Altered Carbon: What you got to do is get to the next screen somehow
I just finished reading Richard K. Morgan's Altered Carbon, which was recommended to me by someone with excellent taste in all things. It was so good I've had to think about it for a few days before I could write about how it blew me away. It's very different from anything I usually read, although it is fantasy, but my usual fantasy reads are full of rainbows and kittens compared to Altered Carbon. It's excellently written from start to finish, with the most impressive world-building I have ever seen seamlessly worked into every inch of it. Mr. Morgan doesn't feel the need to waste your time with explanations, he just throws you into his world and don't worry, you won't land too hard, as you read it all comes together brilliantly. Altered Carbon is a sci-fi detective noir cyberpunk crime novel and is very much a guy book (lots of shooting and explosions, lots of hot women), but I'm a girl and I loved the hell out of it. The main character, Takeshi Kovacs (love his name), is just the right kind of antihero for this book, a kickass trained Envoy and yet so much more a complex, complete person than just a stereotypical caricature of a badass with some semblance of a heart. I love it and want to talk about it but I don't think anyone who hasn't read it should read any spoilers at all because it's just so exciting not to know anything as you begin and the writing is pure craftsmanship (albeit with a very male noir style). There are very few books where I read each and every single word (Lord of the Rings anyone? I am pretty sure I skipped at least 20 descriptions of bushes/trees/various foliage). I really loved all of it.
I guess I should at least mention the integral part of the story that makes it so intriguing. In the futuristic world of Altered Carbon, human souls are saved in "stacks" at the base of the neck in each person and this one technological change makes human bodies as disposable, interchangeable, and marketable as clothing. This also brings up a lot of philosophy which adds to the story. (Reminds me of how Diana Wynne Jones said she wrote her stories, she'd make one change in the universe and the rest of the story unwinds from there).
As an extra delight, there are various quotations from the revolutionary Quellist philosophy (all part of the world-building!), which are just awesome. For example (cadged from this link here:
http://www.cyberpunkreview.com/altered-carbon-page-2-quotes/:
"Progress is difficult to define, your honor. As Quell would have it, they come to me with progress reports, but all I see is change, and bodies burnt."
"The personal, as everyone’s so fucking fond of saying, is political. So if some idiot politician, some power player, tries to execute policies that harm you or those you care about, take it personally. Get angry. The Machinery of Justice will not serve you here - it is slow and cold, and it is theirs, hardware and soft-. Only the little people suffer at the hands of Justice; the creatures of power slide from under it with a wink and a grin. If you want justice, you will have to claw it from them. Make it personal. Do as much damage as you can. Get your message across. That way, you stand a better chance of being taken seriously next time. Of being considered dangerous. And make no mistake about this: being taken seriously, being considered dangerous marks the difference - the only difference in their eyes - between players and little people. Players they will make deals with. Little people they liquidate. And time and again they cream your liquidation, your displacement, your torture and brutal execution with the ultimate insult that it’s just business, it’s politics, it’s the way of the world, it’s a tough life and that it’s nothing personal. Well, fuck them. Make it personal."- Things I Should Have Learned by Now, Volume II
The human eye is a wonderful device. With a little effort, it can fail to see even the most glaring injustice.- Poems and Other Prevarications
Even the villains of the book have some great lines (they're all great, I swear):
Kawahara, on the value of human life:
Human life has no value. Haven’t you learned that yet, Takeshi, with all you’ve seen? It has no value, intrinsic to itself. Machines cost money to build. Raw materials cost money to extract. But people? You can always get some more people. They reproduce like cancer cells, whether you want them to or not. They are abundant, Takeshi. Why should they be valuable? Do you know that it cost us less to recruit and use up a real snuff whore than it does to set up and run a virtual equivalent format? Real human flesh is cheaper than a machine. It’s the axiomatic truth of our times.
