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  • Altered Carbon

  • Altered Carbon, Book 1
  • By: Richard Morgan
  • Narrated by: Todd McLaren
  • Length: 17 hrs and 14 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (692 ratings)

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Altered Carbon cover art

Altered Carbon

By: Richard Morgan
Narrated by: Todd McLaren
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Publisher's Summary

Four hundred years from now mankind is strung out across a region of interstellar space inherited from an ancient civilization discovered on Mars. The colonies are linked together by the occasional sublight colony ship voyages and hyperspatial data-casting. Human consciousness is digitally freighted between the stars and downloaded into bodies as a matter of course.

But some things never change. So when ex-envoy, now-convict Takeshi Kovacs has his consciousness and skills downloaded into the body of a nicotine-addicted ex-thug and presented with a catch-22 offer, he really shouldn't be surprised. Contracted by a billionaire to discover who murdered his last body, Kovacs is drawn into a terrifying conspiracy that stretches across known space and to the very top of society. Read by Todd McLaren.

©2003 Richard K Morgan (P)2005 Tantor Media, Inc

What listeners say about Altered Carbon

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    437
  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
    49
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    10
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Performance
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Story
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  • 3 Stars
    51
  • 2 Stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Cyberpunk noir done to perfection.

I first read this in paperback at an airport during a long lay-over. Had finished it by the time I landed. Truly top notch entertainment, and the audio production does it justice.

It gets kitschy, I won't deny that, but Richard Morgan knows what he's about: the pacing is excellent and the characters are all very well written.

Past the cliches and tropes found in all cyberpunk-noir-anti-hero-versus-the-establishment tales, you'll find some very unique, very elaborate, themes and motifs.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars
  • MR
  • 03-01-2018

A struggle to get through

The story works itself into a few corners that don't make much sense, with Kovacs doing things that are just idiotic at points. He's terrible detective, in any case. The sex scenes are abysmal.

The sound design on this one needs work. There's a lot of dead air and pauses that should have been ironed out in editing. It detracts from the experience.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

WOW!

Amazing book and amazing performance! You won't regret reading through this one! This is a SF gem

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Great story

Really great story. The plot can be a little hard to follow at times, there are so many characters and twists. if you stick with it and pay attention, it is rewarding. Richard Morgan has an amazing imagination. His interpretation of the future is intricately detailed, and thought provoking.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
  • ben
  • 10-07-2018

far better then Netflix

if you enjoy sci-fi absolutely worth the read/listen.
watched the Netflix show before listening, as usual the book is far better.
great sci-fi murder mystery

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

unfathomable

Apparently this review requires at least 15 words in order to be submitted to Audible.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great cross genre cyberpunk noir.

I read / listened to the book at least a dozen times before the TV series. Hooray for me!

I can't believe how badly they screwed with the central themes and plot lines to make the TV series.

I love the left wing Marxism ideologies that permeate throughout this trilogy, as well as the alien tech that has both advanced and corrupted human society. The cyberpunk noir style of Altered Carbon is so very cool. If you like this particular sub-genre than I highly recommend George Alec Effinger 'When Gravity Fails' (also available on audible) as it is another great listen and a favourite of mine.

Do I expect anyone to read this review or follow up on the book recommendation, hell no! Writing reviews here is really a bit of a laugh.... perhaps if I wrote this before the TV release it would have counted. Dont you just wish that when they convert a book for TV or a movie they would actually do the book without major changes?

BTW this book is just great but perhaps Richard Morgan does over do the sex scenes a little, ... however not as much as in some of his other books.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Good book but the audio wasn’t great

This book would’ve got a better review from me if not for the lower quality audio. On 2 counts the audio had issues. The first is the fact that there are gaps in the narration. These gaps are at strange times, sometimes half way through a paragraph. This pulls you out of the story. I thought on more than one occasion that my phone had stopped playing The other is the heavy bass on the audio. I had to turn mids and lows down to minimum to listen in the car.

The story was ok though...

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Really engaging

I couldn't put this book down. The story was really engaging and the performance made it a joy to listen to.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

should be cool but. . .

the basic story is OK, and it should be a cool book, but it's all a bit forced. there are a lot of female characters but each one seems to be yet another fantasy stereotype. wanted more.

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1 person found this helpful

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