Status
Available
Call number
Series
Publication
London : Gollancz, 2008.
Description
Fiction. Science Fiction. HTML:NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER � NOW AN EXCITING NEW SERIES FROM NETFLIX � The shell that blew a hole in his chest was only the beginning in this �tour de force of genre-bending, a brilliantly realized exercise in science fiction.��The New York Times Book Review In the twenty-fifth century, humankind has spread throughout the galaxy, monitored by the watchful eye of the U.N. While divisions in race, religion, and class still exist, advances in technology have redefined life itself. Now, assuming one can afford the expensive procedure, a person�s consciousness can be stored in a cortical stack at the base of the brain and easily downloaded into a new body (or �sleeve�) making death nothing more than a minor blip on a screen. Ex-U.N. envoy Takeshi Kovacs has been killed before, but his last death was particularly painful. Dispatched one hundred eighty light-years from home, re-sleeved into a body in Bay City (formerly San Francisco, now with a rusted, dilapidated Golden Gate Bridge), Kovacs is thrown into the dark heart of a shady, far-reaching conspiracy that is vicious even by the standards of a society that treats �existence� as something that can be bought and sold. Praise for Altered Carbon �Compelling . . . immensely entertaining . . . [Richard] Morgan�s writing is vivid and his plotting inventive.��The Philadelphia Inquirer �A fascinating trip . . . Pure high-octane science fiction mixes with the classic noir private-eye tale.��Orlando Sentinel �Gritty and vivid . . . looks as if we have another interstellar hero on our hands.��USA Today.… (more)
Media reviews
In this rousing first novel, Morgan reimagines Chandler's "Big Sleep" as 25th-century noir, with a Philip Marlowe-esque protagonist trying to avoid "real death" in a world where serial resurrection is a privilege of the rich and ruthless.
User reviews
LibraryThing member reading_fox
Not bad, even pretty good for a debuet novel, but with a few flaws. Some good imagination and a healthy respect for the consequences of the actions kept it moving along fast enough, although I wouldn't call it "relentlessly fast paced myself".
The basic premise is that in the future, your
Our hero, one Takeshi Kovacs, was trained as a government Envoy - basically someone of resilient enough mind to withstand his digital ID being transmitted to wherever he's needed to help solve a problem, usually involving extreme violence. Since turning independent he's more of a highclass criminal than anything else, and is eventually busted. He awakes on Earth (not a planet he's ever been to before) summoned by a 300yr old mind in a young body, who attempted suicide. Kovac's job is to investigate why. A quick brangle with the local cops, a few tipoffs, and the assistance of some of the staff at the local whorehouses, and Kovacs realises things are more complicated than it first appeared. Also, on Earth, the 300yr old Meths (really rich people who just cast new bodies as needed), have an awful lot more power than the idea of them out in space.
Frequently excessively violent there's also a scattering of very explicit sex, sort of justified by the plot, but I'm not really convinced. This sets the extremely dark tone of the rest of the book. Kovacs is human and detailed enough, with intermittent flashbacks to various times he was in trouble elsewhere. The whole police aiding him angle is a bit odd, although it appears society has become essentially corrupt, but I was unswayed by the lead cops reasoning. All the over characters are bit parts, which is a shame and some of them seemed quite interesting. The hat-tip to Jimi in the AI persona of a hotel, was well done, although I suspect in 300+ years time he really won't be remembered at all. Equally cigarette's just don't strike me as having that much of a lifespan. The plot was well constructed, and the ideas described well enough to follow, if somewhat complicated. Morgan did a good job of keeping track on how much each sleeve/stack knew and where the crossover between stored and dead information lay. Must have been tricky to do, but was handled well.
Overall it is imaginative, but somewhat too dark for full enjoyment, I may read the sequels but I won't be rushing out for them. Kil'n people by Brin is of a similar idea, but better - and much less bleak.
The basic premise is that in the future, your
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personality and memories can be stored in a small chip. As near as everyone has one of these implanted in the neck - the cortical stack. Upon death or serious injury, or merely at convenience, or to travel across interstellar space, this digital info can be rehoused in a new/old/custom body called a sleeve, although this is expensive an d few but the richest and most powerful people can afford to change bodies frequently. Besides it's a somewhat disturbing experience. Especially for those who knew the old body (which can be stored indefinitely) rather than it's current inhabitant.Our hero, one Takeshi Kovacs, was trained as a government Envoy - basically someone of resilient enough mind to withstand his digital ID being transmitted to wherever he's needed to help solve a problem, usually involving extreme violence. Since turning independent he's more of a highclass criminal than anything else, and is eventually busted. He awakes on Earth (not a planet he's ever been to before) summoned by a 300yr old mind in a young body, who attempted suicide. Kovac's job is to investigate why. A quick brangle with the local cops, a few tipoffs, and the assistance of some of the staff at the local whorehouses, and Kovacs realises things are more complicated than it first appeared. Also, on Earth, the 300yr old Meths (really rich people who just cast new bodies as needed), have an awful lot more power than the idea of them out in space.
Frequently excessively violent there's also a scattering of very explicit sex, sort of justified by the plot, but I'm not really convinced. This sets the extremely dark tone of the rest of the book. Kovacs is human and detailed enough, with intermittent flashbacks to various times he was in trouble elsewhere. The whole police aiding him angle is a bit odd, although it appears society has become essentially corrupt, but I was unswayed by the lead cops reasoning. All the over characters are bit parts, which is a shame and some of them seemed quite interesting. The hat-tip to Jimi in the AI persona of a hotel, was well done, although I suspect in 300+ years time he really won't be remembered at all. Equally cigarette's just don't strike me as having that much of a lifespan. The plot was well constructed, and the ideas described well enough to follow, if somewhat complicated. Morgan did a good job of keeping track on how much each sleeve/stack knew and where the crossover between stored and dead information lay. Must have been tricky to do, but was handled well.
Overall it is imaginative, but somewhat too dark for full enjoyment, I may read the sequels but I won't be rushing out for them. Kil'n people by Brin is of a similar idea, but better - and much less bleak.
