Saturday 14 May 2011

Book 5/50 : Altered Carbon


A book by Richard Morgan.

Altered Carbon is a book that Amazon has begging me to read for years now. It seemed that every time I’d go to book recommendations I’d always dismiss it, and I have no idea why. I’m sure if it wasn’t for this challenge it would stay forever on my recommended but dismissed list. Well it turns out Amazon was right.

Altered Carbon introduces us the former UN Envoy Takeshi Kovacs. Kovacs lives in a society where people can upload and download from their (and other peoples’) bodies. Due to slow space travel the only way to travel from one planet to another at any speed is to be transferred electronically and re-sleeved (be put into a body) when you arrive. That is where the UN Envoy Corps come in. They are specialists trained to cope with the need to adapt to any situation they might find on transmission to a new world, and not to relay on the abilities of the body as they never know what the next body is going to be. Kovacs split from the Envoys corps following a harrowing war, and has been scrapping a living using his skills for crime. Following his capture early in the book, he is “released” thanks to the machinations of a centuries old man to investigate his apparent suicide. What follows is as excellent a Sci-Fi thriller story as I have read, it easily stands up to the Greg Mandel books (high praise indeed.)

I'd rate this book as 7.5/10. Again highly recommended!


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