Altered Carbon

by Richard K. Morgan

Altered Carbon

book data

1178 ratings, 4.16 average rating, 177 reviews (more data...)

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published

June 12th 2003 by Gollancz

binding

Paperback, 544 pages

isbn

0752856464 (isbn13: 9780752856469)

description

Compared to James Ellroy for its brutal intensity and to Raymond Chandler for its style and characterisation, this future-crime novel is a breathtakin...more

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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 1517)

All ratings | 5 stars (473) | 4 stars (426) | 3 stars (191) | 2 stars (25) | 1 star (12) | avg 4.16

all | this edition

FicusFan

FicusFan rated it:

(review of isbn 0345457684)

05/13/08

bookshelves: book-groups, cyber-punk, fiction, imortals, re-read, read-2008, read-5-08, science-fiction

Read in May, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

I first read this book back in 2004. I really loved it, and read the next book in the series, Broken Angels right away. I have re-read Altered Carbon for a RL book group and will go on and re-read Broken Angels too. My plan is to get up to speed on the story again so I can read the final book (for now ?) in the series, Woken Furies, for the first time. I got it from the UK back in 2005, but got side-tracked and never read it.

I loved the idea of 're-sleeving'...more

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Kathy

Kathy rated it:

(review of isbn 0345457692)

03/29/08

bookshelves: fiction, reviewed

Read in October, 2004

Hmmm...I can't remember why I picked up this book. I think I read about it on a friend's blog. I read most of it today and finished it off. But it was sort of painful at times -- the last 50 pages were sort of agony to read, but by that point, you just have to finish the damn thing.

Not spectacularly written, but hardly unusual for a book in this genre. It was interesting enough for me to plod through it, and at one point I enjoyed it briefly, but I thought it was full of logical flaws and jump...more

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Lily

Lily rated it:

(review of isbn 0345457692)

07/15/08

Read in July, 2008

recommended to Lily by: DrBonesandwich
recommends it for: open-minded sci-fi fans

I really debated over what rating to give this book. Three seemed too low, 4 seems a bit high. Overall, it's a good read. A little lacking in emotional draw, but it makes up for that in interesting details and a few nods to philosophy.

I could go all feminist on this novel, too. Basically, Morgan has a pretty obvious power complex. If a woman is powerful in this novel, she is psychotic.

Also, all women are inexplicably drawn to the main character, Takeshi, who begins as a pathetic, st...more I really debated over what rating to give this book. Three seemed too low, 4 seems a bit high. Overall, it's a good read. A little lacking in emotional draw, but it makes up for that in interesting details and a few nods to philosophy.

I could go all feminist on this novel, too. Basically, Morgan has a pretty obvious power complex. If a woman is powerful in this novel, she is psychotic.

Also, all women are inexplicably drawn to the main character, Takeshi, who begins as a pathetic, stupid anti-hero, pushed by hormones and drug use as much as by all the fancy military training he supposedly had.

But looking past these flaws, the book actually gets pretty good. Takeshi's character development is particularly striking. Morgan uses the anti-hero-with-a-dramatic-past thing to the max, while at the same time not falsifying the character with too many obvious conclusions or patched-up loose ends.

What really makes the story sparkle, though, is the world.

Morgan has invented an incredibly detailed future, where humans have colonized several worlds, learned to download their personalities onto hardware and stick them in new bodies. Space, time, the soul, the body all lose or change meaning. Death is practically conquered, but not in an impossible way. Morgan intelligently takes into account economics, side-effects, and the human psyche in portraying his new science.

The techno-garble was a bit difficult to get through at first. Although Morgan may not explain every word he uses outright, you soon get drawn into the police-thriller element enough that being able to decipher the purpose of every gadget isn't necessary.

And all in all, his rich invented vocabulary and incredibly well-thought-out universe give a perfect setting for the carnage.

Normally, I'm not a big one for action, especially not in book form. Nothing's quite as boring as reading about blood and hacked up limbs. But Morgan's violence stays interesting because of the depth of detail behind it, and the questions it raises about the meaning of a human life or a bodily death (after all, in "Altered Carbon"'s world, it's easy enough to place your personality hardware into a new body).

Basically, Morgan has invented a cool world and some cool new technology, and fleshed it out with all the elaborate elements of human society -- philosophy, art, language, economics, material goods, everything. The story itself is a bit stale and hard to follow (way too many characters with rapidly and occasionally illogically shifting alliances), and the main character is annoyingly ineffective for the first third of the book, but it's well worth reading for a change of pace, some sex, some violence, and a little philosophical mind bending....less

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Sandi

Sandi rated it:

(review of isbn 0345457692)

07/21/08

bookshelves: 2008, sci-fi

Read in July, 2008

recommends it for: The Non-Squeamish

Wow. It’s no wonder Richard K. Morgan became such a phenomenon in the science fiction world so quickly. His first novel, “Altered Carbon” is so well crafted that it bears no hints of being a first novel. His imagination and story telling is absolutely amazing. Although it is absolutely full of graphic violence and has a few X-rated sex scenes, every part is so well written, it all fits. This book should have completely offended me. I can’t stand gratuitous sex and violence. But, t...more Wow. It’s no wonder Richard K. Morgan became such a phenomenon in the science fiction world so quickly. His first novel, “Altered Carbon” is so well crafted that it bears no hints of being a first novel. His imagination and story telling is absolutely amazing. Although it is absolutely full of graphic violence and has a few X-rated sex scenes, every part is so well written, it all fits. This book should have completely offended me. I can’t stand gratuitous sex and violence. But, the way Morgan writes it, the sex and violence come off as being necessary to the story and the characters. I don’t think I’ve ever run across such plausible characters and actions. The plot is a standard noir detective thriller, but it’s so well done that the mystery remains a mystery until the very end.

