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A review by rosewolfeemery
Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan
3.0
It's always disappointing when a book doesn't quite live up to its premise.
I enjoyed watching the Netflix adaptation of Altered Carbon, and I was keen to discover whether the book offered more insight into the world that Morgan had created. Much like the show, however, you're just launched into the plot. I think an intentional lack of background knowledge can work well in some cases (e.g. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro), but I would have liked to know how Altered Carbon came to be.
If I hadn't watched the adaptation, I think the plot would have lost me. Altered Carbon is wonderfully ambitious, but I don't like having to rifle through a book for information on a seemingly minor character that turns out to be important.
I found the concept of uploading your consciousness into a stack and 'resleeving' whenever you 'died' so interesting that I persevered with it. The prose was well-crafted, but I think this is one of the rare instances where the adaptation outstrips the source material. I was disappointed to discover that Reileen wasn't Kovacs' sister in the book, but just a Bad Girl who values power and influence more than human life. I also don't think that Kovacs was a particularly interesting or well-developed character.
I think the premise of Altered Carbon is more interesting than the story itself, but I'll watch the sequels if they make it to Netflix.
I enjoyed watching the Netflix adaptation of Altered Carbon, and I was keen to discover whether the book offered more insight into the world that Morgan had created. Much like the show, however, you're just launched into the plot. I think an intentional lack of background knowledge can work well in some cases (e.g. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro), but I would have liked to know how Altered Carbon came to be.
If I hadn't watched the adaptation, I think the plot would have lost me. Altered Carbon is wonderfully ambitious, but I don't like having to rifle through a book for information on a seemingly minor character that turns out to be important.
I found the concept of uploading your consciousness into a stack and 'resleeving' whenever you 'died' so interesting that I persevered with it. The prose was well-crafted, but I think this is one of the rare instances where the adaptation outstrips the source material. I was disappointed to discover that Reileen wasn't Kovacs' sister in the book, but just a Bad Girl who values power and influence more than human life. I also don't think that Kovacs was a particularly interesting or well-developed character.
I think the premise of Altered Carbon is more interesting than the story itself, but I'll watch the sequels if they make it to Netflix.