Altered Carbon

Fun, pretty pulp. Don't think this deserves the hype it gets. Its central conceit isn't especially interesting if you're well-read in science fiction.

While the sex and violence at times are grotesque to the point of pornographic and make portions of the book a nearly unreadable slog, the intricate way the myriad narrative threads fall into place by the end is delicious.

On my first read of this one, I loved it. I read it a second time right before the show came out, and even years later, I still think it's a great modern cyberpunk story. It hits the level of noir and gritty future reality just right. And the metaphorical writing is reminiscent of trying to be like Raymond Chandler, which fits the main character well. What I didn't remember from the first time, and what I found I really enjoyed during the second read, was all the political undertones and Quellist remarks made by various people. I suppose my interest in this has changed in the 12 years between 2006 and 2018, because I live in the United States, and in those years paying attention to revolutionary politics has suddenly become more important.

Goed. Gelezen omdat ik de serie op Netflix goed vond, maar het boek is beter.

DNF at 26%.

One thing I'm struck by is how the female characters in this book are much more numerous, important, and striking than the men.

you can 1000% tell this was written by a man

Pretty good, hard to fault. I struggled with recalling characters and their plot significance; there were many of them, and they influenced Kovacs (the main character) in both significant yet subtle ways, often through small details. Reading through the novel more quickly might have alleviated this issue, but, regardless, I enjoyed my time here.

Fundamentally, it presents an intriguing world and narrative—a blend of cyberpunk, noir and crime mystery.

Our main character has been shipped off-world as Digital Human Freight (DHF) to assist in the investigation of the mysterious death of Laurens Bancroft, an approximately 300-year-old “Meth” with substantial influence over the UN.

However, there are others like him, plotting and scheming. And it's all up to good ol' Takeshi Kovacs to unravel it all if he wants to regain his freedom and save his loved ones. 

Oh, and his consciousness has been downloaded into someone else's body, introducing another layer of conflict for him; where he doesn't know his own body's past, but everyone else does. 

———
4/5 for writing, 4.5/5 for story and 3.5/5 for impact.

Awesome story line. Really well written. The audiobook reader is also fantastic if you happen to be reading that version.

I really struggled to get into this one. I found the story quite hard to follow, because of how many different characters get introduced throughout the book. It's a pity because there's a lot of cool sci-fi concepts here (i.e. uploading your brain to another body). Also this guy is horny AF, there is random unnecessary sex everywhere (aren't you a trained soldier, just do your job!) and sometimes it just doesn't make sense when the woman jumps on him like it's very male fantasy. So if you're a dude and you're into sex and violence this may be the sci-fi novel for you.

Wow, what a great book - so much better than the TV series. I almost stopped more than once (in the beginning), but its soooo good!

A lovely post-cyberpunk romp in neo-noir trappings, the worldbuilding is gritty without being grimdark, and the entire book is shot through with humor.

Kovacs is a wonderfully flawed protagonist, not just in his emotional and heroic core, but in the sense that his small failures and harms to his pride are very real– he seems to view male sexuality as a disgusting burden rather than something virile and manly, which is refreshing for sf written by cis men.

However, the sex scenes were pointless and lurid, and the dogfucking scene (you'll know when you get there) was pointlessly disgusting.

For those wondering, yes it is significantly different enough from the Netflix series to warrant a read. In general, it foreshadows where the series over-explains, carefully hinting at its worldbuilding.

Overall, a fun read if you have a high tolerance for genre staples such as these. Not for everyone, but definitely for me.

Death, where is thy sting?

I watched the Netflix series a bit ago, so reading the book seemed like the next logical step. I love those old detective noir mystery atmospheres, I love cyberpunk atmospheres, and the idea that your consciousness can be transferred (“re-sleeved”) as often as you have the cash for it makes for an interesting premise. This seemed like a slam dunk for me.

