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johnbyers1500's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
ktjawrites's review against another edition
5.0
Broken Angels throws Takeshi Kovacs into a wonderfully expansive and explosive world.
misssophiereads's review against another edition
Couldn't figure out the plot or characters' motivations
micksland's review against another edition
4.0
Update:
Unfortunately, I have learned that Richard Morgan is a gross TERF bigot. It’s such a shame, because the series is awesome. It’s so strange that someone who writes about characters literally switching bodies could have such a backwards and anti-science stance about real human beings.
I can no longer recommend this book in good conscience, since there are plenty of other amazing authors out there who are also not bigoted assholes.
I’ll leave the original below, for old times’ sake.
*****
4/5 stars
I was enamored by the cyberpunk world of “Altered Carbon”, and I immediately set out to read the sequel. In an episode of genre whiplash, “Broken Angels” finds our antihero in the midst of a civil war, searching for Martian artifacts. The detective novel shtick of the prequel is abandoned for a more standard action/adventure story. It’s fun, but I don’t think it quite lived up to the promise of the original.
At its core, the Takeshi Kovacs universe is great at exploring the dark side of humanity. Given immortality and virtually limitless resources, humans still turn to war and spend most of their money thinking of ways to use each other for their own personal gain. It’s grim and cynical, and overtly political. It works well at what it does, but I felt that the introduction of alien species tended to distract from any coherent message that the author was trying to portray.
Second novels are often the weakest in a trilogy, and I suspect that Broken Angels is no different. Nevertheless, it was fun and I’m excited for the finale.
Unfortunately, I have learned that Richard Morgan is a gross TERF bigot. It’s such a shame, because the series is awesome. It’s so strange that someone who writes about characters literally switching bodies could have such a backwards and anti-science stance about real human beings.
I can no longer recommend this book in good conscience, since there are plenty of other amazing authors out there who are also not bigoted assholes.
I’ll leave the original below, for old times’ sake.
*****
4/5 stars
I was enamored by the cyberpunk world of “Altered Carbon”, and I immediately set out to read the sequel. In an episode of genre whiplash, “Broken Angels” finds our antihero in the midst of a civil war, searching for Martian artifacts. The detective novel shtick of the prequel is abandoned for a more standard action/adventure story. It’s fun, but I don’t think it quite lived up to the promise of the original.
At its core, the Takeshi Kovacs universe is great at exploring the dark side of humanity. Given immortality and virtually limitless resources, humans still turn to war and spend most of their money thinking of ways to use each other for their own personal gain. It’s grim and cynical, and overtly political. It works well at what it does, but I felt that the introduction of alien species tended to distract from any coherent message that the author was trying to portray.
Second novels are often the weakest in a trilogy, and I suspect that Broken Angels is no different. Nevertheless, it was fun and I’m excited for the finale.
thehappybooker's review against another edition
3.0
Didn't like it as well as Altered Carbon, but I loved Altered Carbon so much that it would be hard to live up to my expectations. Still, I recommend it and anything else you can find by the author.
shane_tiernan's review against another edition
5.0
Dirty-gritty, torture, killing, sex all very graphic. Really cool hi tech gadgetry. Even better than the first book.
wyrmdog's review against another edition
4.0
Like all the best sequels, this one does not retread the steps of the first book. Where Altered Carbon was a cyberpunk noir mystery, this one is more...well...it feels more like something by Clarke or Asimov, but a little less ambitious in some ways, more in others, yet with somewhat better-drawn characters (maybe it's just me but Asimov's characters always felt very wooden).
The high point is the expansion of the mythos of the setting. We see where the crazy tech came from and watch a war in progress, all the while being treated to Kovacs' cipher-like presence as a vehicle through which we watch the mystery, the wonder, and the horror. We see more of the way society orbits the technology that has fundamentally changed it, and we have glimpses into its history. A few things come into better focus here.
But make no mistake, there is horror here - noted above - and it is not for the squeamish. It's not the most explicit I've read, but if your imagination is good enough, it doesn't need to be.
Sadly, part of the horror is the first of two sex scenes. Where the second is a marked improvement on what we got in Altered Carbon, the first is...cartoonishly bad. That it did not win a bad sex in fiction award of some sort boggles the mind, even with the nearly 4th wall-breaking commentary on it near the end of the book. Maybe there was more truth spoken there than we are allowed to know. Maybe.
The first book approached but never quite delivered, on the themes of humanity, identity, self, and when we become inhuman ourselves. This book likewise does the same in approaching but not quite arriving. It is narrower in focus, looking almost exclusively at war and the profiteering that goes with it, the way we as humans can simply discard lives that do not directly transect our own...PTSD. There are war criminals, soldiers doing what they do, prisoners of war, bureaucrats, businessmen and demagogues. All through and around, people pay the price for the actions of others even more than they do for the actions they take themselves. So in a way, I suppose you could add responsibility to the mix.
