btmarino84's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars.
Listen...this book is dated as hell and has a lot of "Takeshi is a Cool Dude Who Fucks" moments. But you know I'm a sucker for a Blade Runner/Neuromancer rip off, and the writing was propulsive (the action scenes are well choreagraphed and described). And there were actually interesting and complex women characters both villainous, heroic and in between...which I have to be honest I was not expecting from this. Anyway, I enjoyed it enough that I want to read the other two books and watch the show.
Listen...this book is dated as hell and has a lot of "Takeshi is a Cool Dude Who Fucks" moments. But you know I'm a sucker for a Blade Runner/Neuromancer rip off, and the writing was propulsive (the action scenes are well choreagraphed and described). And there were actually interesting and complex women characters both villainous, heroic and in between...which I have to be honest I was not expecting from this. Anyway, I enjoyed it enough that I want to read the other two books and watch the show.
krakentamer's review
4.0
I'll be honest here - I almost threw in the towel at about the 25% mark. I'm far from being a prude, but I was just not in the mood for the amount of explicit sex and torture in this book. I felt that it was gratuitious and not essential to the plot; that the author was just showing off. But I stuck with it, and looking back, I realized that the characters' motivations later in the book would've seemed lacking or false if I hadn't experienced it with them.
The other thing that started off negatively for me was the main reason that I put off reading the book as long as I did - the basic premise of downloading your personality to a computer bores me to death. However, the technology behind this as presented in the book was very ... interesting. I almost said "believeable", but that would be a stretch. Instead, I was treated to a view of a world (universe, really) in which there really is a complete disconnect between SELF and BODY. There were many thought-provoking avenues opened up to me from here, and I'll be thinking about the implications for quite a while.
The other thing that started off negatively for me was the main reason that I put off reading the book as long as I did - the basic premise of downloading your personality to a computer bores me to death. However, the technology behind this as presented in the book was very ... interesting. I almost said "believeable", but that would be a stretch. Instead, I was treated to a view of a world (universe, really) in which there really is a complete disconnect between SELF and BODY. There were many thought-provoking avenues opened up to me from here, and I'll be thinking about the implications for quite a while.
benjfleck's review against another edition
3.0
Altered Carbon: Or, Blood, Bullets, and Butts
Altered Carbon is the first novel in a series about a futuristic world where the subconscious mind (and soul, sure) can be uploaded into a new (or, old body). It's an amazing concept that is super cool to think about. Could this ever possibly happen in our own reality? The implications are endless.
We follow Takeshi Kovacs, who last remembers getting slaughtered in some war, now uploaded into a gruff body in the Bay Area in the future. Why is he brought out of the "storage" tank? To investigate the murder of the über rich Laurens Bancroft. What follows is a super hi-tech adventure full of action, mystery, and violence. Tons of violence. This is not a happy-go-lucky tale. It's dirty, degrading, and dark. If you love violence and guns and shooting and sex and "badassery" then you'll love this.
I wished the novel focused more on the tech and characters because that is where it shined. It was a bit too grungy for me. The mystery was somewhat overly complicated. There were a lot of players in play and some plot holes. But ultimately, the idea and the world created was very interesting. I'm considering reading the next novel in the series...
P.S. And, now this book is a Netflix Series because WHY NOT.
Altered Carbon is the first novel in a series about a futuristic world where the subconscious mind (and soul, sure) can be uploaded into a new (or, old body). It's an amazing concept that is super cool to think about. Could this ever possibly happen in our own reality? The implications are endless.
We follow Takeshi Kovacs, who last remembers getting slaughtered in some war, now uploaded into a gruff body in the Bay Area in the future. Why is he brought out of the "storage" tank? To investigate the murder of the über rich Laurens Bancroft. What follows is a super hi-tech adventure full of action, mystery, and violence. Tons of violence. This is not a happy-go-lucky tale. It's dirty, degrading, and dark. If you love violence and guns and shooting and sex and "badassery" then you'll love this.
I wished the novel focused more on the tech and characters because that is where it shined. It was a bit too grungy for me. The mystery was somewhat overly complicated. There were a lot of players in play and some plot holes. But ultimately, the idea and the world created was very interesting. I'm considering reading the next novel in the series...
P.S. And, now this book is a Netflix Series because WHY NOT.
ajediprincess's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
In an unusual move for me, I actually watched the series on SyFi before I read this book (mostly because I didn't know it was a book to begin with), and while I loved the series, I felt that the book certainly added a new layer of understanding to the character of Kovacs for me. This book was so interesting, so captivating, and I had such a great time with it from start to finish.
This world is so dark and harsh, but Takeshi Kovacs is a good guy in a world of scum, yet he's not too good that he himself doesn't have flaws. Ortegas is also a fantastic supporting character and they make a great detective duo, being at first skeptical of one another and somewhat antagonistic, but eventually learning to trust each other and work together. It was a really intriguing tension and despite covering so many ugly, distasteful topics, this book manages to emphasize the depravity of its setting without rubbing the reader's face in it.
This being said, I actually think I prefer the changes they made to the story in the television series over the book. This review would be impossible to write without spoilers, so I apologize for spoiling things in advance, but I will keep them brief.
