Broken Angels

by Richard K. Morgan

366 pages

English language

Published March 2, 2004

ISBN:: 978-0-345-45771-4
Goodreads:: 279561

(106 reviews)

Broken Angels (2003) is a military science fiction novel by British writer Richard Morgan. It is the sequel to Altered Carbon, and is followed by Woken Furies.

6 editions

altlovesbooks reviewed Broken Angels by Richard K. Morgan

Review of 'Broken Angels' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

"You have a faith as deep as mine. The only thing I wonder is why you need so badly not to believe."

So, I really liked the first book in this series when I read it last year. Sci-fi! Cyberpunk! Murder mystery! Detective noir stuff! All of that hit just the right notes with me, and I really appreciated the psychological spin the author put on the whole concept of resleeving. I was excited to pick up this book!

But then I discover that it's its own thing. Completely stand alone. And not even involving mysteries. Way more sci-fi, way more (unnecessary) sex. I thought the meat of the book was interesting, but I also felt like all the sex scenes in this one weren't quite necessary to advance the plot any. They just seemed like (un)interesting diversions the author wanted to go on while writing this book. Like if Morgan's editor was really Shatner, and he was whispering in Morgan's ear about sci-fi sex selling in entertainment media.

Also. There was. Another thing that bothered me in this book. I. Don't exactly know how to describe it. Except that it involved lots of periods instead of proper punctuation. Like ellipses. Or. Commas. No. Instead we get. Paragraphs like these where the speaker would pause in the middle of a sentence. For effect. And then a new sentence would start up with the rest of their thought. It was. Super distracting. And kind of unnecessary. I'm not a writer. But I feel like I could write better sentence structure.

Still, I gave this book 3 stars, if only because I (still) really like the premise behind this series and the sci-finess of it all. The story was entertaining enough, if a little basic when compared with the plot and twists of the first book. I was still glad to have read it, but am hoping the third book recaptures a bit of the magic of the first for me.

Lord of Candy reviewed Broken Angels by Richard K. Morgan

Review of 'Broken Angels' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

As you resleeve it takes a moment to get up to speed on where we are in time, space, and the game plan. That's fine but could have used a bit more help here and there. As usual the world is built around most of the spotlight that Kovacs plays in with a bunch more political kabuki theater involved. Personal story arcs and the pain of being Kovacs meanders a bit around to get to the main thrust of the novel--and like most of his novels there is always some of that too.

I like the interpersonal moments but something keeps dragging at me. I like the technology and the archology but something slows it down.. I liked getting to know the pasts intelligent predators and was like usual wanting for more..

We live, we live again, we have issues with authority, we explore new reaches all while dodging nano …

Chungledown Bim reviewed Broken Angels by Richard K. Morgan

Review of 'Broken Angels' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

A very different book to Altered Carbon. Again, the world building is amazing, again, the prose is a little muddy but better than the first. Maybe this book shouldn’t be held up to the first. Like Kovacs’ sleeve, the genre & tone has changed while retaining the fundamental universe. “But what,” I found myself asking more than once, “is his penis doing right now?” Reader, we shall never know. Way less sex, way more action, way more pages. Same rating. Enjoyable, but not mind-blowing. I’ll probably read the next but not right away.

Balise reviewed Broken Angels by Richard K. Morgan

Review of 'Broken Angels' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

Not sure if the issue is me or the book, but i got so bored... :/

ManyRoads reviewed Broken Angels by Richard K. Morgan

Review of 'Broken Angels' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

This novel was not nearly as good as his first. The sarcasm and humor were there. The dark dystopian world was functioning in much the same way; but, the sexuality was over-used and tangential (it seemed largely gratuitous). This story was not close to being in the same league as a Raymond Chandler classic nor even as Morgan's first effort.

Kattas reviewed Broken Angels by Richard K. Morgan

Review of 'Broken Angels' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

In some ways I preferred Broken Angels to Altered Carbon - although still gritty, there was a lot less of the prostitution/underworld material that made the first volume so problematic. Broken Angels also looks more closely at the relationship with the remnants of the Martian society that was hinted at in the first book, and some interesting bits are added to the world building. The characters are still interesting, if somewhat less developed than in the first book, and this is where I feel like the book lost some points: most of these characters feel flat to me, or complex only in uninteresting or underdeveloped ways. Hand, Wardani, Carrera, and even Kovacs himself don't seem to have any complexity to their motivations. Everyone is afraid and angry and broken in varying measures - and while everyone is interesting because of the flaws and pathologies, they don't really grow as characters. …

AndySoc1al reviewed Broken Angels by Richard K. Morgan

Review of 'Broken Angels' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Although there were a few stretched where the exposition was a little too verbose, Morgan does a good job overall of keeping things moving, adding detail to the overall Kovacs backstory, and running a great adventure story. As one might expect from the first novel, there are twists and backstabs aplenty!

Wetdryvac reviewed Broken Angels by Richard K. Morgan

Review of 'Broken angels' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Like isn't the right word. The book was interesting and engaging in a way I don't usually find, but where in the first of the series, I found some sympathy with the various characters, this time around... not so much. An understanding of the whys and wherefores, certainly. Some lovely pacing, and even better world building. But not a lot of like.

Unruly Stacks reviewed Broken Angels by Richard K. Morgan

Review of 'Broken Angels' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

As satisfying as Altered Carbon was. Excellent book.

Yashima reviewed Broken Angels by Richard K. Morgan

Review of 'Broken Angels' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I liked this one even better than the first. I like how everyone keeps betraying everyone and the radiation poisoning makes for a nice ticking clock. And I really really did not expect Tanya to be the saboteur.. In the first book one still had the impression that the stacks make people more or less immortal but in the war on Sanction IV that notion is completely gone. I like the technology better this way, as a tool.

Laura Lemay reviewed Broken Angels by Richard K. Morgan

Review of 'Broken Angels' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

The second book in the Takeshi Kovacs series, and not nearly as good as the first book. Whereas the first book was a detective novel in an SF universe, this is more standard military SF, which I find much less interesting. The book is also not nearly as well crafted at the first book, and the MESSAGE is kind of ponderous. The action is still well-written and it held my interest all the way through. Wish it had been better.