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LibraryThing member AnnieMod
In the future the problem of overcrowded prisons is solved by just downloading the person into the stack and storing their body. Once your sentence is over, you may get your body back - if you can pay for it. In the meantime, if someone pays, they can walk into your body. And if you are really
Until one day one of the oldest and richest men in the world, Laurens Bancroft, dies. Not really - he gets a new body but he is really concerned about why and how he died - the police thinks that it was a suicide, Laurens does not think so. So he hires a private investigator - from a planet away from Earth, a man that had never been to Earth and one that cannot say no - because he had been on the stack for a while after some not so great choices. Add to this that Takeshi Kovacs (read with -ch an not -ks at the end) had been an Envoy (an elite military group created specifically for warfare across the stars which included a lot of new bodies and a lot of waiting time to get downloaded somewhere) with what looks like PTSD and Mrs Bancroft who seems to have more secrets than she wants to share and the novel already sounds interesting enough. Add a semi-deranged hotel AI, illegal cloning and the fact that the body that Kovacs gets turn out to be of an ex-policeman, who had a relationship with the main detective on the case and the fact that bodies start dropping is not really surprising.
It gets a bit convoluted in places and it is way too gory in places. The mystery is interesting on its own but it is the world that is fascinating and that takes center stage. It is a dark and brutal future - full of sex (some of it almost too graphic). It won't be for everyone but if you do not mind the darkness and the adult themes, it is a marvelous read. And I cannot wait to read more about it.
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rich, you can just keep downloading yourself into new bodies - and keep living. Until one day one of the oldest and richest men in the world, Laurens Bancroft, dies. Not really - he gets a new body but he is really concerned about why and how he died - the police thinks that it was a suicide, Laurens does not think so. So he hires a private investigator - from a planet away from Earth, a man that had never been to Earth and one that cannot say no - because he had been on the stack for a while after some not so great choices. Add to this that Takeshi Kovacs (read with -ch an not -ks at the end) had been an Envoy (an elite military group created specifically for warfare across the stars which included a lot of new bodies and a lot of waiting time to get downloaded somewhere) with what looks like PTSD and Mrs Bancroft who seems to have more secrets than she wants to share and the novel already sounds interesting enough. Add a semi-deranged hotel AI, illegal cloning and the fact that the body that Kovacs gets turn out to be of an ex-policeman, who had a relationship with the main detective on the case and the fact that bodies start dropping is not really surprising.
It gets a bit convoluted in places and it is way too gory in places. The mystery is interesting on its own but it is the world that is fascinating and that takes center stage. It is a dark and brutal future - full of sex (some of it almost too graphic). It won't be for everyone but if you do not mind the darkness and the adult themes, it is a marvelous read. And I cannot wait to read more about it.
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LibraryThing member suffe
Not as good as I was hoping for. In fact, I was quite a bit disappointed in it. I was expecting a detective novel that would explore plausible future technologies and to be honest, it contains almost only the first part of the equation. While it dips the proverbial toe in to the waters that are
The style of the writing is dry, and even though I can find that more then a little nice most often it doesn't quite work here, slow paced and not that interesting. Relating to the characters is as hard as feeling excitement about the future it presents.
All in all, I'm not quite sure what all the hype was about. Contemporary writers such as Alastair Reynolds or Vernor Vinge imagines the future in a more realistic, detailed and, quite frankly, exciting way. The sequel will probably remain unread.
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transhumanism, or separation of mind and body to be more exact, it glosses over this to fast. It is used as a plot driver and not much more.The style of the writing is dry, and even though I can find that more then a little nice most often it doesn't quite work here, slow paced and not that interesting. Relating to the characters is as hard as feeling excitement about the future it presents.
All in all, I'm not quite sure what all the hype was about. Contemporary writers such as Alastair Reynolds or Vernor Vinge imagines the future in a more realistic, detailed and, quite frankly, exciting way. The sequel will probably remain unread.
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LibraryThing member antao
“If they want you, sooner or later they’ll scoop you up off the globe, like specks of interesting dust off a Martian artefact. Cross the gulf between the stars, and they’ll come after you. Go into centuries of storage, and they’ll be there waiting for you, clone-new, when you re-sleeve.
In “Altered Carbon” by Richard K. Morgan
Cyberpunk, a historic sub-genre that was out of date by the time most people had started using Windows, cool! That said, Gibson was better than ever with the near future Blue Ant trilogy, and Stephenson is off doing whatever caught his attention, before hopefully returning with some more Shaftoes and Waterhice, I mean houses. That said, Gibson's “The Peripheral” offered some fascinating directions, but were too interesting for that hoary old sub-genre title. I've always thought of the Altered Carbon books as SF pulp really and the TV version just confirms it for me. When discussing Gibson and PKD I view their work as literature because they're tackling big issues and are using sci-fi as the frame. Altered Carbon doesn't really have any big issues and is more concerned with telling a rollicking adventure. Shame really. I'm a bit more stocked for Duncan Jones' 'Mute' which I think may well be more in-tune with William Gibson's motifs.
One example of something interesting here is how the moral economics of violence changes when bodies can be considered disposable and replaceable. In Kovac's world bodies are only truly disposable for a hyper wealthy elite, but still murder effectively becomes a property crime and torture can not involve irreversible physical damage for instance. The flip side of this is that the reader has a different awareness of what its like to live in an irreplaceable body; it reinforces disgust at physical violence. So on the level of ideas this is not boring at all, and while Morgan isn't the greatest stylist he is at worst competent and at best rather good at keeping things rattling along. Of course you can assert that authors X and Y kind of did the same thing, but within the limits of genre fiction it is an interesting area to explore and there's no harm in exploring it.
Having said that, if I’m bored by something, that doesn't make it boring by definition. And my personal reaction is not in itself interesting or informative. It's just one more opinion, and we don't seem to be running short on opinions. There's one factor that it's really hard to ignore. Kovacs is supposed to be the ultimate super-soldier, able to needlecast halfway across the universe and immediately blend in to any situation using his "total absorb" skills. A near-perfect chameleon, so the books have us believe. So why the hell does he blunder around like a total meathead, getting into random scraps with strangers and pissing everyone off like a moody teenager ?
Rickard K. Morgan's writing - but much of what he's written (with Kovacs anyway) is based on concepts that have been around for quite a while. He definitely puts a nice spin on them - but I really don't think that he matches William Gibson for innovation or exploration of new concepts. I mean we're talking about the man who coined the phrase 'cyberspace' - in 1979! (I think - too sleepy to go start searching...so am sorry if that year is wrong) However, I haven't read anything by Mr Morgan except for his Kovacs novels, so I am open to being proven wrong. I'll look up some of the titles mentioned among the comments on this review. But I believe (based on what I have read of Morgan's) that there are a number of writers who have been turning out similar stuff that is equally as well-crafted, if not better in some ways. (Neal Asher is the first to spring to mind...but there are a number of others, both contemporary and also not so).