The difference between the hotel personified and colored as The Raven and manned by an AI of Edgar Allan Poe himself was so delightful in the show, and I was very disappointed to see that the hotel Kovacs stays at is not called The Raven, but rather The Hendrix and it doesn't even really have a characterized AI to befriend Kovacs. This was just not as fun in the book as it was in the show. Poe was one of the best supporting characters.
Another huge change the show made that is absent from the book is the relationship between Rei and Kovacs. which loses an interesting and at times toxic and unnerving layer to their relationship as protagonist and antagonist. I personally feel the show did it better.
These small gripes aside, I thoroughly enjoyed this gritty sci-fi, cyberpunk novel set in the far future of our Earth and I hope that others will too.
This world is so dark and harsh, but Takeshi Kovacs is a good guy in a world of scum, yet he's not too good that he himself doesn't have flaws. Ortegas is also a fantastic supporting character and they make a great detective duo, being at first skeptical of one another and somewhat antagonistic, but eventually learning to trust each other and work together. It was a really intriguing tension and despite covering so many ugly, distasteful topics, this book manages to emphasize the depravity of its setting without rubbing the reader's face in it.
This being said, I actually think I prefer the changes they made to the story in the television series over the book. This review would be impossible to write without spoilers, so I apologize for spoiling things in advance, but I will keep them brief.
The difference between the hotel personified and colored as The Raven and manned by an AI of Edgar Allan Poe himself was so delightful in the show, and I was very disappointed to see that the hotel Kovacs stays at is not called The Raven, but rather The Hendrix and it doesn't even really have a characterized AI to befriend Kovacs. This was just not as fun in the book as it was in the show. Poe was one of the best supporting characters.
Another huge change the show made that is absent from the book is the relationship between Rei and Kovacs.
Spoiler
I thought it was such a cool dynamic for them to be siblings, extremely close and protective siblings, in the show. In the book they aren't related at all,These small gripes aside, I thoroughly enjoyed this gritty sci-fi, cyberpunk novel set in the far future of our Earth and I hope that others will too.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Cursing, Child abuse, Violence, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Classism, and Gore
Minor: Suicide, Stalking, Torture, Sexual violence, Murder, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Drug use, and Slavery
stitchywitch's review against another edition
3.0
This book takes a fascinating premise and completely squanders it. The notion of sleeving is a good concept, and I was excited to read about it. I had a few issues:
1. Most of the women in this novel exist only to be attractive, and to be into our narrator. And since he doesn't really seem like a sparkling conversationalist, I don't get it.
2. The violence. Look, I'm not a prude. This may be one of the few times that the amount of violence in a book really turned me off. It certainly made me not care about the main character anymore.
3. The Catholic thing made me uncomfortable. I don't know, I feel like maybe it wasn't necessary to call that religion out specifically.
4. It was boring. I thought the last section would never end. I could forgive all the rest if it weren't boring.
I tried to watch the first episode of the new series on Netflix, and I couldn't get into that either.
1. Most of the women in this novel exist only to be attractive, and to be into our narrator. And since he doesn't really seem like a sparkling conversationalist, I don't get it.
2. The violence. Look, I'm not a prude. This may be one of the few times that the amount of violence in a book really turned me off. It certainly made me not care about the main character anymore.
3. The Catholic thing made me uncomfortable. I don't know, I feel like maybe it wasn't necessary to call that religion out specifically.
4. It was boring. I thought the last section would never end. I could forgive all the rest if it weren't boring.
I tried to watch the first episode of the new series on Netflix, and I couldn't get into that either.
reubend1ca9's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
wanderlustlover's review
2.0
Summer 2021 (August);
Wow, this book was disappointing.
When I fell in love with the tv show Alterd Carbon (mid-pandemic, I think?), I started on this book, but it fell by the wayside like everything else that required interest and focus. I picked it up again a week or so ago, meaning to finish my read of the original canon after deciding to rewatch first season of the show.
This whole read was a series of being more and more disappointed, and realizing how much the show took a great world and plot idea and then made it better (which is such a rare thing for me to say, as a staunch member of "the book is ALWAYS better club"). The characters are thinner, and no one really feels as three-dimensional or dynamic as Kovac. Elliot & Kristin do not exist in the same way. Miriam's ending is entirely different. Just in general I found myself nose-wrinkling at most of everything, which is sadly why, even while just writing this, it lost another star.
Wow, this book was disappointing.
When I fell in love with the tv show Alterd Carbon (mid-pandemic, I think?), I started on this book, but it fell by the wayside like everything else that required interest and focus. I picked it up again a week or so ago, meaning to finish my read of the original canon after deciding to rewatch first season of the show.
This whole read was a series of being more and more disappointed, and realizing how much the show took a great world and plot idea and then made it better (which is such a rare thing for me to say, as a staunch member of "the book is ALWAYS better club"). The characters are thinner, and no one really feels as three-dimensional or dynamic as Kovac. Elliot & Kristin do not exist in the same way. Miriam's ending is entirely different. Just in general I found myself nose-wrinkling at most of everything, which is sadly why, even while just writing this, it lost another star.
esko's review against another edition
medium-paced
3.0
Exhausting read for sure...Everything was average...the story,characters and especially the writing style. The author dragged the book a lot with this plot.I have read better detective stories.
laufenem's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5