Review: _Altered Carbon_, by Richard K. Morgan

A riveting SF noir mystery

Takeshi Kovacs is an ex-special-ops-soldier, ex-con, hired by a rich man, Laurens Bancroft, to solve a crime. The crime? The alleged murder of Laurens Bancroft. His head was blown off a few weeks ago, but the current version was restored from backup. The police have ruled it a suicide, but Bancroft doesn't buy it, and wants Kovacs to find the real killer. But the deeper Kovacs digs, the more it seems like murder is just the tip of a very ugly iceberg...

Many critics disparage genre writing as hackwork, not realizing the skill required to craft a good story within the restraints of the genre in question. _Altered Carbon_ does a virtuoso job of being in three genres at once, and doing justice to all of them.

It's a Science Fiction novel. Set hundreds of years in the future, there has been some interstellar colonization (mostly STL; they have FTL, but only for information), there are AIs, and, last but not least, there are Stacks. Stacks are small recording devices implanted in everyone's brain shortly after birth that record the personality. This technology allows body-switching ("re-sleeving"), restoration from backup upon 'death', and lots of other interesting wrinkles. Much of the SF content of the book is a working out of the effects of this technology upon society.

It's also a noir thriller, dripping with Chandler and Hammett influence. The mean streets now have aircars flying above them, but it is still the case that a man must walk down them who is not, himself, mean. The rich are still corrupt, the cops untrustworthy, the hookers still have hearts of gold, though they all find new modes to express these qualities in this brave new world. And the tough, flawed detective weaves his way through the morass, trying to apply a black&white morality to a hopelessly gray world, and with a fanatical devotion to uncovering the truth.

At the same time, it is that most difficult of genres, the 'fair mystery'. If you pay close attention, all the clues are laid out, and you can solve the mystery ahead of the detective. This is an impressive trick all by itself, but when combined with a mystery that fundamentally depends on SF technology that must be explicitly explained to the reader. The mix of being subtle enough to not give away the game, while still laying all the necessary cards on the table, is a delicate one, and Morgan pulls it off impressively.

Another thing that impresses me about this story is the near-complete lack of 20th century cultural references. Kovacs has favorite actors of his own period that get referenced from time to time, but the only 'historical literature' he knows is by an important figure from the history of his home planet.

That literature does turn out to be pretty important. One chapter starts out with a lengthy political quote from it, about how important it is to make things "personal" when up against faceless power structures. This is a prelude to one of the more significantly violent scenes I have read in the last few years. But not gratuitous violence -- it's a very personal political statement. Violence and sex are both very much a part of this book; prudes should stay away.

There are apparently some sequels to this, and I will be seeking them out. For those who like their genres well-mixed, Highly Recommended.

Review: _Altered Carbon_, by Richard K. Morgan

A riveting SF noir mystery

Takeshi Kovacs is an ex-special-ops-soldier, ex-con, hired by a rich man, Laurens Bancroft, to solve a crime. The crime? The alleged murder of Laurens Bancroft. His head was blown off a few weeks ago, but the current version was restored from backup. The police have ruled it a suicide, but Bancroft doesn't buy it, and wants Kovacs to find the real killer. But the deeper Kovacs digs, the more it seems like murder is just the tip of a very ugly iceberg...

Many critics disparage genre writing as hackwork, not realizing the skill required to craft a good story within the restraints of the genre in question. _Altered Carbon_ does a virtuoso job of being in three genres at once, and doing justice to all of them.

It's a Science Fiction novel. Set hundreds of years in the future, there has been some interstellar colonization (mostly STL; they have FTL, but only for information), there are AIs, and, last but not least, there are Stacks. Stacks are small recording devices implanted in everyone's brain shortly after birth that record the personality. This technology allows body-switching ("re-sleeving"), restoration from backup upon 'death', and lots of other interesting wrinkles. Much of the SF content of the book is a working out of the effects of this technology upon society.

It's also a noir thriller, dripping with Chandler and Hammett influence. The mean streets now have aircars flying above them, but it is still the case that a man must walk down them who is not, himself, mean. The rich are still corrupt, the cops untrustworthy, the hookers still have hearts of gold, though they all find new modes to express these qualities in this brave new world. And the tough, flawed detective weaves his way through the morass, trying to apply a black&white morality to a hopelessly gray world, and with a fanatical devotion to uncovering the truth.

At the same time, it is that most difficult of genres, the 'fair mystery'. If you pay close attention, all the clues are laid out, and you can solve the mystery ahead of the detective. This is an impressive trick all by itself, but when combined with a mystery that fundamentally depends on SF technology that must be explicitly explained to the reader. The mix of being subtle enough to not give away the game, while still laying all the necessary cards on the table, is a delicate one, and Morgan pulls it off impressively.

Another thing that impresses me about this story is the near-complete lack of 20th century cultural references. Kovacs has favorite actors of his own period that get referenced from time to time, but the only 'historical literature' he knows is by an important figure from the history of his home planet.

That literature does turn out to be pretty important. One chapter starts out with a lengthy political quote from it, about how important it is to make things "personal" when up against faceless power structures. This is a prelude to one of the more significantly violent scenes I have read in the last few years. But not gratuitous violence -- it's a very personal political statement. Violence and sex are both very much a part of this book; prudes should stay away.

There are apparently some sequels to this, and I will be seeking them out. For those who like their genres well-mixed, Highly Recommended.

Diary

Saturday I had some sort of 24-hor bug, that left me achy, feverish, and canceling my plans to visit cvirtue :-(

Sunday, I was much improved, but still not up to a big trip. kestrell and I did make it out of the house for a walk. I decided to test-walk the route to learnedax and cat9's new apartment, having looked it up on Google Maps. A good thing, too, as the route I had scoped proved to have an inconveniently large railroad in the middle of it. Yes, it turns out that they live on the wrong side of the tracks, literally. (I have since gone back to google maps and used higher magnification, resulting in a route which seems plausible.) While out, we came across a truck-back farmer's market, but neither of us had any money. Will remember to be better equipped next time.

Capped off the night with a fun WoW outing, of which you can read more in the gnomish_mages LJ.

Today, Kes and I go to the dentist. Bleagh. This will no doubt result in even-more-bleagh follow-ups for filllings and such. Hopefully, at the end of this process, I can stop having toothaches.

Diary

Saturday I had some sort of 24-hor bug, that left me achy, feverish, and canceling my plans to visit cvirtue :-(

Sunday, I was much improved, but still not up to a big trip. kestrell and I did make it out of the house for a walk. I decided to test-walk the route to learnedax and cat9's new apartment, having looked it up on Google Maps. A good thing, too, as the route I had scoped proved to have an inconveniently large railroad in the middle of it. Yes, it turns out that they live on the wrong side of the tracks, literally. (I have since gone back to google maps and used higher magnification, resulting in a route which seems plausible.) While out, we came across a truck-back farmer's market, but neither of us had any money. Will remember to be better equipped next time.

Capped off the night with a fun WoW outing, of which you can read more in the gnomish_mages LJ.

Today, Kes and I go to the dentist. Bleagh. This will no doubt result in even-more-bleagh follow-ups for filllings and such. Hopefully, at the end of this process, I can stop having toothaches.