In many ways it was. Kovacs is very much an anti-hero; you're supposed to dislike him. I liked the moral ambiguity he brought to the story, and his jaded war vet background made for some interesting philosophical considerations he has throughout the story. I liked being strung along on this cyberpunk mystery full of people with too much cash and not a lot of perspective left after being re-sleeved for over a century. I liked the gritty action, the take on a futuristic America, all of it. I had a lot of fun reading this book.

I think my only real miss is the ending. To keep it vague (since this is a mystery at its core), all throughout the first 80-85% of the book the author keeps you very informed as to what the main character is doing, what they're thinking, the connections they're making with regards to the mystery they're unraveling, and it feels like you're right there with him in this investigation. Just when you start closing in on the ending though, the author starts skipping whole scenes that you know are taking place, all in the name of preserving The Big Reveal. Don't get me wrong, the pieces are all put back in place for you at the end, but tonally it felt like the ending was played out of order in terms of putting the pieces together. A very minor quibble, I know.

This book is very much one of those either you love or you hate, from reading the other reviews. And I really, really liked it.

so noir he had to talk to himself twice.

Mise à jour après une deuxième lecture :

C'est étrange comme on peut avoir un ressenti totalement différent sur le même livre à quelques mois d'intervalle. J'avais essayé de lire ce roman au début de l'année et j'avais renoncé après en avoir lu la moitié. Cette fois, j'ai été captivé par le récit dès le début et malgré une petite baisse d'intensité au milieu, j'ai tenu bon et j'ai pris dans cette deuxième lecture un plaisir que je n'avais pas connu la première fois. Comme quoi, il est parfois bon de laisse une seconde chance à un roman qui nous a déçu mais dont on perçoit un potentiel à côté duquel on est peut-être passé la première fois. C'est bien le cas ici, sans que je comprenne bien pourquoi. Sans doute une question d'état d'esprit au moment de la lecture.

Première critique après une première lecture :

Altered Carbon est le premier tome d'une trilogie de romans de l'écrivain britannique Richard K. Morgan. J'ai découvert cette oeuvre à travers son adaptation en série TV par Netflix : j'avais trouvé cela sympathique sans en garder non plus un souvenir inoubliable. Malgré tout, la lecture récente du jeu de rôles Eclipse Phase, inspiré notamment de l'imaginaire décrit par Richard K. Morgan dans Altered Carbon et ses suites, m'avait donné envie de plonger dans la trilogie.

Il faut d'abord avoir conscience d'une chose : Altered Carbon est un polar dans un univers de science-fiction transhumaniste. Dans ce futur imaginé, l'esprit d'un être humain peut être numérisé et transféré d'un corps à un autre : la mort n'est vraiment réelle que si on efface toutes les sauvegardes de l'esprit d'une personne. Les plus riches passent sans cette d'un corps à un autre et peuvent ainsi vivre jusqu'à trois siècles, quand les plus pauvres doivent travailler toujours plus dur pour disposer d'un corps correct.

Je dois également faire une remarque sur la structure du livre : contrairement à de nombreux romans parfaitement calibrés avec des chapitres de taille quasiment identiques, généralement entre 10 et 15 pages, celui-ci varie les plaisirs : certains chapitres atteignent tout juste 10 pages quand d'autres dépassent les 20 voire 25 pages. C'est déroutant quand on est habitué aux productions littéraires récentes où tout est finement calculé pour plaire au plus grand nombre, et c'est suffisamment notable pour que je le signale ici.

Malheureusement, un polar dans un univers de science-fiction reste un polar, et c'est un genre qui ne m'a jamais vraiment plu. Si j'ai aimé certains romans policiers old-school (Agatha Christie a bercé mon adolescence), j'ai toujours du mal avec les polars, leurs ambiances sombres et poisseuses, et les enquêtes qui avancent péniblement avec un détective plus ou moins antipathique.

Après avoir tenu plus de la moitié du livre, j'ai fini par renoncer. L'univers décrit par l'auteur est passionnant, il donne envie d'en savoir plus, mais le récit m'a littéralement ennuyé. J'ai tenté péniblement de passer outre en poursuivant ma lecture mais j'ai fini par me résoudre à abandonner, constatant avec amertume que ce livre n'est pas fait pour moi.