One thing Morgan handles very well is his technology. He really goes into the various implications of a transhuman world where people can upload their thoughts, memories and personalities to different bodies (sleeves), depending on their ability to afford the costs. The truly rich can afford to live for hundreds of years, switching to young versions of themselves when their bodies get too old for their tastes. Poor people just get the consciousnesses (known as stacks) stored until someone is will to pay the price to get them reactivated in a new sleeve. The quality of one’s sleeve is an indication of their wealth. Without ever going into lecture mode, Morgan shows us how nearly every aspect of this transhuman society works.

To keep my conscience clear, I will state very strongly that this is at least R-rated material. A few scenes are X-rated. Some readers may be very turn-off by the brutality of “Altered Carbon.” It's also quite difficult to follow, with a lot of twists and turns in the plot. More than a few times, I found myself wondering where a certain character came from or how we found ourselves in a certain scene. If you can handle the violence, sex and complicated plot, it is an excellent read and well worth the time and effort.
...less

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Steven

Steven rated it:

(review of isbn 0345457692)

03/04/08

One of the best books I have ever had the pleasure of reading. While not as grand in scope as the other two Kovacs novels (Broken Angels and Woken Furies) Altered Carbon serves as a perfect introduction to Morgans protagonist Takeshi Kovacs. Altered Carbon is a gritty fast paced sci-fi action/detective story set on a far future version of earth were death has became something of an inconvenience to those who can afford new bodies. Kovacs is contracted to investigate the death of Laurens Bancroft...more

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Mark

Mark rated it:

(review of isbn 0345457692)

03/24/08

bookshelves: sciencefiction

Read in March, 2008

recommends it for: Fans of detective fiction and fans of science fiction.

"Altered Carbon" is the first novel in Richard Morgan's "Takeshi Kovacs" series. It's a great book if you're a fan of the detective genre and science fiction. It hearkens back to the old hard-boiled Phillip Marlowe books by Raymond Chandler with a cyberpunk twist. It's very well done, intriguing, and a great read! 4 1/2 stars!

The Plot

In the world of Richard Morgan's future, a person can change bodies by downloading all of their memories from their old...more

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Jason

Jason rated it:

(review of isbn 0345457692)

05/27/08

Beginning of the winter I bought a deep stack of science fiction books to get me through the tough times. Altered Carbon was the last of those books to be read. And Holy crap, the best was saved for last! It has everything. Bitchin science concepts, cool tech, ruthless and thoughtful characters, gripping action scenes, and strangely erotic sex sessions. I really like the way that Morgan writes. Two particular examples of his skills are his ability to transition smoothly from a character...more

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Jennifer

Jennifer rated it:

(review of isbn 0345457692)

06/11/08

bookshelves: scifi, thriller

Read in June, 2008

recommended to Jennifer by: Jamie
recommends it for: scifi fans, mystery buffs

I was inclined to dislike this book from the beginning- I do read some fairly violent work on occasion, but the prologue to this volume bothered me more than I expected. Things do calm down (or at least get explained) later on, and once I became familiar with the general premise and the rationale for the violence, it grew on me.

Essentially Takeshi Kovacs exists in a world where people's minds are consolidated into a "stack" that can be transplanted from one body (or sleeve) to the...more

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Patrick

Patrick rated it:

(review of isbn 0345457692)

05/10/07

Ultra violent and ultra sexual (I know what you're thinking. "Patrick, that's usually 5 star material for you"), these are interesting takes on the hard boiled detective novel. They're set in the distant, distant future and humans have transferrable storage devices installed into their spinal columns called "stacks" that constantly backup their memories and personality. So essentially, no one can really die. You usually just get a new body. Of course, like with computers, har...more

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Malcolm

Malcolm rated it:

(review of isbn 0345457692)

08/12/07

Read in August, 2007

recommends it for: SF Noir fans

This is the first book by this author I've read, and I was very impressed. It's basically noir, very dark and rather brutal noir at that, but set in a very futuristic timeframe where people can "resleeve" into other bodies, sometimes their own, sometimes clones, and sometimes into ones that have been vacated by others.

