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seaclauss's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
elusivity's review against another edition
3.0
In this second novel, Takeshi Kovacs found himself in the midst of planetary war, weary and bored, so that when a wild opportunity came his way, he seized it with both hands.
This is a more straight-forward novel in many ways than Book 1, which was a futuristic noir. Although filled with betrayals and double-bluffs, the plot is generally an adventure and treasure-seeking tale, albeit among exotic battle grounds and an alien spaceship. Takeshi in this novel is also much less compassionate, more gritty, gruff, and prone to mass violence. He also seems to have more war-time leadership quality, capable of intense loyalty to the team.
The wild slaughter towards the end, though -- that he could ruthlessly kill a massive number of soldiers who held him in affection and loyalty just to ensure his future safety. This renders him a much darker character than Book 1 seemed to anticipate.
An exciting addition to the series. Dock 1 star for stretches where the plot seem to meander, and vivid but meaningless characters wandered in, out, and often wasted -- literally. But definitely worth a read. Recommended!
This is a more straight-forward novel in many ways than Book 1, which was a futuristic noir. Although filled with betrayals and double-bluffs, the plot is generally an adventure and treasure-seeking tale, albeit among exotic battle grounds and an alien spaceship. Takeshi in this novel is also much less compassionate, more gritty, gruff, and prone to mass violence. He also seems to have more war-time leadership quality, capable of intense loyalty to the team.
The wild slaughter towards the end, though -- that he could ruthlessly kill a massive number of soldiers who held him in affection and loyalty just to ensure his future safety. This renders him a much darker character than Book 1 seemed to anticipate.
An exciting addition to the series. Dock 1 star for stretches where the plot seem to meander, and vivid but meaningless characters wandered in, out, and often wasted -- literally. But definitely worth a read. Recommended!
emmanuel's review against another edition
3.0
Je n'avais pas trop apprécié [b:Altered Carbon|40445|Altered Carbon (Takeshi Kovacs, #1)|Richard K. Morgan|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1375223500s/40445.jpg|2095852] que j'avais trouvé trop grandiloquent, trop cinématique. Anges déchus me plait plus : le style de Morgan se prête mieux à l'aventure paramilitaire qu'à l'enquête discrète. Ici, les explosions, les espaces, les combats sont plus grandioses, l'intrigue est moins "subtile".
En gros l'histoire consiste en la recherche archéologique autour d'une antique porte martienne. Les conglomérats et les armées tueraient pour ce qu'il y a derrière. Il faudra donc trouver un soutien suffisant (à la fois financier et stratégique) pour l'ouvrir.
Ça se lit vite et ça ne laisse pas de trace.
En gros l'histoire consiste en la recherche archéologique autour d'une antique porte martienne. Les conglomérats et les armées tueraient pour ce qu'il y a derrière. Il faudra donc trouver un soutien suffisant (à la fois financier et stratégique) pour l'ouvrir.
Ça se lit vite et ça ne laisse pas de trace.
mlynch133's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
peter_xxx's review against another edition
3.0
This book contained quite some nice ideas. but the main focus of the author was on war, political violence and the inevitability of it. What I wanted more of was the wonder of trying to understand alien races.
That being said Kovacs is still a nice character to read about. a typical rough exterior, blank pit character. The story is also engaging enough with lots of nice characters, intrigue and lots and lots of violence. Like I already said. The story wants to be political commentary, sf exploration and detective story all at once and suffers a bit off this.
That being said Kovacs is still a nice character to read about. a typical rough exterior, blank pit character. The story is also engaging enough with lots of nice characters, intrigue and lots and lots of violence. Like I already said. The story wants to be political commentary, sf exploration and detective story all at once and suffers a bit off this.
darkstar_pl's review against another edition
3.0
Kawał dobrej, dojrzałej sf. Zupełnie inny klimat niż w Modyfikowanym węglu, właściwie te książki łączy tylko postać głównego bohatera oraz pierwszoosobowy styl narracji. Wcześniej mieliśmy do czynienia z powieścią detektywistyczną noir, teraz jest to w dużej mierze opowieść o sięganiu gwiazd. Momentami lektura Upadłych aniołów przywodziła mi na myśl [b:Ślepowidzenie|6472250|Ślepowidzenie|Peter Watts|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1242410842s/6472250.jpg|47428] Wattsa, tyle że u Morgana znacznie więcej się dzieje, więc nie ma tego wrażenia rozwleczonej akcji. Czyta się bardzo przyjemnie, na pewno nie można autorowi odmówić umiejętności pisania. Ta książka jest jak dobry ser :-), dojrzewająca z czasem, coraz lepsza w miarę zbliżania się do końca.
shaekin's review against another edition
3.0
This book took me a long time to understand what was going on, and that's because I was expecting it to be like the first one. It's not. Not at all really. Once I understood that it was much more enjoyable. I'm not sure I liked it as much as I did the first one, but I'm also more interested in reading the next one because of this book and the hints it dropped for the future.
selefa's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- 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
simlish's review against another edition
3.0
slow start, awful sex scenes, fascinating aliens and history