Reviews

This is really the first sci-fi book I've ready with that is laced with sex and violence - I loved a lot of the ideas, and the world, and will definitely be reading the rest of the series.

grandmoffgavin's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious relaxing sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

christopherfiset's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

harlando's review against another edition

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4.0

Not as good as the first book.

I liked it, and it did take me back to my love for Altered Carbon. Takeshi Kovacs kicks ass, quotes Quellist philosophy, and occasionally gets laid.

I thought the long sex scene was remarkably unsexy. It wasn't awuful in a funny way, or in a too-graphic sort of way, or in a stilted way, it just wasn't sexy. I have though about it and the real fault with it is that it is unempathetic. I couldn't picture it happening to me. I'm still not quite sure why that is. I can imagine sex with unicorns or leprechauns, but I didn't feel any connection to the virtual sex scene between Kovacs and the archeolog. My best guess is that it is because it describes idealized virtual sex. That in itself shouldn't be a problem. I think most people would like to have a better body themselves, but for me there is always something unsexy about perfection.

It does fall apart a bit at the end with a few too many ruses and betrayals. The first 3/4 of the book rolls along with what seems to be a very straight forward plot, but it twists several times in the final chapters and I found myself wishing that the author had put in one less turn.

pacoes1's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

tagoreketabkhane31's review against another edition

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3.0

A good follow up to Altered Carbon - but def not in the same vein or as clear as the first book. Similar to his other works (The Ringil starring trilogy for example) Broken Angels at times seems disjointed with Takeshi as a a character sometimes doing and engaging in sporadic action that doesn’t fit with his character arc from the two books. Though there is some time that has passed between the first and second book, it also doesn’t help that the plot point for this book is far more contrived when compared to the first. But if read as a stand alone or for die hard fans, the book should do the job.

lesserjoke's review against another edition

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2.0

This sequel to Altered Carbon is very different from that first book: the genre is more military sci-fi than neo-noir, it's set on a completely different planet, and the only returning character has been downloaded into a brand-new body. (I really wonder how / whether Netflix's adaptation of the series is going to handle all that.) But the technological underpinnings of cloning and uploading people remain, this time set around the archaeological dig of an alien artifact in the middle of a war.

Whether because I'm just not as into soldiers or because the novelty of the premise is wearing off, I didn't care for this story as much as its already-flawed predecessor. There are double-crosses that come out of nowhere, neat ideas about tech that aren't developed as fully as they deserve, and some really just plain bizarre psychosexual stuff. I'm still interested in the possibilities of this series, but the execution is leaving a lot to be desired.

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