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A review by hughnoble
Broken Angels by Richard K. Morgan
2.0
I read this hoping for a decent follow up to Altered Carbon, but was disappointed by a very different book.
Altered Carbon introduced the idea of the human mind not necessarily dying with the body (digital human), and with that it explored what would happen if the super rich were able to keep reincarnating themselves whist continually getting richer and more powerful.
How do you keep yourself entertained in a corrupt society when you're 200 years old, have already seen and done everything, and have more money than you could ever realistically spend?
The format it did this in was a detective novel, with an interesting mystery and strong characters. The compelling story, interesting concept, well thought out history, and good characters allowed me to see past some of the books weaker points. Unfortunately this book has all of the weaknesses of the first, but none of its strengths.
Set on a different planet in war time, this book follows Takeshi Kovacs as he leads a team to recover an extra terrestrial space ship. Whilst the first book is a sci-fi detective novel, this one is probably more straight up sci-fi and therefore may appeal more to fans of the genre, but not so much to me.
The digital human concept, whilst present, takes a back seat in this book and doesn't really affect the plot much. The negative points of the last book are still present but without the redeeming elements to make up for it. For example the overly indulgent sex scenes which read like a teenage fantasy by someone who had watched too much porn.
I had high hopes for this series but this book has convinced me not to bother with the next one. I'll keep Altered Carbon on the shelf, as it's still a good concept. But I won't be re-reading Broken Angels.
Altered Carbon introduced the idea of the human mind not necessarily dying with the body (digital human), and with that it explored what would happen if the super rich were able to keep reincarnating themselves whist continually getting richer and more powerful.
How do you keep yourself entertained in a corrupt society when you're 200 years old, have already seen and done everything, and have more money than you could ever realistically spend?
The format it did this in was a detective novel, with an interesting mystery and strong characters. The compelling story, interesting concept, well thought out history, and good characters allowed me to see past some of the books weaker points. Unfortunately this book has all of the weaknesses of the first, but none of its strengths.
Set on a different planet in war time, this book follows Takeshi Kovacs as he leads a team to recover an extra terrestrial space ship. Whilst the first book is a sci-fi detective novel, this one is probably more straight up sci-fi and therefore may appeal more to fans of the genre, but not so much to me.
The digital human concept, whilst present, takes a back seat in this book and doesn't really affect the plot much. The negative points of the last book are still present but without the redeeming elements to make up for it. For example the overly indulgent sex scenes which read like a teenage fantasy by someone who had watched too much porn.
I had high hopes for this series but this book has convinced me not to bother with the next one. I'll keep Altered Carbon on the shelf, as it's still a good concept. But I won't be re-reading Broken Angels.