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    Altered Carbon
    Altered Carbon
    Altered Carbon
    Audiobook17 hours

    Altered Carbon

    Written by Richard K. Morgan

    Narrated by Todd McLaren

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    In the twenty-fifth century, humankind has spread throughout the galaxy, monitored by the watchful eye of the U.N. While divisions in race, religion, and class still exist, advances in technology have redefined life itself. Now, assuming one can afford the expensive procedure, a person's consciousness can be stored in a cortical stack at the base of the brain and easily downloaded into a new body (or "sleeve") making death nothing more than a minor blip on a screen.

    Ex-U.N. envoy Takeshi Kovacs has been killed before, but his last death was particularly painful. Dispatched one hundred eighty light-years from home, re-sleeved into a body in Bay City (formerly San Francisco, now with a rusted, dilapidated Golden Gate Bridge), Kovacs is thrown into the dark heart of a shady, far-reaching conspiracy that is vicious even by the standards of a society that treats "existence" as something that can be bought and sold. For Kovacs, the shell that blew a hole in his chest was only the beginning. . . .

    "Morgan's debut novel, the first in a series, combines noir mystery with ultra-high tech science to create a complex sf thriller. Featuring a hard-nosed antihero with his own sense of personal honor and ethics, this is highly recommended for sf collections."-Library Journal
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateJan 10, 2005
    ISBN9781400171378
    Altered Carbon

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    Reviews for Altered Carbon

    4/5

    2,429 ratings123 reviews

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    • 5/5
      PHENOMENAL. I’m ashamed of myself for watching the series before reading!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Anything I write about this book might seem incoherent, so I’ll just jot down a few notes to remind myself why I loved it this much. I expected it to be good, but it goes beyond that. It has everything I love: a male protagonist who is tough, but not invulnerable, a perfectly developed world of the future where most people don’t die - they are simply downloaded into their next ‘sleeve’, more than one antagonist, unexpected frenemies; it even has a romantic aspect (or at least as romantic as you can get in a story like this). And the writing is excellent. Those are just some of the things you’d find here. I loved it!

      The story is divided into five parts, each slowly revealing different parts of the plot and introducing various segments of the setting. There is absolutely no info-dumping; every information you get is either through conversation, or seen through the character’s eyes or through character’s hallucinations or memories.

      Kovacs is hired to find out who killed a very powerful man. He is given a new body to use while on Earth. We don’t find out anything about that body, the ‘sleeve’, in Part 1: Arrival.
      The first part of the book sets the depressing tone of the story: world of corruption, powerful rich people doing whatever they want. Those who have money can recycle themselves as long as they like. They can even buy off bodies from poorer people.

      In the second part more secrets are revealed the hard way. And I mean the hard way. What Kovacs lives through in this part of the book has a very satisfying ending for bloodthirsty people like me.

      Through the course of the story, Kovacs makes new enemies and finds help from unexpected sources, reveals a lot of unpleasant truths and finds out that there is a part of him that is still decent human being at its core. I loved this part of the book. From romantic to philosopher to scammer to a cold blooded killer are some of the phases Takeshi Kovacs goes through in this book.

      What I loved is Takeshi Kovacs himself, of course, but other characters aren’t far behind. Where else you might find a psychopathic AI hotel? Although he is an almost perfectly conditioned fighting machine, Kovacs isn’t untouchable.

      As far as the other characters or events are concerned, there are no loose ends in this book. Everything is well thought of, every single scene has its place. Even if you forget something, it comes back as part of something greater.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      Think the concepts work more for me then the writing style itself. Think it will make a decent syfy series.
    • 4/5
      I can't believe this is the second time I've read this book; can't believe that I didn't even remember reading something this good.
    • 3/5
      Interesting concepts. All the sex kind of bothered me: it wasn't really necessary.
    • 4/5
      Morgan's first novel starts of with a (literal) bang, riddling our protagonists with bullets. thus starts a tale of a future world not far off at all from one that Phillip Dick would have imagined, where the personality and memory are stored in an electronic cortical stack implanted into everyone's brain stem. if you can afford a "re-sleeving" into a new (real or synthetic) body, death has no meaning. in such a world, why would a rich man, sure to download into a waiting computer backup, commit suicide? the rich man hires Takeshi Kovacs (one of the best-named hardboiled detectives ever), former military black-ops genius, to figure out exactly what happened in that last un-rememberable hour. the whole gang of usual noir suspects is here, from saints to gangsters to whores to thugs...only some are digital rather than in-the-flesh. plenty of stuff blows up, and plenty of scenes are written with more flash/metaphor/self-conscious coolness than needed, but it's a way fun ride.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book, but I feel like the Netflix series does a better job with the plots and the stories. Still, this was great!
    • 5/5
      This book haunts me. Just fantastic. Read it and read again.
    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed it. Todd truly brought the story to life. His attempt at the women’s voice was pretty cute. The Netflix series is great but the book... WAYYYY BETTER! I wish more of the book was incorporated into the series.
    • 5/5
      This I kind of my idea of what you’d get if Raymond Chandler wrote modern science fiction. There was definitely a noir feeling to the work. Now I’m going to have to check out the series on Netflix!
    • 5/5
      GREAT LISTEN..Awesome ? better than netflix show much more depth

