Altered Carbon 262
| Altered Carbon | |
| author | Richard Morgan |
| pages | 534 |
| publisher | Del Rey (US) |
| rating | Excellent |
| reviewer | Tom Perrine |
| ISBN | 0345457684 |
| summary | A future beyond death, through personality transplantation. |
It would be easy to describe this book as "cyberpunk meets noir," but that would be a disservice to the reader, the author and the book.
Although this book is set in a future that is seems to be heavily influenced by the punk movement, with computers, hackers, weapons, and leather, this is no superficial, cartoon world setting for a quick romp through cyberspace. There is a depth and texture here that promises, and delivers, as a setting for a novel that could end up as influential as Vinge's True Names, or Stephenson's Snow Crash or Spillane's Mike Hammer.
The main technological trapping of this setting is the ability to digitize, store and transport human consciousness. Peoples' consciousnesses can, and are, digitized and loaded out of and into their bodies on a regular basis. The state uses this to punish criminals by storing their minds "in the stack" (digital prison) and the wealthy and powerful can have themselves "backed up" like yesterday's spreadsheets. Interstellar travel is via "digitized human freight." Human bodies ("sleeves") can be rented, bought and sold, to provide containers for these digitized minds. And this is just the background.
This is also a hardboiled detective thriller, easily the equal to Chandler or Hammett in both plot and characterization. There is a complex plot, the de rigueur dames and guns, but also some important themes that are surprising for the genre. The plot is never formulaic, with a depth and enough unexpected twists and turns to keep the reader guessing well into the last chapter.
The protagonist, Takeshi Kovacs, is no simple hardboiled detective; he's a cashiered UN "Envoy," qualified to do anything from holding a beach head or planning a military invasion, to taking over a government from within. People with this training are barred from public office and high government positions on most settled worlds. And Kovacs has been offered a job he can't refuse by one of the richest men in twenty planets: "Kovacs, find out who killed me."
On a deeper level, this novel asks some real hard questions, that get to the heart of what it means to be human. If you can digitize, back up and restore people, what is the meaning of death? Is the "soul" digitized, or just your memories? Does it matter? When bodies can be rented and exchanged, just what is "identity"? When people can buy new bodies and live for centuries, amassing power and wealth, how will that affect their humanity? Will they become more than human, or less? How will this effect human society? These issues are all raised subtly, this is no sermonizing sociology text masquerading as a novel.
But Morgan's novel remains at its heart a well-crafted detective story. No matter how corrupt the society, no matter how powerful the rich, in the end, justice comes from the smoking barrel of a hired gun, working for some fast cash, plus expenses. This books tries, and succeeds, on so many levels, that can only hope that this will be just the first novel from this new author. Somewhere, Chandler and Hammett are saying, "Ya' done good, kid. Now kiss the dame and get outta here."
(As I was finishing this review, I discovered that Morgan's second novel, Broken Angels, which continues Kovacs exploits, has just been published by Gollancz in the UK. I'll gladly pay international shipping to get my hands on this second book as soon as possible.)
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I assume it touches on copying (Score:5, Interesting)
For my tastes though, such abilities are a bit too open ended (kinda like time travel), and its fine if it is just a portion (e.g. TT as a mode of transportation) vs central to the story.
Yet another for the stack (Score:4, Interesting)
A thought on futurist expectations and realities... a book just smacked down a movie. Bound and printed paper outstripped The Hulk on opening weekend for both. Between the proselytizing of digital media and ebooks (which appear to be failing) a sheaf of dead tree beat out the largest opening weekend grossing movie (not adjusted for inflation for .. er .. inflating hype purposes ;-) I think that's
a neat irony.
Did the butler do it? How about the Butler v5.021? A concept related to me back in astronomy (hence the space travel connection) was digitizing people and the prospect of making copies of them (religious ramifications sure to follow) How a person may fork and how they cope seems ripe for novel exploration
Last, no mention of Bladerunner and/or replicants?
Difference between "Theme" and "Message (Score:5, Interesting)
There are few things as annoying as reading a book with a friggin' message, which is usually what I feel like I'm getting with a Micheal Crichton (watch out - genetics can be bad! Uh - oh - beware time travel in the wrong hands! Whoops!).
Now, I can deal with a theme, like what you get from watching a Miyazaki flick like "Spirited Away".
I've often felt that most technology (notice the word "most", not "all" - the jury is still out on the usefulness of gas chambers and "Boong-Ga Boong-Ga" [wired.com]) is neither good or evil - it's all in how its used.
Like in this case. Is it wrong to download your personality into a computer or another body so you can live "forever"? Depends on the circumstances, and it looks like the author is letting humanity's response to it play out what's good and bad about it, and where it can be used and abused.
