If you’re a fan of sci-fi then you have to read Richard K. Morgan’s Altered Carbon. It’s the first of his Takeshi Kovacs novels—three books following the adventures of Takeshi Kovacs, an ex-U.N. Envoy soldier with a complicated past, in a world where death isn’t as permanent as it used to be.
Altered Carbon takes place in the 24th century in a universe where humanity has settled multiple planets and technology has advanced more than we can possibly imagine. Of those advancements, the most valuable is the ability to download human consciousness into a “stack” that can be transferred between bodies (“sleeves”). This achievement allows people to live for hundreds of years—though, like most things, only the rich can afford to do so.
Takeshi Kovacs was once part of the U.N. Envoys, an elite Protectorate force feared across the universe. After leaving the Envoys, he starts down a criminal path before being killed and put into stack storage. He is then resleeved to solve the murder of Laurens Bancroft—one of the rich people who has been alive for centuries. The case looks like an easy suicide, but Bancroft insists there is more to it and won’t rest until he learns the truth. Kovacs is quickly caught in a web of conspiracies, dark secrets, corruption, and even a bit of passion.
I first learned of Altered Carbon when I watched the 2018 Netflix series based on it. There are quite a few differences between the book and the TV series, but both are brilliant. It is worth mentioning that the world is full of sophisticated technology, so to enjoy this book, you have to be prepared to run with it in order to understand it eventually. Additionally, there is graphic violence and intimacy, so only read this book if you’re okay with that.
Altered Carbon is such a thrilling read. The characters are excellent, and the mystery is captivating. The question of whether it’s worth it to keep resleeving over and over again to live past one’s time is explored in detail and might even leave you wondering about the meaning of life and death in real life.