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They are what we once dreamed of as gods, mythical agents of destiny, as inescapable as Death, that poor old peasant labourer, bent over his scythe, no longer is. Poor Death, no match for the mighty altered carbon technologies of data storage and retrieval arrayed against him. Once we lived in terror of his arrival. Now we flirt outrageously with his sombre dignity, and beings like these won’t even let him in the tradesman’s entrance.”In “Altered Carbon” by Richard K. Morgan
Cyberpunk, a historic sub-genre that was out of date by the time most people had started using Windows, cool! That said, Gibson was better than ever with the near future Blue Ant trilogy, and Stephenson is off doing whatever caught his attention, before hopefully returning with some more Shaftoes and Waterhice, I mean houses. That said, Gibson's “The Peripheral” offered some fascinating directions, but were too interesting for that hoary old sub-genre title. I've always thought of the Altered Carbon books as SF pulp really and the TV version just confirms it for me. When discussing Gibson and PKD I view their work as literature because they're tackling big issues and are using sci-fi as the frame. Altered Carbon doesn't really have any big issues and is more concerned with telling a rollicking adventure. Shame really. I'm a bit more stocked for Duncan Jones' 'Mute' which I think may well be more in-tune with William Gibson's motifs.
One example of something interesting here is how the moral economics of violence changes when bodies can be considered disposable and replaceable. In Kovac's world bodies are only truly disposable for a hyper wealthy elite, but still murder effectively becomes a property crime and torture can not involve irreversible physical damage for instance. The flip side of this is that the reader has a different awareness of what its like to live in an irreplaceable body; it reinforces disgust at physical violence. So on the level of ideas this is not boring at all, and while Morgan isn't the greatest stylist he is at worst competent and at best rather good at keeping things rattling along. Of course you can assert that authors X and Y kind of did the same thing, but within the limits of genre fiction it is an interesting area to explore and there's no harm in exploring it.
Having said that, if I’m bored by something, that doesn't make it boring by definition. And my personal reaction is not in itself interesting or informative. It's just one more opinion, and we don't seem to be running short on opinions. There's one factor that it's really hard to ignore. Kovacs is supposed to be the ultimate super-soldier, able to needlecast halfway across the universe and immediately blend in to any situation using his "total absorb" skills. A near-perfect chameleon, so the books have us believe. So why the hell does he blunder around like a total meathead, getting into random scraps with strangers and pissing everyone off like a moody teenager ?
Rickard K. Morgan's writing - but much of what he's written (with Kovacs anyway) is based on concepts that have been around for quite a while. He definitely puts a nice spin on them - but I really don't think that he matches William Gibson for innovation or exploration of new concepts. I mean we're talking about the man who coined the phrase 'cyberspace' - in 1979! (I think - too sleepy to go start searching...so am sorry if that year is wrong) However, I haven't read anything by Mr Morgan except for his Kovacs novels, so I am open to being proven wrong. I'll look up some of the titles mentioned among the comments on this review. But I believe (based on what I have read of Morgan's) that there are a number of writers who have been turning out similar stuff that is equally as well-crafted, if not better in some ways. (Neal Asher is the first to spring to mind...but there are a number of others, both contemporary and also not so).
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LibraryThing member snarkhunt
Wonderful. A beautiful classic noir mystery set in a place where bodies are a commodity and life is cheap and possibly permanent.
Sex, death, betrayal and crime for the cyber set.
The strength of the noir pattern is a backbone for the sf tropes of transcendence and virtuality.
SF for those who thought
Sex, death, betrayal and crime for the cyber set.
The strength of the noir pattern is a backbone for the sf tropes of transcendence and virtuality.
SF for those who thought
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they didn't like it. Show Less
LibraryThing member virginiahomeschooler
I picked this up because of the Netflix show I had heard was being made based on the book. It's one of those books that I will probably be thinking about for a long time to come. So, in that way it was successful. In other ways, not so much.
What was good? The general story, mystery, story building.
What wasn't good. Let me preface this by saying I don't feel I am a prude when it comes to what I read. I am open-minded and not bothered by most things. That said, this book was over the top when it came to depictions of sex and violence. The sex scenes were drawn out and described to the very last detail, and the violence wandered into the realm of what I'd call torture porn. It was not enjoyable to read. Somewhat related to that, I found the author's depiction of women and their roles to be very backward and occasionally misogynistic. Women served essentially one role in this story. When I first started reading it, I thought how dated it was. I could tell right off it had been written in the 1970's just by the descriptions and treatment of women. Then I found out it was written in 2002. So I assume it's just the author's ideas about women that come from the 70s.
Take all the good and the bad, and I'm still left thinking about this book. Specifically it is the idea of immortality. If I die, but essentially my memories and personality and the things that make up me are saved in some sort of thing I pictured as resembling a thumb drive and inserted into a new body, does that mean I am not dead? I'm not sure I see it that way. While I don't believe in the idea of soul in a religious sense, I do feel like I am more than the culmination of my memories and DNA. I could see this being useful if, for instance, I died when my children were still very young. My youngest child is just about to turn 3. I would not want to leave him without a mommy. So from his perspective if my "essence" could be sleeved in a new body, he'd still have his mommy. But the me that was me did cease to exist. I don't see that as immortality. I have no interest in leaving a perpetual copy of myself to be brought out each time one of me kicks the bucket. I'd have liked to see this discussed more within the book.
My final thought is that the book had many very good aspects and a few issues that made it hard to continue. I have a feeling Netflix will only exacerbate the issues I had. I don't think I'll be watching it.
What was good? The general story, mystery, story building.
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All were pretty terrific. Having not read tons of hard science fiction, specifically noir/cyberpunk sci-fi, the plot seemed wholly original to me. I was intrigued by the idea of sleeves and their meaning for immortality. I do feel like that could have been fleshed out more (get to that in a bit), but the concept was neat. Kovacs as a character was decent. Maybe a little too amazing in every way, but I grew to like him. Somewhat. Secondary characters were pretty well thought out, though I had some issues with motivations and why some did the things they did. The world-building was pretty phenomenal and probably the best thing about this book. For a debut, Morgan did a great job setting the scene. I have no complaints about that aspect. If it were just the good stuff and none of the bad, I'd recommend this book wholeheartedly. However...What wasn't good. Let me preface this by saying I don't feel I am a prude when it comes to what I read. I am open-minded and not bothered by most things. That said, this book was over the top when it came to depictions of sex and violence. The sex scenes were drawn out and described to the very last detail, and the violence wandered into the realm of what I'd call torture porn. It was not enjoyable to read. Somewhat related to that, I found the author's depiction of women and their roles to be very backward and occasionally misogynistic. Women served essentially one role in this story. When I first started reading it, I thought how dated it was. I could tell right off it had been written in the 1970's just by the descriptions and treatment of women. Then I found out it was written in 2002. So I assume it's just the author's ideas about women that come from the 70s.
