Altered Carbon

Death, where is thy sting?

I watched the Netflix series a bit ago, so reading the book seemed like the next logical step. I love those old detective noir mystery atmospheres, I love cyberpunk atmospheres, and the idea that your consciousness can be transferred (“re-sleeved”) as often as you have the cash for it makes for an interesting premise. This seemed like a slam dunk for me.

In many ways it was. Kovacs is very much an anti-hero; you're supposed to dislike him. I liked the moral ambiguity he brought to the story, and his jaded war vet background made for some interesting philosophical considerations he has throughout the story. I liked being strung along on this cyberpunk mystery full of people with too much cash and not a lot of perspective left after being re-sleeved for over a century. I liked the gritty action, the take on a futuristic America, all of it. I had a lot of fun reading this book.

I think my only real miss is the ending. To keep it vague (since this is a mystery at its core), all throughout the first 80-85% of the book the author keeps you very informed as to what the main character is doing, what they're thinking, the connections they're making with regards to the mystery they're unraveling, and it feels like you're right there with him in this investigation. Just when you start closing in on the ending though, the author starts skipping whole scenes that you know are taking place, all in the name of preserving The Big Reveal. Don't get me wrong, the pieces are all put back in place for you at the end, but tonally it felt like the ending was played out of order in terms of putting the pieces together. A very minor quibble, I know.

This book is very much one of those either you love or you hate, from reading the other reviews. And I really, really liked it.