    • 4/5
      Amazing book. Like many others, gave it a try after having seen the Netflix series which I loved, and the book goes into so many more details.
      My only problem is with the narration, prepare to listen at full volume (if that is even enough for you). Though the reader has a great voice, he mostly mumbles through the reading, and gave quite a few jumpscares when suddenly talking loudly. Otherwise, strongly recommend.
    • 2/5
      Synopsis:
      In the 26th century mankind has spread through the galaxy, taking its religions and racial divisions out into the cold arena of space. While tensions exist and small dirty wars flare up every now and then, the UN Protectorate maintains an iron grasp on the new worlds, aided by its very own elite shock-troops; the Envoy Corps.
      Meanwhile, what religion cannot guarantee technology has already delivered; when your consciousness can be stored in a cortical stack and routinely downloaded into a new body even death has become little more than an inconvenience. As long as you can afford a new body…
      Ex-UN Envoy Takeshi Kovacs has been killed before; it was a hazard of the job, but his last death was particularly brutal. Needlecast across light years of space, re-sleeved into a body in San Francisco on Old Earth and throw into the centre of a conspiracy that is vicious even by the standards of a society that has forgotten how to value life, he soon realises that the shell that blew a hole in his chest on Harlan’s World was only the beginning of his problems…
      Well it’s fairly obvious now why I don’t read much Science Fiction......I don’t enjoy it! I signed up to a pulp-fiction group on Goodreads site, and Altered Carbon was the February reading choice as voted for by some of the members.
      Hopes were raised on reading some of the praise on the back.......hardcore, hard-boiled, astonishing, blown away, adrenaline, slick hard-hitting, brilliant, commanding, exciting, addictive, intriguing and inventive,
      If they ever want my contribution for future editions...........snore-fest, dull, grim, tedious, numbing, anaesthetising.............these will do for starters.
      My main gripe would have to be that I just couldn’t feel a connection or any empathy for Kovacs. Gosh he’s in peril, will he survive this latest conflict? Yawn, who cares?
      There were some decent bits in the book and to give Morgan his due he can write some decent action scenes and he has a vivid imagination, and he didn’t bore me with too much technical jargon where I felt a degree in physics would have been helpful. I’m fairly certain that many, many people really enjoyed this, but sadly I wasn’t one of them. I wouldn’t say I actively loathed it, but it was a close run thing.
      Highlight for me, turning the last page, reading the last paragraph.
      2 from 5
      I acquired my copy as a book-swap on the readitswapit website.



    • 4/5
      Not too shabby, I'd say. Interesting, well executed premise, and a very hard-boiled, noiry feel.
    • 4/5
      Takeshi Kovacs, formerly an Envoy and currently a convicted criminal, is transported to Earth to solve a mystery for the unbelievably rich and powerful Bancroft. All the physical evidence shows that Bancroft committed suicide, but Bancroft is sure he'd never kill himself. The police refuse to investigate further, so Kovacs is hired onto the case.

      Morgan takes the tropes of hard-boiled detective fiction and cyberpunk and mixes them together into something exhilarating and novel. The twists and turns of the plots are great, but what really makes me crow about this book is the universe-building. AIs have rights; the hotel AI that Kovacs stays in is People's consciousnesses can be stored and even transferred into new bodies. A great idea, but Morgan is wise enough to see how this kind of technology could easily widen existing disparities. The rich and powerful are well-nigh immortal and can travel between planets practically instantaneously (by sleeving themselves in a body already in whatever place they want to travel to) while the poor are often just one accident or criminal charge away from having their body taken and used. On Kovacs's world, one reaction to these kinds of huge, insurmountable inequalities is a terrorist movement/philosophy based around the words and deeds of a woman named Quell. A few samples: "The human eye is a wonderful device. With a little effort, it can fail to see even the most glaring injustice."--Poems and Other Prevarications. Or "Her name was Iphigenia Deme, Iffy to those of her friends who had not yet been slaughtered by Protectorate Forces. Her last words, strapped to the interrogation table downstairs at Number Eighteen, Shimatsu Boulevard, are reputed to have been: 'That's fucking enough!' The explosion brought the entire building down." Or my personal favorite, spoken by Quell herself: "When they ask how I died, tell them: Still Angry."