Je ne peux même pas dire que c'est un livre raté, ou de mauvaise qualité. Je suis bien incapable de juger s'il s'agit ou pas d'un bon polar. Par contre, je peux dire que le décalage – sans doute voulu par l'auteur – entre l'univers très inventif et le récit très classique n'a pas produit chez moi les effets désirés.

The tv series spoiled me; I liked the additional plots added to the show that didn't appear in the book, and made the last set of reveals very interesting. To the counterpoint, I do have to say I liked the image of the Patchwork Man in the book much better than he was portrayed in the shows.

A fantastic sci fi world that really drew me in with its initial premise. The story diverted quite a bit and it feels like the writer may well have not originally had the plot direction going the way it did when he began. However with interesting characters, continuing surprises and a, as aforementioned, fantastic sci-fi world, it kept me intrigued for the majority of the story.

Gute Idee, Zäh zu lesen. Nach der Hälfte aufgegeben.

Excellent cyberpunk mystery.

[3.5] Really wanted to like this. The Netflix TV show rendition of this book was enjoyable. I actually think the show did a better job of making Kovacs and the cop (forgot her name) likeable. In the book they feel far more extra-judicial and I don't think it felt as warranted as it does in the show, but maybe I missed something.

There's also a lot of references to sex, which I guess has a time and place, but my ever persistent asexuality makes me roll my eyes everytime the author mentions how great someone's breasts are. They're not even well-written sex scenes either: little passion, entirely self-gratifying, ill-motivated, and overall clearly written by a man for other (straight) men.

Interesting book overall, but with a few parts that bore the hell out of me.

I like the fact that the book story slightly diverges from the tv show story, so it didn't feel spoiled that much.

I was interested in the story around Martians and their technology but there are a very few mentions about it and it's origin, so I guess that I will have to read more about it in the 2nd book (:
Another thing that troubled me is that Kovach has neurochems which are giving him an edge in the combat, but his opponents (except Trep (Blink?)) doesn't seem to be using that advantage and are dying like a flies :/

This book is amazing I recommend reading the book first and then watching the tv show (I watched the tv show first and would have reading the book first).

I have to say I am now linking a lot this genre.

Like many, I saw the TV series before I read the book. There are many similarities, but many more differences. The book was good but I'm struck by what a good job they did adapting the novel for the small screen. Two entirely different tales in the end since most of the characters have different motivations. While many share names, they have entirely different roles. The important observation being, if you've seen the show, it's still worth reading the book. And if you've read the book, the show tells a version of the story that's nearly independent and well worth your time.

Romanul a fost promovat ca cyber-noir - de fapt, este 10% cyber și 90% noir.
Dacă vă place genul policier, merită citit, este un noir scris foarte corect, cu bifarea majorității șabloanelor genului și cu o intrigă relativ complexă, care nu permite ghicirea criminalului. În unele privințe mi-a amintit de The Expanse, mai ales în atmosferă. Dacă v-a plăcut Expanse, o să vă placă și CM. Mie nu-mi plac policier-urile, deci m-a ratat (și plictisit) cu brio.
Dacă îl aveți în vedere ca cyberpunk, din punctul meu de vedere puteți să-l săriți: are câteva idei originale, dar cyberpunk-ul este doar fundal și decor, ratându-și complet condiția sa principală, după cum observa și Florin Pîtea la el pe blog, și anume rolul de comentariu social.
În plus, aici (fiind debutul său) Richard Morgan nu e prea eficient cu scriitura - motiv din care vă recomand ca alternativă ”Omul Negru” - mai matur, mai bine scris, mai cyber și da, mai comentariu social. Pe acela îl consider de 5+/5, așa că rămân fan Morgan și după această nepotrivire de caracter cu CM.

Lost interest pretty soon. Never again.