Take all the good and the bad, and I'm still left thinking about this book. Specifically it is the idea of immortality. If I die, but essentially my memories and personality and the things that make up me are saved in some sort of thing I pictured as resembling a thumb drive and inserted into a new body, does that mean I am not dead? I'm not sure I see it that way. While I don't believe in the idea of soul in a religious sense, I do feel like I am more than the culmination of my memories and DNA. I could see this being useful if, for instance, I died when my children were still very young. My youngest child is just about to turn 3. I would not want to leave him without a mommy. So from his perspective if my "essence" could be sleeved in a new body, he'd still have his mommy. But the me that was me did cease to exist. I don't see that as immortality. I have no interest in leaving a perpetual copy of myself to be brought out each time one of me kicks the bucket. I'd have liked to see this discussed more within the book.
My final thought is that the book had many very good aspects and a few issues that made it hard to continue. I have a feeling Netflix will only exacerbate the issues I had. I don't think I'll be watching it.
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LibraryThing member SwampIrish
This novel is one of those that will somewhat shape how I view Sci-Fi stories in the future. Altered Carbon is detective noir set 5 centuries in the future when the consciousness (cortical stack) and the body (sleeve) are two wholly different things allowing the rich and the powerful to do things
With all of this inventive tech comes an equally inventive terminology to go with it. There are terms that sound so cool (like 'sleeving' or 'being on stack') that I wish they were in use in everyday language. We use 'grok' from Heinlein so who knows.
Overall, it is an excellent novel of both the Science Fiction and the Detective Noir types. Instantly jumps to my top 5 sci-fi choices.
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like occupy more than one body at once or to 'back up the hard drive' so to speak before committing a crime. Want to murder someone? Make sure you obliterate the cortical stack(located in the base of the skull) or kill a Catholic (morally opposed to resleeving) so that they can't be resurrected to testify against you.With all of this inventive tech comes an equally inventive terminology to go with it. There are terms that sound so cool (like 'sleeving' or 'being on stack') that I wish they were in use in everyday language. We use 'grok' from Heinlein so who knows.
Overall, it is an excellent novel of both the Science Fiction and the Detective Noir types. Instantly jumps to my top 5 sci-fi choices.
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LibraryThing member masyukun
Altered Carbon takes an old idea of separating the mind from the body and does a little development with it, but not much.
There's a lot of unnecessary adult material in the story, including some VERY graphic sex scenes. Perhaps this is the book's main selling point, because the sci-fi content and
There's a lot of unnecessary adult material in the story, including some VERY graphic sex scenes. Perhaps this is the book's main selling point, because the sci-fi content and
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prose just isn't satisfying. Show Less
LibraryThing member hirvela
Having seen the Netflix series I decided to try the book when I realized that such a thing does exist.
Morgan knows how to write SciFi, for sure, and has his own style and story and dystopia. But I was really fascinated to recognise the Ross MacDonald style dark crime mixed with the Alfred Bester's
Morgan knows how to write SciFi, for sure, and has his own style and story and dystopia. But I was really fascinated to recognise the Ross MacDonald style dark crime mixed with the Alfred Bester's
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distorted perception storyline skills and Frederik Pohl's way to make you live the future. I loved it. Show Less
LibraryThing member TheAmpersand
In the world that "Altered Carbon" describes you can upload a human consciousness into computer storage, have fun in thrillingly realistic virtual environments, get your natural human abilities enhanced dozens of ways either technologically or pharmaceutically, have a lengthy, detailed conversation
I pick up a science fiction novel once in a while just to see what I missed when I was hiding out in the Literary Fiction section. I think that "Altered Carbon" touches on some terrific ideas and is executed quite well. The book is, in a way, a wonderful extended riff on the what the connection between mind, self, and body might be in a world where technology has altered all three of these concepts beyond recognition. We hear about characters getting used to new bodies like they might take the crease out of a new shirt. We see others assume new ethnic or gender identities after a minor operation. There are even brief moments of existential dread as citizens of the future, safe in the "cortical stack" that contains the inner self, contemplate what it might mean to spend eternity in an ever-shifting variety of human bodies. The book's interest in transhumanism or cyborg identity goes well beyond the technological: Takeshi is, after all, a half-Asian half-Slavic surgically and chemically enhanced veteran from a star system far away who's been summoned to Earth, a place he fought for but has never been to. The parallels are all there! I seldom had this much fun when I read post-colonial novels in grad school.
But what keeps me from really recommending it is the fact that its characters all seem to be stock figures that were imported -- needlecast? -- in from any number of genre/pulp stories. The book's got a manly, self-assured, immensely competent hero who, beneath his rough'n'tough exterior, is tormented by memories of a long-ago war and a bad family life. He broods and, occasionally, smokes a cigarette. It's got an evil warrior queen figure, and a villainous, emotionally cold patrician for a villain. There's a love interest -- a police woman! -- who sometimes comes off as a real person and sometimes comes off as a sexed-up comic book fantasy. "Altered Carbon" even features a hooker with a heart of gold. Sure, all this is fun to read about, when it wasn't being clever, the book seemed more than willing to indulge in the sort of cool, cartoonish violence and lubricious sexual adventures that keeps sixteen year-old boys up way, way past their bedtimes. And I'm sure that I'm a certain sort of reader is more than okay with that. But I also suspect that this one just wasn't written with me in mind. That's fine, but as I neared the book's inevitable bittersweet end, I couldn't help but think, "There was so much going on here! The book could have done so much with it!" Well, it did do a few things, but "Altered Carbon" is techno-fantasy, not space Beckett. I can't say that I exactly minded the high-tech weaponry, the tart dialogue between tough guys, and the lovingly described space-age sex romps, you know? Maybe you'll like 'em too, served, as they are, with a side of genuinely interesting ideas. But a lot of what's in here is still book-form junk food. This one is recommended, and, well, not.
