Order ALTERED CARBON here
I remember the time when I would just read anything. Any book I hadn't read, I'd fucking jump into it and tear it apart in two or three days. The more you mature as a reader, the narrower your field of interest become, because you start to understand who you are and what you like better. I've been trying to get my hands on Richard K. Morgan's ALTERED CARBON for years now and of course, I became worried that I've outgrown my tireless hunt for cult classics only after securing a copy. My worries turned out to be silly because not only ALTERED CARBON's a great cyberpunk novel, it's a smart and fun genre novel period. That never gets old to an enthusiastic and slightly compulsive reader like me.
Takeshi Kovacs dies right at the beginning of ALTERED CARBON. It doesn't really matter, because death in the 25th century is not what it used to be due to a technique called ''sleeving'' that consists of storing somebody's consciousness into a cortical stack at the base of the skull and downloading it into another body (or ''sleeve'') in case of organic destruction. It's not something everybody can afford, but U.N Envoy Kovacs wakes up on Earth after being shot down on a far away planet and finds himself contracted by a businessman Laurens Bancroft in order to find who almost ended his three centuries-long life. For Kovacs, it's either that or going back to the 118 years in digital oblivion he was sentenced to.
Of course, there are classic hardboiled influences in ALTERED CARBON. It's part of the identity of cyberpunk literature and you would be fooling yourself if you thought you could avoid it here. The hardboiled aspect of ALTERED CARBON is not the most interesting or original, in fact it heavily borrrows from Raymond Chandler's quintessential classic THE BIG SLEEP, but fortunately for us readers, it's about the least interesting aspect of the novel. Everything else about it ranges from clever to absolutely fascinating. ALTERED CARBON is a layered, multidimensional novel that does so many things right that it appeals to different kinds of readers. In fact, it's a terrific way to get acquainted with cyberpunk if you aren't already or looking to turn one of your friends to one of the nerdiest literary genres.
That said, ALTERED CARBON wouldn't really be a cyberpunk novel without philosophical questions about the human condition. Sleeving causes a wide array of issues ranging from the obsolescence of Judeo-Christian values (Christianity is considered a cult in ALTERED CARBON) to the creation of a social cast called the Methuselah, who could potentially inhabit any body and therefore corrupt the fabric of your reality. I'm not saying this necessarily happen in ALTERED CARBON, but author Richard K. Morgan expertly leaves that threat looming, partially though Takeshi Kovacs' relationship to his own sleeve, who everybody used to know on Earth. It's a sign of maturity and confidence that's rare to find in a first novel, to leave the reader interpret the extend of the issues you hint at. Most first time novelists make it obvious or overexplain. It's not the case here.
I could give you a dozen reasons why I liked ALTERED CARBON, but at the end of the day, it's just a good book that everyone should appreciate. The mystery is rather standard, but the use of cyberpunk elements (such as the technique of sleeving) keeps it from ever going stale. Richard K. Morgan uses conventions and tropes as a way to anchor a complex and challenging story into a layout that's familiar with readers and I thought it's extremely clever. It's playing with fire, because you're always a hair away from falling into cliché but Richard K. Morgan surfs that wave brilliantly and keeps his balance for the entire duration of ALTERED CARBON. It's a cult classic for a reason. It's a bold an challenging novel with a democratic approach..
I could give you a dozen reasons why I liked ALTERED CARBON, but at the end of the day, it's just a good book that everyone should appreciate. The mystery is rather standard, but the use of cyberpunk elements (such as the technique of sleeving) keeps it from ever going stale. Richard K. Morgan uses conventions and tropes as a way to anchor a complex and challenging story into a layout that's familiar with readers and I thought it's extremely clever. It's playing with fire, because you're always a hair away from falling into cliché but Richard K. Morgan surfs that wave brilliantly and keeps his balance for the entire duration of ALTERED CARBON. It's a cult classic for a reason. It's a bold an challenging novel with a democratic approach..