If you like the movie "Chinatown", and have a reasonably strong stomach, I'd highly recommend this. The main character is engaging and sympathetic, but is...more

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Ginnie

Ginnie rated it:

(review of isbn 0345457684)

11/19/07

bookshelves: mystery-detective, sci-fi

Not many books stay in my memory as vividly as Altered Carbon. The McGuffin here is that various bodies can be taken off and a different one put on is a given in this future multi planet society. Naturally the best bodies cost the most money. The ramifications of this cost/benefit lead to noir changes every time the hero gets closer to solvingt the puzzle.

EXCITING. WELL CONCEIVED. DARK.

Unfortunately the subsequent books aren't as strong.

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Judd

Judd rated it:

(review of isbn 0345457692)

09/15/07

Read in September, 2007

Harsh violence, graphic sex, a gripping science fiction world with quasi-immortals, memories downloaded into bodies called sleeves and a nifty vision of future earth.

I dig.

If Dashiell Hammet and William Gibson got into a knife fight in a dark alley, with only one knife between them while it rained, the winner would get up and write a book like this.

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Stefanie

Stefanie rated it:

(review of isbn 0345457692)

08/15/07

bookshelves: favorites

loved this book. also one of my absolute favorites. part of it is the whole anti-hero-ness of Takeshi Kovacs, part of it is simply the world that Morgan has created, and the last part would have to be his very quick, snappy writing style. bottom line: if you are any kind of sci-fi fan, you must read Richard K. Morgan.

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Steve

Steve rated it:

(review of isbn 0345457692)

10/26/08

Altered Carbon is not a bad book, but it is one that I disliked. All in all it is a detective story, just one with futuristic sci-fi elements, but at the base, it is a detective story in the same manner as Raymond Chandler or a less humorous version of Elmore Leonard. A hard, no-nonsense, male investigator with a chip on his shoulder (daddy issues) is hired to solve a mystery, which turns into a giant conspiracy that only he can unravel. On the way he has sex with basically every woman he mee...more

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David

David rated it:

(review of isbn 0345457684)

08/27/08

bookshelves: mystery, noir, owned, science-fiction

Read in August, 2008

recommends it for: Mike Hammer fans

A good yarn that takes all the themes, violence, and sex of a 1940's pulp detective novel and translates them to a 25th century setting. Murder gets complicated in a world where the human consciousness can change bodies like a suit of clothes, the rich and vainglorious are effectively immortal, and the detective is a trained killing machine, killed in the first 5 pages of the book, and stuck in the body of one of the principal players in the investigation.

Mike Hammer is definitely the templa...more

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Aaron

Aaron rated it:

(review of isbn 0345457692)

10/05/08

Read in September, 2008

I spent the entirety of this book - literally from the first page to the last page - thinking that this probably would've been better as a movie, a comic book, a video game, a BBC miniseries, anything but a book. Altered Carbon is pretty unsurprising within its genre - the protagonist is a guy who resolves all of his problems with fistfights, gunfights and humping, the women are all slutty, breasty psychopaths with perfect bodies, everyone has a secret agenda, it's always raining, there's very ...more

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Amanda

Amanda rated it:

(review of isbn 0345457692)

04/21/08

Read in April, 2008

An entertaining if slightly adolescent romp through a trans-human take on cyber-punk. It's just a bit derivative of Nueromancer -- right down to the decrepit wealthy eccentric-cum-perverted family at the center. His characters and action are more fun than Gibson's, though his prose lacks Gibson's elegance.

The book could be read (by people who say things like "could be read") as a meditation on the nature of identity and reality and their intersection with new technology. However, ...more

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Joshua

Joshua rated it:

(review of isbn 0345457692)

02/05/08

bookshelves: sci-fi-and-fantasy

Read in January, 2008

recommends it for: Anyone interested in cyberpunk

I had high hopes for this novel, hearing all the buzz it was receiving for winning the Philip K Dick award for best novel in 2003. While it was a good enough quasi-cyberpunk novel, it wasn't told exceptionally well. This being Richard Morgan's first novel, there were some plot inconstancies and dragging, but for a first novel these are to be expected.
Altered Carbon is set in a futuristic world where "real" death has all but been erased allowing people to copy their minds and...more

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Seth

Seth rated it:

(review of isbn 0345457692)

12/25/07

bookshelves: cyberpunk, noir

Read in December, 2007

After about two years of having enthusiastic recommendations, I finally gave this book a chance. It was worth a read. It's a book and world that mixes some of the more hard-boiled noir mysteries with a lot of the tropes that made cyberpunk great in the 80s. All he missed was zaibatsu-like corporations exerting political interests.

The conceit of the book is that every element of the human personality can be stored and transferred to different human 'sleeves', rendering near if not actual immort...more

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Irfon-kim

Irfon-kim rated it:

(review of isbn 0345457692)

11/28/07

bookshelves: audiobooks

Read in November, 2007

recommends it for: Fans of science fiction and gritty noir detective stories

Really, that "you would recommend this book to" line pretty much doubles as a review. This was a decent book with some genuine thought given to the implications of the futurist ideas contained within the setting. From an idea perspective, it's a really interesting setup, and like all modern detective tales, it does a reasonable job of having that "all the pieces fit together at the last moment" feeling.

On the downside, I think that they went in for a bit too much gratui...more

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