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with the A.I. that owns and runs your hotel, take a street drug that simulates the experience of dying, and, most importantly, slip human bodies on and off as easily as you change into sweatpants and the gym. The hard problem of consciousness has been solved, neither life nor death means much anymore, and -- if you can afford it -- you can live a few centuries by inhabiting dozens of lab-grown human forms. Or maybe cheap synthetic bodies, if that's more your thing. Anyway, this book has a terrific premise. And it's well written: Morgan's prose style is remarkably fluid for a first-time author, and he strikes a delicate balance between gee-whiz techno-speak and shamelessly purple descriptions gritty streets, gunfights, and impossibly tough, sensuous babes. He's very good at what I think people into sci-fi refer to as world-building: the Earth that Takeshi Kovacs visits from the far-flung space colony where he grew up is insanely high-tech, culturally exhausted, and brimming with danger and decadence. And there are some thrilling, satisfyingly grisly fight scenes. But I'm still not sure if I'd recommend this one to everyone.I pick up a science fiction novel once in a while just to see what I missed when I was hiding out in the Literary Fiction section. I think that "Altered Carbon" touches on some terrific ideas and is executed quite well. The book is, in a way, a wonderful extended riff on the what the connection between mind, self, and body might be in a world where technology has altered all three of these concepts beyond recognition. We hear about characters getting used to new bodies like they might take the crease out of a new shirt. We see others assume new ethnic or gender identities after a minor operation. There are even brief moments of existential dread as citizens of the future, safe in the "cortical stack" that contains the inner self, contemplate what it might mean to spend eternity in an ever-shifting variety of human bodies. The book's interest in transhumanism or cyborg identity goes well beyond the technological: Takeshi is, after all, a half-Asian half-Slavic surgically and chemically enhanced veteran from a star system far away who's been summoned to Earth, a place he fought for but has never been to. The parallels are all there! I seldom had this much fun when I read post-colonial novels in grad school.
But what keeps me from really recommending it is the fact that its characters all seem to be stock figures that were imported -- needlecast? -- in from any number of genre/pulp stories. The book's got a manly, self-assured, immensely competent hero who, beneath his rough'n'tough exterior, is tormented by memories of a long-ago war and a bad family life. He broods and, occasionally, smokes a cigarette. It's got an evil warrior queen figure, and a villainous, emotionally cold patrician for a villain. There's a love interest -- a police woman! -- who sometimes comes off as a real person and sometimes comes off as a sexed-up comic book fantasy. "Altered Carbon" even features a hooker with a heart of gold. Sure, all this is fun to read about, when it wasn't being clever, the book seemed more than willing to indulge in the sort of cool, cartoonish violence and lubricious sexual adventures that keeps sixteen year-old boys up way, way past their bedtimes. And I'm sure that I'm a certain sort of reader is more than okay with that. But I also suspect that this one just wasn't written with me in mind. That's fine, but as I neared the book's inevitable bittersweet end, I couldn't help but think, "There was so much going on here! The book could have done so much with it!" Well, it did do a few things, but "Altered Carbon" is techno-fantasy, not space Beckett. I can't say that I exactly minded the high-tech weaponry, the tart dialogue between tough guys, and the lovingly described space-age sex romps, you know? Maybe you'll like 'em too, served, as they are, with a side of genuinely interesting ideas. But a lot of what's in here is still book-form junk food. This one is recommended, and, well, not.
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LibraryThing member AHS-Wolfy
Laurens Bancroft committed suicide but doesn't buy the verdict that the police seem readily to accept. After all, he would've known he'd be re-sleeved and just lose the time since his last remote storage backup so why would he take the trouble? A bungled murder attempt seems more likely to him so
This is an interesting melding of cyberpunk and hard-boiled detective fiction with a fast flowing action-packed pace with only a few moments along the way to catch your breath. It's not just a case of dropping a Philip Marlowe type character into a technology rich environment and seeing what happens. The tech is essential to the plot and isn't just used to form set-piece action spots. Like all good science fiction this story manages to ask some big questions especially on the nature of identity (with all the body-swapping it can't but help it) and a possible means of immortality and what that could signify for the human race. But it doesn't spend too much time wrestling with these concepts before moving on to the next gunfight, sex scene or poking around in someone's innards (whether physical or mental) to get some vital information. You might guess at that last statement that it might get a little gory and you'd be at least half right. But these scenes, although somewhat gratuitous, don't stray too far from the plot and with this being a debut novel I'm willing to cut it some slack. Overall an enjoyable read and I'm looking forward to continuing the series even if the sequels are not so well regarded as this one.
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he hires Takeshi Kovacs to investigate for him. Kovacs was a member of the Envoy Corps (basically super-soldiers) until a mission went bad and he got out and now uses his abilities to earn a living for himself. Before being hired by Bancroft he was serving a long sentence in storage and part of the contract will see the rest of it annulled. Not being left much choice he sets off to see what he can find out. It's not long before he finds his first clue when a hitman tries to take him out while he's checking in to a hotel. He also wants to know why one particular police lieutenant has taken such an interest in him too. If she thought it was an open and shut case why does she seem to show up quite so often.This is an interesting melding of cyberpunk and hard-boiled detective fiction with a fast flowing action-packed pace with only a few moments along the way to catch your breath. It's not just a case of dropping a Philip Marlowe type character into a technology rich environment and seeing what happens. The tech is essential to the plot and isn't just used to form set-piece action spots. Like all good science fiction this story manages to ask some big questions especially on the nature of identity (with all the body-swapping it can't but help it) and a possible means of immortality and what that could signify for the human race. But it doesn't spend too much time wrestling with these concepts before moving on to the next gunfight, sex scene or poking around in someone's innards (whether physical or mental) to get some vital information. You might guess at that last statement that it might get a little gory and you'd be at least half right. But these scenes, although somewhat gratuitous, don't stray too far from the plot and with this being a debut novel I'm willing to cut it some slack. Overall an enjoyable read and I'm looking forward to continuing the series even if the sequels are not so well regarded as this one.