I love that the book opens those doors, but it merely tepidly steps through a few of them, and only peers into the others, all arrayed around a central room, one that is themed such that you could be forgiven for believing it's Indiana Jones in space at first.
The transhuman ideas first proposed in Altered Carbon are mere set dressing here, which I both admire and lament. It's wonderful to tell a genre story that does not center itself on its set-dressing, but it also feels like a missed opportunity on some level.
Ultimately it does what all good series installments do: it makes me want to read the last book. What's that one going to be like?
The high point is the expansion of the mythos of the setting. We see where the crazy tech came from and watch a war in progress, all the while being treated to Kovacs' cipher-like presence as a vehicle through which we watch the mystery, the wonder, and the horror. We see more of the way society orbits the technology that has fundamentally changed it, and we have glimpses into its history. A few things come into better focus here.
But make no mistake, there is horror here - noted above - and it is not for the squeamish. It's not the most explicit I've read, but if your imagination is good enough, it doesn't need to be.
Sadly, part of the horror is the first of two sex scenes. Where the second is a marked improvement on what we got in Altered Carbon, the first is...cartoonishly bad. That it did not win a bad sex in fiction award of some sort boggles the mind, even with the nearly 4th wall-breaking commentary on it near the end of the book. Maybe there was more truth spoken there than we are allowed to know. Maybe.
The first book approached but never quite delivered, on the themes of humanity, identity, self, and when we become inhuman ourselves. This book likewise does the same in approaching but not quite arriving. It is narrower in focus, looking almost exclusively at war and the profiteering that goes with it, the way we as humans can simply discard lives that do not directly transect our own...PTSD. There are war criminals, soldiers doing what they do, prisoners of war, bureaucrats, businessmen and demagogues. All through and around, people pay the price for the actions of others even more than they do for the actions they take themselves. So in a way, I suppose you could add responsibility to the mix.
I love that the book opens those doors, but it merely tepidly steps through a few of them, and only peers into the others, all arrayed around a central room, one that is themed such that you could be forgiven for believing it's Indiana Jones in space at first.
The transhuman ideas first proposed in Altered Carbon are mere set dressing here, which I both admire and lament. It's wonderful to tell a genre story that does not center itself on its set-dressing, but it also feels like a missed opportunity on some level.
Ultimately it does what all good series installments do: it makes me want to read the last book. What's that one going to be like?
awoods3's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
cdbaker's review against another edition
3.0
I like the main character of these books. I like the world that's created and its technology. In this book, Morgan began exploring more of the different philosophies of the 25th century Earth, explaining that we got a lot of the technology from a much more advanced Martian civilization. There are a lot of debates about whether or not we're 'ready' for the technology or if we need to have developed it ourselves to get to the point where we can be 'trusted' with it. While a bit cliche as a concept, I found it interesting.
Yet, despite all of the above to like, I spent most of the book feeling like I had accidentally missed a book in the series with a lot of the background information. I get what Morgan was doing -- rather than loading the beginning with a lot of exposition, he never outright explains a lot of the background and allows the reader to learn it during discussions between the characters -- but it didn't work for me.
There are some other problems with the book -- it's overly meandering and I feel like Morgan really needs a better editor, one who is willing to cut out large sections of the text that add little to the overall plot and character development. But, in the end, I keep listening because I like the main character and it's a fairly interesting mystery set in the 25th century with cool tech. Even during the sections of this book when I was most annoyed, I still thought 'yeah, I'm going to listen to the next book in the series.' So, take that for what you will.
Oh, and the sex scenes (which, in this book took place in virtual reality, so Morgan didn't even need to follow basic laws of physics) were super cringeworthy. Yipe. I fast-forwarded through them (maybe that's where all the exposition was?).
Yet, despite all of the above to like, I spent most of the book feeling like I had accidentally missed a book in the series with a lot of the background information. I get what Morgan was doing -- rather than loading the beginning with a lot of exposition, he never outright explains a lot of the background and allows the reader to learn it during discussions between the characters -- but it didn't work for me.
There are some other problems with the book -- it's overly meandering and I feel like Morgan really needs a better editor, one who is willing to cut out large sections of the text that add little to the overall plot and character development. But, in the end, I keep listening because I like the main character and it's a fairly interesting mystery set in the 25th century with cool tech. Even during the sections of this book when I was most annoyed, I still thought 'yeah, I'm going to listen to the next book in the series.' So, take that for what you will.
Oh, and the sex scenes (which, in this book took place in virtual reality, so Morgan didn't even need to follow basic laws of physics) were super cringeworthy. Yipe. I fast-forwarded through them (maybe that's where all the exposition was?).
cdipierro's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0