Altered Carbon, were a race of sentient birdlike creatures, that have, apparently, been long extinct by the time their relics were discovered on Mars. Now a new archeological find in the middle of a war zone has corporate players scrambling to find it, understand it, and exploit it as quickly as possible, and woe to anyone who gets in the w...more
The Martians, as they were introduced in Altered Carbon, were a race of sentient birdlike creatures, that have, apparently, been long extinct by the time their relics were discovered on Mars. Now a new archeological find in the middle of a war zone has corporate players scrambling to find it, understand it, and exploit it as quickly as possible, and woe to anyone who gets in the w...more
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The second Takeshi Kovacs book. This one isn’t quite as much a detective story as the first one. Kovacs is part of a mercenary unit on a planet that is in the middle of a nasty civil war. He is approached by some dude who has knowledge of an archaeological site that has some ancient Martian technology that is probably worth a ton of money and the dude wants Kovacs to help him actualize some profit..
The rest of the book is about how Takeshi approaches a large corporation and sells them t...more
The rest of the book is about how Takeshi approaches a large corporation and sells them t...more
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Read in May, 2008
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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Read in April, 2008
I'm glad I was told beforehand that this book was a very different book from Altered Carbon. If I had been expecting a similar cyberpunk/noir cross, I think I would have been disappointed.
However, given that I had an idea that the sequel was almost an entirely different genre, I enjoyed the book. It does have the same cynical viewpoint of the first, the same overly graphic violence (should I admit that I enjoy that? Probably not)...more
However, given that I had an idea that the sequel was almost an entirely different genre, I enjoyed the book. It does have the same cynical viewpoint of the first, the same overly graphic violence (should I admit that I enjoy that? Probably not)...more
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Read in July, 2008
For some reason I initially resisted reading Altered Carbon, but once I started, I just tore through it. Broken Angels, however, felt like just the opposite. I was really looking forward to it, but by the end was just sort of trudging through. It didn't feel like there was a smooth progression between the books. Alot of Kovacs' views, particularly towards the Envoys, seems inexplicably different in this book, and I found myself identifying with much fewer of his actions.
It ...more
It ...more
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Read in October, 2008
I enjoyed this cyberpunk adventure featuring Takeshi Kovacs. While it was confusing at times remembering who was who and where they were, I liked the mix of artificial intelligence and human interactions. I look forward to reading the next book in the series, Woken Furies.
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Read in November, 2008
Amazon tells me I ordered this one on June 15, 2004. I liked his other book I ordered that day.
I finished this on Thanksgiving Day on the plane back from Cleveland. I think I liked it, but I think I probably should have read it closer to the first book in the series. I keep thinking that I missed something because it was explained earlier on.
I finished this on Thanksgiving Day on the plane back from Cleveland. I think I liked it, but I think I probably should have read it closer to the first book in the series. I keep thinking that I missed something because it was explained earlier on.
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Read in June, 2008
The second book in the Takeshi Kovacs series is entertaining in its own right, but was something of a letdown as well. The first book, Altered Carbon was insightful and full of mystery that kept you reading for more, this book rather delayed the content which simply annoyed the reader as the filler plot parts were less cleverly written. In a way, you cannot even compare this story to the original, it is wholly different. Too many characters, too much going on, too much subtle plot action goin...more
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The second book to feature protagonist Takeshi Kovacs, this one makes me think more of Apocalypse Now or even Seven Samurai, as opposed to noir-infused setting of Morgan’s first Kovacs novel, Altered Carbon. The plot itself, about an archaeological find in the middle of a warzone, is confusing at times due to its complexity, and the way Morgan throws around terms from his world without explaining what they mean, but it’s still enjoyable for that. A throwaway line in the epilogue hints at dev...more
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Read in October, 2006
Broken Angels is his second effort and returns us to the world of Takeshi Kovacs about 30 years later (subjective time). This time involved in a planetary civil war and a little Indiana Jones activity on the side.
All I can really say about these books without giving away all the coolest stuff is they are definitely 'must-read' and I can't recommend them highly enough.
recommended for: fans of Blade Runner, Split Second, Neal Stephenson, and maybe even Matrix fans ( I am not one, so I can...more
All I can really say about these books without giving away all the coolest stuff is they are definitely 'must-read' and I can't recommend them highly enough.
recommended for: fans of Blade Runner, Split Second, Neal Stephenson, and maybe even Matrix fans ( I am not one, so I can...more
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Broken Angels is the second book in Richard K. Morgan's Takeshi Kovacs series. As with the first, this futuristic sci-fi novel reads more like an action-thriller than straight cyberpunk. This story explores the human race's need to explore and understand the unknown as well as the accompanying greed that can also drive this need.
I actually thought this story was more complex and better conceived and executed than Altered Carbon, but then again i really appreciate a good suspenseful storyline...more
I actually thought this story was more complex and better conceived and executed than Altered Carbon, but then again i really appreciate a good suspenseful storyline...more
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Read in June, 2008
Rock solid sophomore outing for Morgan and his stalwart protagonist, Takeshi Kovacs. The first outing, Altered Carbon, was more to my liking, as it played with a genre I prefer: noir. This time, Kovacs is back in uniform as a mercenary (think Blackwater in Space), who becomes embroiled in archeological intrigue. Martian relics, shady characters, over-the-top action and gore, and lashings of philosophy; it's all here, held together by tight dialogue and snappy prose.
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Read in November, 2008
I re-read Altered Carbon just before reading this, and I think it's safe to say that this doesn't quite match the first Kovacs book in quality. However, it is still quite an entertaining read. The best parts are the descriptions/discoveries about the Martian culture and how humanity came to find its way across the stars. Very intriguing, especially given that the aliens are left largely as unknown or barely understood entities.
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