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LibraryThing member johnnyapollo
A very well conceived book, Altered Carbon explores the concept of human memory/personality storage and how the technology would affect the development of society and space colonization as a broad scope topic, while providing a very human adventure/detective narrative for the protagonist. There are
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many reviews on LT regarding the storyline itself so I won't add to the rhetoric - as a new author to me, Richard K. Morgan hit on many interesting topics and struck home several times with his character Takeshi Kovacs - there are moments that made me laugh, scenes that brought me close to tears, and several that invoked a sense of wonder that I rarely get out of literary works. I would recommend this book to any new adult SF reader, though with a warning on some of the sex and drug scenes, which may be offensive to some - however even those instances were really well written and worth reading. Show Less
LibraryThing member shanlon
I really didn't like this book. It's all muscles and guns, the characters are shallow and difficult to empathize with and the ideas seem ill thought-out. I know this sounds like one of those "don't buy this book!!!! can't believe i spent money on this!!!!" reviews on Amazon, but that I am prepared
Other people have covered the same ground with more insight. Try William Gibson for the hacking and whatnot, or Ken Macleod or Charles Stross for some great ideas about what might happen if human consciousness transcends physical flesh.
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to sink to such a level should indicate the extent to which I disliked it.Other people have covered the same ground with more insight. Try William Gibson for the hacking and whatnot, or Ken Macleod or Charles Stross for some great ideas about what might happen if human consciousness transcends physical flesh.
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LibraryThing member kaythetall
The strengths are the unswerving adherence to the noir model, and fairly well-realized future world.
The protagonist spends most of the book getting beaten up by various lowlifes, going without sleep, being haunted by past horrors, drinking, having shootouts with other lowlifes, reluctantly having
The worldbuilding is fairly strong; several hundred years in the future humanity has redefined itself beyond physical self. Individuals are stored on small chips and flit from body to body as finances allow. Morgan never really explains how anyone is identified: without any physical cues tying you to an identity, how does it work? And in general, how does that change the importance of your name or individuality? The language is a bit overwrought but fairly tasty with futurespeak. And the plot moves things along nicely. The noir plot stamps nicely onto the cyberpunk genre, and it's clear Morgan is in this for a long haul of books with this character.
But there are a couple of problems. There is a short and out of context action sequence in the prologue that is never really explained at all. It's not clear whether this is supposed to set the scene for the disorientation of the protagonist or is just poorly explained. And the characters seem to vacillate between "I'm bad to the bone" and "aw, I've got a conscience after all" speeches. Finally, Morgan seems to suffer from 'Philip Pullman' syndrome where early references to problems in the plot with the church build through the novel to a character basically turning to the audience and saying "The Catholic Church is an evil stone-age frankenstein of an organization who's existence is a blight on humanity". And it's never 'religion' or any other faith that's mentioned, it's always specifically "The Catholic Church". It's off-putting and strange.
Other than those last annoyances, I'd say it's a tolerable read.
The protagonist spends most of the book getting beaten up by various lowlifes, going without sleep, being haunted by past horrors, drinking, having shootouts with other lowlifes, reluctantly having
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sex with various bombshells who throw themselves at him, and pulls all the various unrelated clues together in a "it's all one big case!" insight. If you like all those cliches, you'll like this book.The worldbuilding is fairly strong; several hundred years in the future humanity has redefined itself beyond physical self. Individuals are stored on small chips and flit from body to body as finances allow. Morgan never really explains how anyone is identified: without any physical cues tying you to an identity, how does it work? And in general, how does that change the importance of your name or individuality? The language is a bit overwrought but fairly tasty with futurespeak. And the plot moves things along nicely. The noir plot stamps nicely onto the cyberpunk genre, and it's clear Morgan is in this for a long haul of books with this character.
But there are a couple of problems. There is a short and out of context action sequence in the prologue that is never really explained at all. It's not clear whether this is supposed to set the scene for the disorientation of the protagonist or is just poorly explained. And the characters seem to vacillate between "I'm bad to the bone" and "aw, I've got a conscience after all" speeches. Finally, Morgan seems to suffer from 'Philip Pullman' syndrome where early references to problems in the plot with the church build through the novel to a character basically turning to the audience and saying "The Catholic Church is an evil stone-age frankenstein of an organization who's existence is a blight on humanity". And it's never 'religion' or any other faith that's mentioned, it's always specifically "The Catholic Church". It's off-putting and strange.
Other than those last annoyances, I'd say it's a tolerable read.
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LibraryThing member kaionvin
In the future of Altered Carbon, the consciousness can be downloaded off a body into a new one- real or synthetic- for a price. It's a technology that renders the body a mere commodity, a 'sleeve' as the characters call it, and renders the rich virtually immortal. So it's a truly baffling crime
Confession: I don't really like noir, let alone warmed over retreads of noir. The Big Sleep describes perfectly my literal reaction at both attempts to watch that Humphrey Bogart flick. So I didn't much care for the majority of Altered Carbon, as Morgan seemed perfectly content to play out the old standards in a science fiction 'sleeve': the hardened hero to unveil the conspiracy, the femme fatale, the seedy underground bosses, etc.
And the results are often plain corny. For one, Altered Carbon has the dubious honor of containing my most memorable sex scene of the year*, ballsy and ludicrous and gleeful. I mean, and I often did enjoy the amped-up action parts, explained by every character's body enhancements of-the-Future, in the base Jason-Stantam-movie sort-of-way.
But all this over-the-top genre mishmash really obscured the more interesting aspects raised by the premise. Questions such as whether Kovacs' growing attraction to the lead detective just because he's sleeved in her convicted-crooked-cop boyfriend's body? Or little moments such as when Kovacs stops to admire and yearn for a synthetic body that better represents his Asian heritage. It's an idea attuned to the exploration of identity and the abuses that seem to trap the people more to their bodily prisons the more easily they can jump to another, and that the book instead goes for goofy pulp stuff it a bit of a shame.
*And this year, I saw Splice, which I can honestly say produced the most simulataneous cringing and derisive laughing from an audience I've ever witnessed.
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when one such immortal 'Meth' is found with his brains (and stack) blown out, given he has another body and an auto-saved back-up conciousness waiting in the wings. When the police rule it a suicide, ex-U.N. envoy (read: super-soldier) Takeshi Kovacs is taken off the 'stack' (read: consciousness jail) to investigate this mystery that will lead him through the heighs and depths of Bay City (read: San Francisco).Confession: I don't really like noir, let alone warmed over retreads of noir. The Big Sleep describes perfectly my literal reaction at both attempts to watch that Humphrey Bogart flick. So I didn't much care for the majority of Altered Carbon, as Morgan seemed perfectly content to play out the old standards in a science fiction 'sleeve': the hardened hero to unveil the conspiracy, the femme fatale, the seedy underground bosses, etc.
