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Richard K. Morgan: Altered Carbon (2006, Del Rey) 4 stars

It's the twenty-fifth century, and advances in technology have redefined life itself. A person's consciousness …

Review of 'Altered Carbon' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

I appreciate the world building but didn't fall quite in much in love with it as others did. While it's a solid piece of work for about 2/3 of the novel, I found the noir too predictable and the exploration of self in an age of downloading personalities was handled better in 1987's Vacuum Flowers (Michael Swanwick). At the last third, I was uncomfortable with the tonal change; it felt more like a Shadowrun game than the previous segments (or Neuromancer, if you prefer a book to an RPG).

Don't get me wrong; it's still a decent enough read and Richard K. Morgan is a solid writer. I just wished it had reached a little more. Then again, I'm a Neal Stephenson fan so I'm used to authors going -way- out there!