      The book is often brutal--Kovacs endures and delivers horrifying violence and mayhem. But there's a commitment to the idea of individual autonomy and dignity behind it, and an understanding of the ways class/race/religion etc are used as tools to maintain existing power structures, that I really respect. When Kovacs finally uncovers the mystery behind Bancroft's death, he explains it all a little too info-dumpy, but it's an easy mistake to make. I love the thoughtful way Morgan has created the universe, the odd little details (like Kovacs's sentient hotel, desperate for guests) and overarcing themes of it. I really like Kovacs himself, and I look forward to reading more stories about him.
    • 5/5
      Lush descriptive writing fires all five senses at once! Intricate 'whodunit' plot set in a high tech future.
    • 4/5
      A great, brisk read slightly marred by two factors:1) Wireless data being cast without encryption. What the fuck? I'd expect characters who have been around for hundreds of years to at least have figured out how to secure their transmissions. ::rolls eyes::2) A sort of mind/body dualism involving stacks and brains; everything we've learned about neuroscience tells us that the brain is you, and thus something storing your personality and memory (the stack) would completely supplant the brain. It gets even more confusing when it's mentioned that stacks are fitted at birth — what template is the stack based upon?
    • 5/5
      Well done.
    • 5/5
      Set in a [eerily familiar] San Francisco of the future, the ideas in this sci-fi novel challenge us and ultimately it's a hardboiled, non-stop action, fun read. I have read two other novels by Morgan, and still find this one the most engaging. Part of it is the first-person narrative (which I love) and part of it is the issues we are forced to think about as a result.
    • 5/5
      I'm a straight dude, and listening to this audiobook was the closest I'll ever come to having sex with a man. And I enjoyed it too. Amazing book with an amazing reader. An experience for sure.
    • 5/5
      Mature writing that handles action and intimacy expertly. It's a very complicated story so pay attention. It's also divergent from the series in enough ways that it's interesting even if you've already watched it. If you're on the fence go ahead and hop on over.
    • 5/5
      Excellent world building, revenge, justice, sex, lies, and visceral cyberpunk saga. I want more!
    • 3/5
      I love long audiobooks. I can listen to them for days and days and not worry about what I will listen to next. This however... it started of good enough to keep me interested then somewhere around hour 10, it started taking random twists and turns in the plot that weren’t just confusing. I kept having to rewind and listen again to try to figure it out so I wouldn’t feel lost. After having to do that on the 5th section, I found myself wishing the book would end and debating with myself just not finishing it. I have never not finished an audiobook book so that says a lot. I will not be searching for the whole trilogy of books. Sad to because the basic concept and initial plot with their twists were really good, just not the 15th plot twist. Definitely not my favorite book
    • 4/5
      The setting was really interesting, however the resolution felt a bit rushed and incomplete. Also the story definitely went through periods of deterioration compared with the overall description. I'm not sure yet if I liked it enough to continue the series or not
    • 3/5
      Series Info/Source: This is the first book in the Takeshi Kovacs series. I borrowed this as an audiobook from my library.Thoughts: I used to love cyberpunk, I say used to because the last couple cyberpunk books I have read (this one and “The Electric Church” by Jeff Somers) have kind of been busts for me. This book is better than “The Electric Church” because the world and plot are more filled out but I still didn’t love it.I got this for audiobook and realized today that my borrow time was up in a couple days…I only got 35% of the way through it because I just haven’t been making the time to listen to it. Then I realized I just don’t care and decided to return the book a couple days early. The characters and plot just feel very hollow to me and I wasn’t finding it all that interesting. The very raunchy sex scenes felt gratuitous and the explicit torture was a bit much for me as well. I don’t mind a lot of action and violence in my books but this just left me feeling nauseous and I decided it wasn’t worth continuing.The premise is that Kovacs is an Ex-UN envoy who’s been sleeved into a new body to help a rich man figure out who killed him. Now being killed isn’t a huge deal because in this future human consciousness can be uploaded into any old body (sleeve) but this man wants to know who made him go through death. The story has a pretty typical anti-hero vibe to it. Kovacs is not a good guy and you are not meant to like him; he’s trying to solve a case to save his own skin (literally). The whole book is written in that hard-boiled noir style but in a cyberpunk background. There’s a lot of term dropping and stylized language. Unfortunately, my favorite part about this book was the somewhat sentient hotel that Kovacs stays in. I felt like Kovacs and the characters around him were pretty hollow and lacked a lot of depth. The plot is fairly simple as well; basic murder investigation. I do love the idea of a body being a “sleeve” that you can replace. I also understand that the mindless violence, torture, and sex that is so prevalent in this book is meant to symbolize how little people actually respect bodies in this world.However, I don’t like reading about torture and (while I don’t mind a good sex scene) the sex scenes in here were very explicit, boring, and felt absolutely soulless and gratuitous. It was just a bit too much of a “ugh” factor for me and given how little I was enjoying the plot and the characters I decided to stop reading this. The concept is cool and the implications are intriguing; I was just not willing to slog through the cardboard characters and simple plot. I did start watching the TV series as well a few years ago and kind of felt the same way about it (which is why I didn’t get more than a couple episodes into it). I hoped that the book would be better. Well, it really wasn’t…I think the TV series was actually a bit better.My Summary (3/5): Overall this was disappointing to me. I love the concept and the implications and I really loved the sentient hotel. However, the characters, horrible torture and sex scenes, and the rather uninspired plot left a bad taste in my mouth. I quit this book at 35% in. I think in order to get my cyberpunk fix I will continue re-reading Neal Stephenson and William Gibson; all the other cyberpunk series I have been picking up have been seriously lacking. I am open for some recommendations for good cyberpunk reads if anyone has some.
    • 3/5
      This was another book that wasnt bad. But wasnt excellent either. There where too many inter-mixable characters, you could never be sure who was who, then someone that was a dozen chapters ago appears again and you are meant to relate or remember who they even where. Some of the very explicit sex scenes where nice, its not usual to see sex so prominently present, but this universe has a different morale than our own, so i found it picturesque, part of the world.