And the results are often plain corny. For one, Altered Carbon has the dubious honor of containing my most memorable sex scene of the year*, ballsy and ludicrous and gleeful. I mean, and I often did enjoy the amped-up action parts, explained by every character's body enhancements of-the-Future, in the base Jason-Stantam-movie sort-of-way.
But all this over-the-top genre mishmash really obscured the more interesting aspects raised by the premise. Questions such as whether Kovacs' growing attraction to the lead detective just because he's sleeved in her convicted-crooked-cop boyfriend's body? Or little moments such as when Kovacs stops to admire and yearn for a synthetic body that better represents his Asian heritage. It's an idea attuned to the exploration of identity and the abuses that seem to trap the people more to their bodily prisons the more easily they can jump to another, and that the book instead goes for goofy pulp stuff it a bit of a shame.
*And this year, I saw Splice, which I can honestly say produced the most simulataneous cringing and derisive laughing from an audience I've ever witnessed.
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LibraryThing member nebula21
This is a thought provoking read. The book raised a lot of questions and confronted controversial issues that are relevant in today's society. I feel that the book is aimed at and more suitable for a male audience. The "sex scenes" were unsophisticated and predictable and were the male version of
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what you find in a cheap romance novel. I think that the author needed to decide whether he was writing a serious science fiction novel or a male fantasy novel. As a result of this the book is probably more suited to teenage boys than adults. Show Less
LibraryThing member ltimmel
Altered Carbon is cliched noir drenched in male romanticism decanted into a "new sleeve," to use the book's own language. Nothing new here at all, except the packaging. Shortly after reading Altered Carbon I read Colson Whitehead's The Institutionist, and because it, too, is noir, I couldn't help
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noticing that the latter does so much more with it. I loved the way Whitehead repeatedly peeled away the veneer of stereotypes that even his smart protagonist was wont to buy into. Altered Carbon never does that. It is, basically, a comfort read for those who love the old formulas dressed up in flashy new clothes. If you want more, you'd do better to read the Whitehead novel. Show Less
LibraryThing member takihana
william gibson's bastard son
LibraryThing member isabelx
In an earlier age, he would have been a shaman; here, the centuries of technology had made him more. An electronic demon, a malignant spirit that dwelled in altered carbon and emerged only to possess flesh and wreak havoc.
He would have made a fine Envoy.
A former soldier finds himself re-sleeved in
This book is bursting to the brim with plot and ideas, with the altered carbon of the title referring to the new bodies that contain the downloaded consciousness and may have very little in common with the original body unless you are rich enough to keep a supply of cloned bodies in storage.
Pull on the new flesh like borrowed gloves
And burn your fingers once again.
A fantastic book? I will definitely be reading the other books in this series.
He would have made a fine Envoy.
A former soldier finds himself re-sleeved in
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a new body on a distant planet, summoned by a billionaire to find out who murdered him as the police have declared it a suicide.This book is bursting to the brim with plot and ideas, with the altered carbon of the title referring to the new bodies that contain the downloaded consciousness and may have very little in common with the original body unless you are rich enough to keep a supply of cloned bodies in storage.
Pull on the new flesh like borrowed gloves
And burn your fingers once again.
A fantastic book? I will definitely be reading the other books in this series.
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LibraryThing member iayork
A fascinating and dark look at immortality: Morgan has introduced a dark concept of immortality that flies in the face of what it means to have a soul. If your mind never dies, then are you in fact immortal? If so, what does it mean to change bodies? Wrap these fascinating philosophical questions
Kovacs was dark, brooding, and at times sentimental, and it was this last aspect of Kovacs that lowered my rating from 5 to 4 stars. Artificial sentimentality was the only point for me where the story lost its authenticity.
Robin cook explores a similar concept of immortality in his book "Abducted." Similarly, Tad Williams uses the concept of mind transfer for immortality in his "Otherland" series. However, I think Morgan has taken the idea much further and in a more interesting direction than either of these two authors.
If you like cyberpunk, you will love this book and the series.
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in a great cyberpunk style mystery story, and you have a very fun read. Kovacs was dark, brooding, and at times sentimental, and it was this last aspect of Kovacs that lowered my rating from 5 to 4 stars. Artificial sentimentality was the only point for me where the story lost its authenticity.
Robin cook explores a similar concept of immortality in his book "Abducted." Similarly, Tad Williams uses the concept of mind transfer for immortality in his "Otherland" series. However, I think Morgan has taken the idea much further and in a more interesting direction than either of these two authors.
If you like cyberpunk, you will love this book and the series.
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LibraryThing member FicusFan
I first read this book back in 2004. I really loved it, and read the next book in the series, Broken Angels right away. I have re-read Altered Carbon for a RL book group and will go on and re-read Broken Angels too. My plan is to get up to speed on the story again so I can read the final book
The re-read was just as good as the first time, though it didn't have the same fast pace. I didn't feel that I was slamming into the story. I was able to read it at a slower pace and savor it more.
I loved the idea of 're-sleeving' hopping from one body to the next. Several stories have done this, but Morgan seems to have done it the best in terms of explanation and working it into the story. The big 'idea' doesn't hi-jack the story, but propels it forward.
The idea of having multiple, disposable bodies, with the banishment of death is an interesting study of identity, and what makes you, you. How can anyone ever be truly identified ? What does such impermanence coupled with longevity do to human relationships, what does it do to centuries of law which base rights, property and status on who you are ? How can order and harmony be maintained with all this seething uncertainty ?
We now feel so comfortable with the idea of DNA as an identifier, but in this world it only IDs your current body, and you could become old, young, a different sex, race, religion or ethnicity at the drop of the hat. Of course you need to be rich or somehow have the money to accomplish it, which generates the criminal possibilities that keep our characters occupied.
What does all this time and change do to human feelings, and how are they exploited or manipulated by the system ? Again, Morgan does a good job showing us the changes and what stays the same.
An interesting juxtaposition to the average people, the criminal and the damaged are the rich who become Methuselahs, or Meths. People who have the ability not to change as the world whips by at faster and faster speeds.
Both ends show the danger of extremes. Nothing to moor to for those who are always changing and no real life for those who have become ossified, the walking dead. They lock in a battle for control of the direction and form of the polity.
