I really wanted to like Altered Carbon. It had so much
going for it at first glance. Its a
Future-Noir thriller much like
Jeter's "Blade Runner" novels. It is well-written. The characters
are understandable (and sometimes likable). The author is obviously an
intelligent person who is well-versed in the genre of Science Fiction.
Like I said . . . I really wanted to like this book.
In the end, however, I couldn't even bear to finish reading it. Its
one flaw is a common one for beginning writers working on a first novel.
The Editor over at Del Rey should have seen this and asked for a re-write.
There is a lot of good stuff in this story.
Let me explain the problem. This book is about a soldier who gets no
respect after he helps win a war. Its about the abuse of wealth and power.
Its about corrupt cops and a system that has broken under a weight it was
never designed to withstand. Its about what could happen if the rich are
allowed to extend their life indefinately while the rest of us die. Its
about a crime that may not actually be a crime. Its about . . . well, you
get the picture. The trouble is that this book is about everything
and therefore, really about nothing.
Its not that the plot is complicated. Some of my best-loved books
have complicated plots (Tolkien comes to mind immediately because of all the
movie hoop-la). Altered Carbon, however, has no unifying theme. Even the
detective story falls flat, buried under way too many other themes that
matter way too much to the characters working their way through them.
In the end, you don't give a damn how it works out. You just want
the tedium to stop.
What a pity! If Mr. Morgan had only included about half the detail that
he did, this could have been an excellent book.
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