I really liked the political messages and just opinions on the world woven throughout this book, it has something to say and it's nice to get a fantasy which is relatable to our world in that way (although I think one of the best things about fantasy books are the way they can be used to say something about our world, just presented through different eyes. It's like looking through a telescope at a far away world and realizing it's your own. In a way). The mystery is also really great, I didn't figure it out (although I am no expert at that, I don't even figure out most Agatha Christie novels). Takeshi Kovacs is a fantastic character; his loose cannon personality coupled with his rigorous training and skills make him unpredictable sometimes and always interesting. The other characters are equally fascinating although perhaps not as likely to inspire fannishness:P
Anyway if you like detective/crime/noir/scifi read this. Hell, even if you don't like them, read this. It's that good.
Any thoughts? Anyone?
I guess I should at least mention the integral part of the story that makes it so intriguing. In the futuristic world of Altered Carbon, human souls are saved in "stacks" at the base of the neck in each person and this one technological change makes human bodies as disposable, interchangeable, and marketable as clothing. This also brings up a lot of philosophy which adds to the story. (Reminds me of how Diana Wynne Jones said she wrote her stories, she'd make one change in the universe and the rest of the story unwinds from there).
As an extra delight, there are various quotations from the revolutionary Quellist philosophy (all part of the world-building!), which are just awesome. For example (cadged from this link here:
http://www.cyberpunkreview.com/altered-carbon-page-2-quotes/:
"Progress is difficult to define, your honor. As Quell would have it, they come to me with progress reports, but all I see is change, and bodies burnt."
"The personal, as everyone’s so fucking fond of saying, is political. So if some idiot politician, some power player, tries to execute policies that harm you or those you care about, take it personally. Get angry. The Machinery of Justice will not serve you here - it is slow and cold, and it is theirs, hardware and soft-. Only the little people suffer at the hands of Justice; the creatures of power slide from under it with a wink and a grin. If you want justice, you will have to claw it from them. Make it personal. Do as much damage as you can. Get your message across. That way, you stand a better chance of being taken seriously next time. Of being considered dangerous. And make no mistake about this: being taken seriously, being considered dangerous marks the difference - the only difference in their eyes - between players and little people. Players they will make deals with. Little people they liquidate. And time and again they cream your liquidation, your displacement, your torture and brutal execution with the ultimate insult that it’s just business, it’s politics, it’s the way of the world, it’s a tough life and that it’s nothing personal. Well, fuck them. Make it personal."- Things I Should Have Learned by Now, Volume II
The human eye is a wonderful device. With a little effort, it can fail to see even the most glaring injustice.- Poems and Other Prevarications
Even the villains of the book have some great lines (they're all great, I swear):
Kawahara, on the value of human life:
Human life has no value. Haven’t you learned that yet, Takeshi, with all you’ve seen? It has no value, intrinsic to itself. Machines cost money to build. Raw materials cost money to extract. But people? You can always get some more people. They reproduce like cancer cells, whether you want them to or not. They are abundant, Takeshi. Why should they be valuable? Do you know that it cost us less to recruit and use up a real snuff whore than it does to set up and run a virtual equivalent format? Real human flesh is cheaper than a machine. It’s the axiomatic truth of our times.
I really liked the political messages and just opinions on the world woven throughout this book, it has something to say and it's nice to get a fantasy which is relatable to our world in that way (although I think one of the best things about fantasy books are the way they can be used to say something about our world, just presented through different eyes. It's like looking through a telescope at a far away world and realizing it's your own. In a way). The mystery is also really great, I didn't figure it out (although I am no expert at that, I don't even figure out most Agatha Christie novels). Takeshi Kovacs is a fantastic character; his loose cannon personality coupled with his rigorous training and skills make him unpredictable sometimes and always interesting. The other characters are equally fascinating although perhaps not as likely to inspire fannishness:P
Anyway if you like detective/crime/noir/scifi read this. Hell, even if you don't like them, read this. It's that good.
Any thoughts? Anyone?