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has3000's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The premise is that hundreds of years from now, human consciousness can be stored in a device in one’s neck, so if you can afford it you can be downloaded into a new body.
There are so many interesting philosophical and technological facets to this, and Morgan does a good job of at least mentioning them, sometimes fleshing them out.
As far as the…”unsavory” things that often crop up in a noir book: The book definitely has a fair bit of sexual content, but it’s not the focus. Drugs, sex, etc. are mostly shown as things that matter less when a body is impermanent. I thought that it was being racist until I realized that “Mohican” was another term for “Mohawk”, and not a reference to Native Americans. Otherwise, the references to race are mostly to describe a characters new body, and callbacks to the MCs involvement in a brutal assault on a Muslim(?) planet. And on sexism, I felt (as a man) that the book did okay. The MC was definitely male, and definitely attracted to women, and there were several women with altered bodies, as well as whorehouses, etc. But there was also a brief aside about the MC having been in female bodies, and how women have a higher pain tolerance than men. Most of it felt like an attempt to accurately display how humanity acts, rather than sexism for sexism’s sake.
There was no LGBTQ representation, which could have fit in super well here, but in a book from 23 years ago that isn’t super surprising.
Overall, having watched the show first I still really enjoyed this book, with my main genre being Sci-fi but hardly ever reading crime novels.
Graphic: Drug use, Gun violence, and Sexual content
Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Murder
Minor: Animal cruelty
makiba's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Narrative and character quality take a bit of a hit towards the end of the book, but highly recommended.
While technically part of a series, it can be read as a standalone so you won't have to commit too much of your limited time.
Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual content, and Torture
Minor: Misogyny
aimeecait16's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Minor: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, and Violence
ceeess's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
woad674's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Sexual content and Violence
Moderate: Torture
paizliibubs's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Moderate: Drug use, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, and Trafficking
matthew6789's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence
lilifane's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
discerninggm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, and War
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Sexual assault
Minor: Animal death
voxvenati's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
There isn’t exactly a specific content warning tag for this, but it’s going in spoilers for anyone who doesn’t want to know:
After all that, I did enjoy the rest of the book. The Netflix show deviated from the book in a lot of respects, but they’re both just as engaging, and I had a good time with both. The world building is phenomenal. I’m obsessed. I enjoyed the characters, especially Kovacs. The plot was solid. I found myself thinking about this book almost constantly when I wasn’t reading it. People hate on the sex scenes, but I found them better written than most of the romance and erotica I’ve read this year.
The most fascinating thing in the book is, of course, the altered carbon. The way Morgan discusses the implications of such a technology - how resleeving affects people psychologically, how the government takes advantage of it, what happens when you can’t afford to bring a loved one back, how organized religion would react to this, how class disparities become so great that the 1% virtually become gods. Really good shit. Chef kiss.
Even so, there were a few negatives for me. First, the above spoiler/content warning was really unexpected. It made its point but the amount of time spent on it hurt me. Second, I’m not sure how I feel about the treatment of sex work in this world. Takeshi seems neutral toward it, but Ortega makes several disparaging comments about the “whorehouses” and people working there. Last, the treatment of the Sharya culture and peoples was distasteful at times.
This book certainly has its issues, but the writing, characters, concepts, and plot really made up for it in my opinion. If none of the content warnings are a dealbreaker, it’s worth a read. Just don’t expect it to be the Netflix show.
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Violence, Excrement, and Colonisation