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A review by bookaneer
Broken Angels by Richard K. Morgan
3.0
A very weak 3 stars. For those who want to read this book and expect that it'll be like Altered Carbon, abandon all hope. The setting is completely different. Gone is the noir feel of AC, and instead I felt I was reading a gritty version of Forever War/Starship Troopers, with a less likable main character. Yes, the cortical stacks and resleeving tech still play a huge role, but aside from that, BA is straight-up military SF.
Now, I love me some mil-SF but all the ones that I enjoy do not spend half of the book to build up the plot, which strands were actually bordering between meh and alright for me. I feel the author tried to put too many elements, but it did not work out for me like it was in AC. We got this war-torn colony world in Sanction IV, the cartel, the corporation (who's always bad in this kind of fiction), a quasi religious-rebellion/faction politics, and even a Ridley-esque mysteriously ancient and technologically advanced Martians which corresponding chapters became a BDO exploration drama. On top of all these fascinating stuff, there were lots of distraction of expositions - one about a certain pop music that took a few pages - that felt out of place and distracting.
And of course the issue of Takeshi as the brutal, cold version of James Bond where almost every woman in his vicinity wants to have sex with him. Was it the Envoy thing that made him so irresistible or maybe he just got lucky wearing super hot sleeves? Speaking of Envoys, I think everyone should have a drinking game every time Tak made a reference to his 'Envoy Intuition', which has become the solution of everything, although sometimes it takes a while for him to process.
Hmm, I sound far more critical than I intended to. I did like the novel, it was gripping, bleak as hell, deliciously misanthropic, with a compelling use of dehumanizing technology. Loved the action sequences (Tak was at his best when committing massacres) and some small Band of Brothers camaraderie moments among his team members.
The question is now, should I continue to the third book? Thoughts? :)
Now, I love me some mil-SF but all the ones that I enjoy do not spend half of the book to build up the plot, which strands were actually bordering between meh and alright for me. I feel the author tried to put too many elements, but it did not work out for me like it was in AC. We got this war-torn colony world in Sanction IV, the cartel, the corporation (who's always bad in this kind of fiction), a quasi religious-rebellion/faction politics, and even a Ridley-esque mysteriously ancient and technologically advanced Martians which corresponding chapters became a BDO exploration drama. On top of all these fascinating stuff, there were lots of distraction of expositions - one about a certain pop music that took a few pages - that felt out of place and distracting.
And of course the issue of Takeshi as the brutal, cold version of James Bond where almost every woman in his vicinity wants to have sex with him. Was it the Envoy thing that made him so irresistible or maybe he just got lucky wearing super hot sleeves? Speaking of Envoys, I think everyone should have a drinking game every time Tak made a reference to his 'Envoy Intuition', which has become the solution of everything, although sometimes it takes a while for him to process.
Hmm, I sound far more critical than I intended to. I did like the novel, it was gripping, bleak as hell, deliciously misanthropic, with a compelling use of dehumanizing technology. Loved the action sequences (Tak was at his best when committing massacres) and some small Band of Brothers camaraderie moments among his team members.
The question is now, should I continue to the third book? Thoughts? :)