      it was alright
    • 5/5
      I remember reading this book a few years ago and being massively impressed with it, but overall, just had some flashes of imagery and warm feelings.

      This time around, I totally dug into the William Gibson-esque SF world, and then thickly slathered with hard-boiled noir. The characters were well drawn, even considering there were times they were being resleeved (or swapping bodies).

      The basic premise is brilliant, with Kovacs being hired by a billionaire to solve his own murder. But, as with all the best crime stories, the deceptions and machinations are slowly and expertly revealed as the plot progresses.

      This was just a shitload of fun, and I'm excited to dive into the next couple of Kovacs novels.

      ...speaking of shitload, there was one thing that really made me smile. There's a point where Kovacs uses a shard gun. I kept slipping over to "shart gun" which would be a completely different type of weapon, more like the bowel gun Spider Jerusalem uses in the Transmetropolitan graphic novels.
    • 4/5
      A science fiction detective story of a immortal man hiring a rough, violent person to solve his alleged suicide. The main story is similar to the TV show, but a lot of the details are different. The writing is good, but focuses a lot on being overly descriptive at times especially during a very long sex scene. The detective piece is great and there are a lot of interesting characters. The best part though is how the author delves into the cyberpunk themes and the ability to transfer consciousness to any body.
    • 4/5
      A nice surprise! Nothing fancy but a good, fast, fun noir-cop-sci-fi story. A nice entertainement and it hit the spot just nicely :) I will read more from that author.(why only 3 stars then? Well, 3 stars is still good, simply nothing WOW. This is a great "summer" read)
    • 4/5
      Having watched the Altered Carbon Netflix show, I decided to read the book too. Both begin with same premise: Laurens Bancroft hires protagonist Takeshi Kovacs to determine who killed Bancroft and their motive. The police ruled it a suicide, but Bancroft believes otherwise. Making things more complicated for Kovacs is that he is given the body of a disgraced police officer who was the lover of the officer who led the Bancroft investigation.The setting remains the mostly the same, set into the future where other worlds are inhabited, and more interestingly, where human minds can be stored digitally and uploaded to other bodies. Morgan does a fantastic job creating a reality where death can be delayed indefinitely by the wealthy, and human bodies are just another commodity. This future is not a bright one, as people are still people.Most of the changes are in the characters, including Kovacs' backstory and every character he encounters. Since the book is told in first person, there is much more focus on Kovacs. The book also goes places where the show doesn't, particularly when Kovacs is captured. While Kovacs' investigation goes on, there are some lulls during the book. Notably in toward the beginning and the middle. Once Kovacs gets moving, so does the book. What Kovacs uncovers does lead to a satisfying, if mostly bittersweet, conclusion.