Altered Carbon, Richard K. Morgan
Altered Carbon, Richard K. Morgan
160 Rating(s)
List: $23.49 | Sale: $16.45
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Altered Carbon

Author: Richard K. Morgan

Series: Kovacs #1

Narrator: Todd McLaren

Unabridged: 17 hr 11 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 01/10/2005


Synopsis

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

About Richard K. Morgan

Richard K. Morgan is the acclaimed author of Market Forces, Broken Angels, and Altered Carbon, a New York Times Notable Book that also won the Philip K. Dick Award. Morgan sold the movie rights for Altered Carbon to Joel Silver and Warner Bros. His third book, Market Forces, has also been sold to Warner Bros. He lives in Scotland.


Reviews

AudiobooksNow review by Dutch on 2008-04-22 17:42:50

Richard Morgan has recreated the tough, cynical ethos of the best Dashiel Hammett noir mysteries in a future world where the technology may be 200 years ahead of our own but where human beings are no happier and no better than they are today. People are regularly 'resleeved' into new bodies when the old one is irreversibly damaged, so being killed no longer means you're dead. Todd McLaren is so good at capturing just the right tone and mood for Morgan's books you find yourself picturing the young Lauren Bacall as you listen to McLaren render the sultry voice of the 'murder victim's' wife. Well written, very well read.

AudiobooksNow review by Dutch on 2008-08-26 10:04:02

This deserves to be placed among the very best SciFi novels. In the cynical, gritty vein of William Gibson, Richard Morgan adds his own unique vision of a technologically advanced future where everything has changed except for the human capacity for cruelty and selfishness. This is an exciting, suspenseful story which, although dark, will hold your attention from start to finish. Also, after hearing Todd McLaren read a Morgan novel, you'll wonder why McLaren wasn't asked to read all of Morgan's stories.

Goodreads review by Matthew on February 22, 2019

Confusing books lead to bullet point reviews. It's the best way for me to gather my thoughts. 3 to 3.5 stars I liked the book, but I didn't love it. I had been hoping to like it much more than I did. My wife and I are reading it at the same time with plans to follow it up with the Netflix show. After......more

Goodreads review by April on January 18, 2018

Hearing that Netflix new series is based off this series made me want to read this even more. Only hope the show is as good as the book is.......more

Goodreads review by Anne on September 30, 2021

I had no idea this was a book until someone here on Goodreads mentioned it to me. Now, they mentioned it because they were giving an example of a book that had an annoying amount of sex. And I can now attest after reading this one that, yes, I also could have done without all the juicy scenes. Honestl......more

Goodreads review by Bradley on February 27, 2018

Re-read 2/27/18: I had to pick this up again and hop on to the second and third books mostly because I was guilted into it by the Netflix production. :) I really enjoyed the show and found myself misremembering some plot points. It turns out I didn't misremember. The tv show was close to 90% faithful.......more

Goodreads review by Felicia on May 26, 2009

Liked these books a lot. Misogynist but whatever, hardboiled sci-fi was fun :)......more