Like our real world, the system/government in the story for all the future whizz-bang tech has limited resources for the poor, the damaged, and the victimized. The average person has to learn to make-do, and the tyranny of the bureaucrat continues. Sad, sick jokes that have no redress are still the luck of the draw. In this world you can get away from it all, by going into storage, and either living virtually or being brought out into a body for holidays and special occasions. Prison has become simply long term digital storage. These options produce spare bodies that can be bought and sold, for those who need or want a new home. Imagine seeing your loved one walk down the street, with a stranger inside ? Cloning is also used to grow perfect identical specimens, or to tweak and engineer perfect bodies with enhancements for special jobs.
The futuristic setting is done well and makes an interesting backdrop. The mixing of the fabulous and the banal ring true. I thought Morgan did book-form justice to the visual world of Bladerunner. The blending of computer cyber-punk, with the decay of the everyday real world, along with the perfection of the technology and the pampering of the rich and powerful is an alluring mix that sucks you in.
Morgan has layered his story with lots of textures and bits of life in this new world. There are glimpses of other lives and relationships, childhood, growth, and battles on other worlds to give the setting depth. The hint of mysterious aliens and the Martian ruins, show that the story takes place in a tapestry of a whole civilization.
The noirish cops and the Envoy/PI always having to play catch-up and always operating from a disadvantage keep the story moving at a good clip.
The main characters were well done, and developed so you cared about them. They were a good mix of gray so that they seemed like real people. The bad guys and the rich people were not so deep, but then they were supposed to loom over the story, create atmosphere, and manipulate the other characters, not become buddies with anyone. A.Is, or computers who have become sentient also vie for the right to be considered living beings, and through it all the forces of the past, Catholics, fight all these abominations and try to stand in the way of progress.
They writing was good, if a little too focused on the battles. There was a lot of violence and sex, so the book/series is not for the faint of heart...
.
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(for now ?) in the series, Woken Furies, for the first time. I got it from the UK back in 2005, but got side-tracked and never read it.The re-read was just as good as the first time, though it didn't have the same fast pace. I didn't feel that I was slamming into the story. I was able to read it at a slower pace and savor it more.
I loved the idea of 're-sleeving' hopping from one body to the next. Several stories have done this, but Morgan seems to have done it the best in terms of explanation and working it into the story. The big 'idea' doesn't hi-jack the story, but propels it forward.
The idea of having multiple, disposable bodies, with the banishment of death is an interesting study of identity, and what makes you, you. How can anyone ever be truly identified ? What does such impermanence coupled with longevity do to human relationships, what does it do to centuries of law which base rights, property and status on who you are ? How can order and harmony be maintained with all this seething uncertainty ?
We now feel so comfortable with the idea of DNA as an identifier, but in this world it only IDs your current body, and you could become old, young, a different sex, race, religion or ethnicity at the drop of the hat. Of course you need to be rich or somehow have the money to accomplish it, which generates the criminal possibilities that keep our characters occupied.
What does all this time and change do to human feelings, and how are they exploited or manipulated by the system ? Again, Morgan does a good job showing us the changes and what stays the same.
An interesting juxtaposition to the average people, the criminal and the damaged are the rich who become Methuselahs, or Meths. People who have the ability not to change as the world whips by at faster and faster speeds.
Both ends show the danger of extremes. Nothing to moor to for those who are always changing and no real life for those who have become ossified, the walking dead. They lock in a battle for control of the direction and form of the polity.
Like our real world, the system/government in the story for all the future whizz-bang tech has limited resources for the poor, the damaged, and the victimized. The average person has to learn to make-do, and the tyranny of the bureaucrat continues. Sad, sick jokes that have no redress are still the luck of the draw. In this world you can get away from it all, by going into storage, and either living virtually or being brought out into a body for holidays and special occasions. Prison has become simply long term digital storage. These options produce spare bodies that can be bought and sold, for those who need or want a new home. Imagine seeing your loved one walk down the street, with a stranger inside ? Cloning is also used to grow perfect identical specimens, or to tweak and engineer perfect bodies with enhancements for special jobs.
The futuristic setting is done well and makes an interesting backdrop. The mixing of the fabulous and the banal ring true. I thought Morgan did book-form justice to the visual world of Bladerunner. The blending of computer cyber-punk, with the decay of the everyday real world, along with the perfection of the technology and the pampering of the rich and powerful is an alluring mix that sucks you in.
Morgan has layered his story with lots of textures and bits of life in this new world. There are glimpses of other lives and relationships, childhood, growth, and battles on other worlds to give the setting depth. The hint of mysterious aliens and the Martian ruins, show that the story takes place in a tapestry of a whole civilization.
The noirish cops and the Envoy/PI always having to play catch-up and always operating from a disadvantage keep the story moving at a good clip.
The main characters were well done, and developed so you cared about them. They were a good mix of gray so that they seemed like real people. The bad guys and the rich people were not so deep, but then they were supposed to loom over the story, create atmosphere, and manipulate the other characters, not become buddies with anyone. A.Is, or computers who have become sentient also vie for the right to be considered living beings, and through it all the forces of the past, Catholics, fight all these abominations and try to stand in the way of progress.
They writing was good, if a little too focused on the battles. There was a lot of violence and sex, so the book/series is not for the faint of heart...
.
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LibraryThing member m.a.harding
For those who like their violence spiced with wit, character, moral dillema, mental vertigo
LibraryThing member ragwaine
Very dirty, torture, killing, sex all very graphic. A little too long but cool original plot made possible by sleeving technology.
LibraryThing member technobrarian
Fantastic book for hard-core sci-fi--like a combination of Blade Runner and Raymond Chandler. Ultra-violent, great sex scenes.
LibraryThing member baltazargabka
This is the first book in the Takeshi Kovacs saga. I enjoyed reading it very much mainly due to the fast paced action and the cleverly constructed dystopian view of the future Earth and other settled plannets (some similarity with Charles Srtoss's viesion).
Nevertheless, I failed to understand the
A pleasant read regardless, especially for the fans of cyberpunk with blood and gore.
Nevertheless, I failed to understand the
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motivation behind Tekeshi Kovacs' actions, a bit 'ramboesque' for me. In other words the character was not convincing. A pleasant read regardless, especially for the fans of cyberpunk with blood and gore.
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Awards
Philip K. Dick Award (Winner — 2003)
Italia Award (Winner — 2005)
The New York Times Notable Books of the Year (Science Fiction — 2003)
Locus Recommended Reading (First Novel — 2002)
Language
Original publication date
2002-02-28
Physical description
471 p.; 20 cm
ISBN
0575081244 / 9780575081246