Anyway, sounds like an interesting book - I think I've seen it on PeanutPress.com, so maybe I'll have something else to read since I finished with Potter the day it came out
This isn't exactly groundbreaking... (Score:5, Interesting)
It's a twist on detective fiction. You're trying to solve a case--but you get extra chances. But every time around, the killer gets smarter, learns more about the victim...
Original or no, I might have to pick this one up. I need to read some new, good SF again. *sigh*
Re:Sounds good (Score:3, Interesting)
Gollancz also happens to be Pratchett's publisher. Seems to take an interest in some of the better fiction.
Re:Too bad he used the UN (Score:4, Interesting)
So if you're going to be naughty remember to be rich too.
Violent? (Score:3, Interesting)
"This is not usually my kind of book -- extreme violence and tough, wise-cracking detectives don't turn my crank. But Richard Morgan kept me reading. Some of the draw was sheer momentum -- the plot is complex, with much action and many marvelous twists -- but the real strength of Altered Carbon lies in the complex and subtle characterization, which takes Kovacs far beyond hard-boiled stereotypes."
I guess I'll have to give it a try...
I'm 3/4th into it, my impressions: (Score:3, Interesting)
That said, the rest of the book is great. The main character is funny without being over the top, and his background is pretty well fleshed out so that he feels like a real character with the flaws and self-awareness lacking in so much SF. The book is well paced, and the plot is (so far) interesting and sufficiently hard to predict to keep me suprised. The setting and technology is very well done, although this is not Hard SF, so details on how things work aren't very in-depth (although the low level descriptions given are plausible, particularly coming from the main character as they are in keeping with his knowledge level). It is definitely a very cyberpunk inspired book, and reminds me a little of Gibson's Sprawl setting, and the writing style sometimes feels Gibson-esque. Not that its an imitation of Gibson, or any other of the great cyberpunk authors, the author definitely has his own voice and vision.
I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of mystery, SF/cyberpunk, or action and am definitely looking forward to picking up the next book when it finally comes out in the US . Speaking of which, anyone know why all the quality SF comes out in the EU first? Alastair Reynolds, Ken MacLeod, etc. Sure they are all euro authors, but so what? Why can't they be published simultaneously here? Another observation, anyone noticing the emergence of a new school of British/Scottish SF in the past few years? Almost all the new quality SF authors seem to be from the UK these days.
Re:I assume it touches on copying (Score:3, Interesting)
The most recent I can recall is James P. Hogans "Martian Knightlife"
I think one of the more indepth versions I heard of was in a Star Trek book (Price of the Phoenix).
Greg Bear got into similar subjects in Eon.(very good book, by the way)
Like you said, if you make a copy, is it really valid that only ONE can the real you? Does only one have a soul? Does neither? etc.
Unfortunately the sequel sucks (Score:2, Interesting)
If you want something really good in the way of a shared-universe saga, check out John Courtenay Grimwood's Ashraf Bey stories, starting with "Pashazade" - alternate universe where the world wars didn't happen, the Ottoman Empire and Napoleonic French squabble over a very cyberpunk version of Alexandria. Deeper, more realistic and much funnier than AC. Warning for Xenophobic Americans - lots of Arabic culturte here (seen through a critical and wry eye, though).
Watchmen references (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:I assume it touches on copying (Score:1, Interesting)
Where's John Varley? (Score:2, Interesting)
I'm curious to know if anyone's ever read both their work, and could compare.
Re:Does it have Heinlein's extreme right-wing view (Score:3, Interesting)
Note also that the heroes of Starship Troopers were the soldiers, not the generals.
Heinlein could easily have structured that society differently if he really were a "very right-wing" person. He could also have made it so that only military service got you the vote, or that the future society required universal military service of all people (like some countries do even today).
And you may feel that the Bugs were a thinly-veiled device to stand in for Communism, but I don't think so. A military novel needs to show the soldiers fighting someone and the Bugs made an interesting enemy. Besides, they raised an important theme: even though all of Earth was united under a peaceful government, it was not possible to disband the military; any society must always be prepared to defend itself.
You ought to read Expanded Universe sometime. There is a short essay in there (I think it was actually an introduction to one of the pieces) where Heinlein discussed ways to improve the government of America. One of his suggestions was to give the vote only to women. Another was to try out the solution in Twain's "The Curious Republic of Gondour".
Heinlein was more a libertarian than right-wing.
steveha
Re:Broken Angels... (Score:2, Interesting)
Still can't wait for the next one. Getting 're-sleeved' means that Kovach can play a fairly different kind of role in subsequent installments, I hope that the author plays on this bit more (Kovach does kill an awful lot of people